Please excuse Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams for his excitement heading to the promised land, or better known as the NFL playoffs.
Adams played the first three seasons of his National Football League career with the New York Jets. He never saw a whiff of playoff time with that organization. Usually, teams that don’t make it to the postseason start seeing their players make off-season travel plans.
Now that he’s with the Seahawks, who are perennial playoff contenders, Adams is having a whole different reaction.
One might say that he’s excited, filled with joy, exuberant, and other positive emotions.
Let’s let Adams speak for himself.
Adams, who was traded to the Seahawks from the Jets earlier this year, got his revenge. The Seahawks bashed the Jets 40-3. The 2019 All-Pro safety set an NFL record for the fastest defensive back to eight sacks in a single season.
Adams earned the record in just nine games but also has a leg up in the race. He actually has 8.5 sacks this year with a few games left to play.
The record was previously held by Adrian Wilson, who took sixteen games to get to that mark. Jamal Adams has also missed a total of four games this year.
Jamal Adams Fought Through Depression While With Jets
Adams, though, remembers his time with the Jets. Those weren’t good times at all.
They were so bad that his father tried to get him traded. Adams talked at length about his experiences with New York on the “All Things Covered” podcast.
Adams played with the Jets from 2017-2020 and during that time the team went 16-32. They traded the two-time Pro Bowler to Seattle this summer.
“I fought depression in New York,” Jamal Adams said on the podcast. “And I’m man enough to say it. I came home after a tough loss and just sat in my room in the dark — no phone, no TV. (My dad) hated to see me like that. It killed my pops so much. … He was calling my agent at the time and saying, ‘Hey man, I don’t like seeing my son like this. I need him out of this situation.’ It took a toll on my life outside of football.”
Adams said he’s much happier now on the NFC West-leading Seahawks.
“They do not want to win,” Adams said of the Jets. “Let’s be honest, the Jets were the laughingstock. (In Seattle), this is how the NFL is supposed to be. This is the dream I was dreaming.”
