Josh Adams (born October 29, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Notre Dame, and he was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

Early years

Adams attended

Central Bucks High School South Central Bucks High School South, also known as CB South, is a public high school serving students in tenth through twelfth grades, one of three high schools in the Central Bucks School District. The school is located in Warrington, Pennsylvania i ...

in Warrington, Pennsylvania, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the Titans. As a sophomore, he rushed for 2,085 yards and 28

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. He rushed for 738 yards and 10 touchdowns his junior year in 2013 before suffering a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

. As a senior, he returned from his injury, rushing for 1,623 yards with 25 touchdowns. He was named to the All-USA Pennsylvania Football Team at running back and earned offensive player of the year honors, by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''. Considered a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', he was rated as the 47th best

prospect of his class. Adams committed to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

to play

over offers from

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, among others.

College career

Adams began his true freshman season in 2015 behind starter

Tarean Folston Tarean Folston (born January 11, 1995) is an American football running back for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for Notre Dame. High school Folston attended Cocoa High School in Cocoa, Florid ...

and backup

C. J. Prosise Calvin "C. J." Prosise Jr. (born May 20, 1994) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. Early years P ...

. After Folston tore his ACL, he was given a larger role in the offense. In his first college game against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, he rushed for 49 yards and scored two touchdowns. Adams started his first game against Wake Forest, replacing Prosise who was injured the previous game. He rushed for 141 yards on 17 carries (8.3 avg), and scored a Notre Dame record 98-yard touchdown run. Prosise would return the next game against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

; however, he was injured during the game and would not play again that season, leaving Adams as the starter for remainder of the year. Closing out the regular season at

, Adams rushed for a 168 yards on 18 carries (9.3 avg) and one touchdown. He set a new Notre Dame record for rushing yards in a game for a freshman. In the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, Adams ended his season rushing for 78 yards on 14 carries (5.6 avg) and adding one touchdown. He finished his season rushing for 835 yards on 117 carries (7.1 avg), while rushing for six touchdowns. His 835 yards on the season in 2015, set a new Notre Dame freshman record for rushing yards in a season, eclipsing the 786 garnered by

Darius Walker Darius Adunte Walker (born October 21, 1985) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) and current college football analyst for Fox. He worked as a college football analyst and sideline reporter for Mountain ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Adams saw an expanded role in the 2016 season for the Fighting Irish. In the second game of the season against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, he had 10 carries for 106 yards in the 39–10 victory. On October 1, against

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, he had 102 rushing yards. On November 19, against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, he had 100 rushing yards to go along with a 22-yard reception in the 34–31 loss. In the next game, against

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, he had 180 rushing yards in the regular season finale for the Fighting Irish. Overall, Adams had 933 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on the season. Adams started his final season with the Fighting Irish strong with 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns against

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. Two weeks later, against

, he had 229 rushing yards in the victory. On September 30, against the

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Divis ...

, he had 159 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the victory. On October 21, against

, he had 191 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 49–14 victory. The next week, against

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

, he had his second game of the year going over 200 rushing yards with 202. Through eight games of the 2017 season, Adams ranked fifth among all Division I FBS players with 1,169 rushing yards on 132 carries. Overall, he finished his final collegiate season with 1,430 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. On January 5, 2018, Adams announced that he would forgo his senior year to pursue a career in the NFL. Adams returned to classes at Notre Dame, and earned his Bachelor's degree in May 2020 with a major in Psychology from the College of Arts and Letters.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Following the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

, Adams signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on May 11, 2018. He was waived on September 1, 2018, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 18, 2018. In Week 3, against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, Adams had six carries for 30 rushing yards in his NFL debut. In Week 12, Adams rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries as the Eagles defeated the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

25–22. In the next game, against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, he had a season-high 85 rushing yards in the 28–13 victory. Overall, he finished his rookie season with 511 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. He made his playoff debut in the Wild Card Round against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

with two rushing yards on one carry in the 16–15 victory. Adams was waived by the Eagles during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.

New York Jets

On September 1, 2019, Adams was signed to the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 5. On September 5, 2020, Adams was waived by the Jets and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on September 12 for the team's Week 1 game against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and reverted to the practice squad on September 14. He was again elevated to the active roster on September 19 for the team's Week 2 game against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

and reverted to the practice squad on September 21. He was signed to the active roster on November 24. Adams signed a contract extension with the Jets on March 17, 2021. He was waived on August 31, 2021, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 6, 2021. He was waived on October 2.

New Orleans Saints

On November 10, 2021, Adams was signed to the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

practice squad. He was released on January 4, 2022. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Saints on January 24, 2022. He was waived on May 11, 2022.

Michigan Panthers

Adams signed with the

of the USFL on December 28, 2022.

Philanthropy

On July 21, 2021, Adams broke ground at his boyhood playground in a project to upgrade the facility for current residents of his former Warrington neighborhood, Willow Knoll.

References

External links

*
Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Josh 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football running backs Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Philadelphia Eagles players New York Jets players New Orleans Saints players Michigan Panthers (2022) players