Adcock sees the bigger picture
It is morning, in the middle of the week, and Garrett Adcock is caught between a football field and a law exam. A spring breeze swipes at his face as he gathers a breath following an after-practice sprint with his fellow New Mexico Lobo offensive linemen.
A midterm in civil procedure shortly awaits the second-year law student, but for the moment he is content to talk about lives which have touched him.
“My whole life I have been blessed to be surrounded by amazing people,” he says.
Since his birth, some 22 years ago, in Garland, Texas, he has had instilled in him by faith and family the notion that he has a responsibility to make the world better.
And we’re not talking football, although he has had a hand in improving the Lobos.
Adcock came to UNM in 2012 with the idea of becoming a doctor, like his father, Jeff. He whipped through his biology major in three academic years and still had two years of athletic eligibility left.
“I decided I wanted to do something worthwhile,” Adcock says. “Law has always been a secret passion of mine. As my mom says, I like to argue a lot.”
It was Christina Adcock who planted the idea of law in her son’s mind and, after dutifully researching the prospect, Garrett tackled the challenge.
“I’m so happy I did,” he says. “It’s awesome. I’m loving it.”
There’s not much to love about the hours demanded by law and football.
“I just get up every day and do what I have to do that day to succeed,” he says. “And that’s what I do the next day and the next day. You can’t look too far ahead or you get overwhelmed.”
Having a passion for both helps. And the work of law appeals to his sense of fairness.
“It’s kind of that deep-seated ideal of justice,” Adcock says. “I grew up in Texas, in a conservative family. Politics was always a big topic. Still is. And I grew up talking about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers.
“Now, that’s what I’m studying. I have the ability to continue the tradition. It’s a great honor. It’s a great responsibility. People don’t realize. There’s the stereotype of the scumbag lawyer, the liar. But it’s just not true. These are some of the most noble, some of the most honest people I’ve ever been around.”
Plus, at 6 feet, 2 inches and 291 pounds, Adcock is not likely to hear a lot of “Better Call Saul” jokes.
But his world extends beyond football and law. In Ghana, there is a term:
“akwaaba.” It means “welcome.” In a town called Atei- ku, not far from Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, the Adcock family is most welcome.
“In 2011, we went over to Ghana and saw a deep need there,” Adcock says. “We asked our liaison there what he needed. He said he needed a hospital. So from then on, it was pedal to the metal, full throttle. We’re getting a hospital built, and we did. We succeeded.”
Largely funded and built by the family, The Adcock Christian Hospital has 35 beds, an operating theater, intensive care unit, plus pharmacy, lab, X-ray and dental services.
“It’s just amazing having that there,” Adcock says.
It amazes him, too, having developed friendships across the ocean.
“People go to these places with the stereotype of what it’s going to be like,” he says. “But people around the world are trying to live their lives just as we are here. To be able to go there and share knowledge. You realize people around the world have the same problems. They may look a little different, but their issues are the same.”
Does his worldview translate, in any way, to football?
“It does. Big time,” he says. “You can think of each position as its own country, per se. You have your own leadership; you have your own government structure, if you will. And to be able to have these trade routes, it really gets the ideas flowing. It gets to a level of respect you wouldn’t think you would have.
“That’s why football is so great. We bring people from all kinds of backgrounds and put them in one locker room and say, all right, be a team. And that takes respect. To be able to form that respect and have those relationships is huge.”
Another bond he has formed is with Special Olympics.
“It’s one that really hits me in the heart,” Adcock says. “It really makes you think about how blessed you are. The atti- tude of the athletes there. Life didn’t give them a fair hand, or whatever you want to call it. But they have a positive attitude, and they go out and work every day to get better. And they have fun.”
He keeps that in mind as he pushes through practice after practice.
Adcock, who has lined up everywhere along the offensive line for the Lobos, has one more football season left in him. Then what?
Perhaps a law practice. Medical school is still a possibility. He’s applied for a Rhodes Scholarship.
Whatever it is, expect it to involve amazing people.