Soft-spoken Adams a surprise for Bombers
It didn’t take long to realize that Darvin Adams has little interest in talking about himself.
But after a few breakout performances, folks around the CFL are paying attention to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver
As the Blue Bombers sit at 3-3 through the opening third of the 2015 season, Adams has proven to be one of the biggest surprises on the roster, as he leads the club with 320 yards on 17 receptions with two touchdowns.
“I don’t like talking about myself, I’m not that type of person,” said Adams, 25, who spent parts of the past two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts and was signed by the Blue Bombers as a free agent. “I’m just enjoying that the guys are having faith in me and the coaches are having faith in me. Everybody is doing their job. It doesn’t matter to me if I catch no balls, as long as we win. It’s always good to catch the ball and contribute to the team. I just want to help in any way possible.”
One player who isn’t surprised by Adams’ production is defensive back Demond Washington, who was also a teammate of his with the Auburn Tigers in the NCAA.
“Every year that I’ve played with this guy, he’s been dynamic,” said Washington. “He’s getting better every year, and I expect nothing less from him. He’s a go-getter. Wherever the ball is located, he’s going to go get it.”
Adams had an excellent college career with the Tigers, hauling in 60 passes for 997 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior, 115 receptions, 1,978 yards and 17 majors over three seasons. He was a favourite target of Tigers quarterback Cam Newton, who went on to be the first overall pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2011 after helping his team win the national championship.
Adams spent time with Newton with the Panthers, as well, signing with them as an undrafted free agent and appearing in two NFL games on special teams in 2011 before he was released in 2012.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder appeared in one CFL game in 2013 and started eight of the 10 games he played in last season, with 18 catches for 261 yards with the Boatmen before a season-ending injury.
“Every player goes through a maturing process, as they get older and have more years logged as a professional athlete. That’s a natural progression,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, who was the special teams co-ordinator with the Argos in 2013. “Darvin has stepped into a role that he feels pretty comfortable with. The first few games he didn’t get the number of touches that skilled position players would like, but he just kept working and kept celebrating his teammates successes, until the ball started coming his way.
“He’s been a real good addition, a real solid addition to our team.”