Mike Adams (born March 10, 1990) is a former

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 ...

Offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

and was named first-team all Big Ten in 2010. Adams was considered to be one of the best

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

s of his draft class.

Early career

Adams attended

Dublin Coffman High School Dublin Coffman High School is a public high school located in Dublin, Ohio, United States, a suburb northwest of Columbus, Ohio. The school was formerly known as Dublin High School. It is the oldest of three high schools in the Dublin City School ...

Dublin, Ohio Dublin is a city in Franklin, Delaware and Union counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 49,328 in the 2020 census with a census estimate of 49,037 in 2019. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus. The city of Dublin hosts the yearly Mem ...

, where he was an All-State selection as a junior and senior. Regarded as a five-star recruit by ''

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'', Adams was listed as the No. 1 offensive tackle prospect in the class of 2008.

Professional career

2012 NFL Draft

After Adams tested positive for drug use at the 2012

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

the Pittsburgh Steelers initially removed him from their draft board. Determined to be selected by his favorite team, Adams met with head coach

Mike Tomlin Michael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, se ...

, general manager

Kevin Colbert Kevin Colbert (; born January 1957) is a former American football executive. He served as the general manager of Pittsburgh Steelers from 2000 to 2021. Colbert is widely credited with putting together the Super Bowl XL and the Super Bowl XLIII ...

, and team owner

Art Rooney II Arthur Joseph Rooney II (born September 14, 1952) is the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Early life Arthur Joseph Rooney II was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the eldest of nine children of Patricia (Re ...

. After professing his love for the Steelers and willingness to rectify his mistake, Adams was reconsidered. He was selected in the second round (pick 56) of the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Pittsburgh Steelers

On May 8, 2012, the Steelers signed Adams to a four-year, $3.54 million contract with a signing bonus of $1.01 million and $1.01 million guaranteed. Adams played in his first career game on September 9, 2012, against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. On October 21, 2012, he received his first career start in a 24–17 victory over the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. He then started the next 5 games. He finished his rookie season with 6 starts in 10 games. On September 8, 2013, Adams started the Steelers' season opener against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

. After four consecutive starts to begin the season, he was benched due to ineffective play. He finished his second season with 10 starts in 15 games. After beginning his third season as a back-up, Adams received his first start of the year on October 26, 2014, in a 51–34 win over 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 ...

. He would not return to his starting role until Week 13. During his third season he started 4 times in 16 games. In early June 2015, Adams was placed on the PUP list before training camp in order to recuperate from a back surgery. On May 5, 2016, Adams was released after failing a physical, ending his tumultuous career with the team.

Chicago Bears

Adams signed with 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 ...

on August 10, 2016. He played in 12 games with one start in 2016 before suffering a back injury and was placed on injured reserve on December 12, 2016.

Personal life

Adams was stabbed in an apparent robbery attempt in the early morning hours of June 1, 2013 in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. He was hospitalized and made a full recovery.

References

External links

NFL Combine bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Mike 1990 births Living people People from Dublin, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football offensive tackles Ohio State Buckeyes football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Chicago Bears players