When the season is finished, and NFL players are preparing for a few months away from football, Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Sam Adams will put away his helmet and shoulder pads and get ready for some … football.
The former Seattle Seahawk begins a year-round football odyssey this winter when the Everett Hawks come to town. Adams, 31, will serve as owner of the National Indoor Football League team.
“I love football,” Adams said. “My father (Sam Sr.) played 12 years in the NFL, so I’ve always been around it. This is an opportunity to be involved, but I don’t have to travel and spend a lot of time at work.”
Adams, who maintains an off-season residence in Kirkland, recently purchased the NIFL team that begins play in March. He’s still looking for a coach and players – the team will hold a tryout Sunday at Arena Sports in Seattle – but Adams is already optimistic that the Hawks will be an immediate success.
“In order for a city to embrace a team, the team has to show that it cares about the community. And we do,” Adams said. “Now, people also support a great product. It’s going to be affordable family entertainment (with tickets ranging in price from $7 to $33). It’s a new brand of football in the Pacific Northwest, and we’re going to come up there and have a great time.”
Adams has dipped his toes in the ownership waters before, having run a semi-pro team called the Eastside Hawks that’s based in Kirkland. That team competed in the past two championship games of the Northwest Football League.
He recently became interested in the NIFL because of its fast-paced brand of football as well as affordable franchise fees that begin as low as $85,000. He looked at communities throughout the state and settled on Everett because of its recent history of supporting professional sports teams.
“It’s a beautiful city, and the community embraces its teams, as showed by the AquaSox and Silvertips,” Adams said. “No. 2, it has one of the most beautiful facilities in the country (in the Everett Events Center).
“That, and the popularity of the AquaSox and Silvertips, made the decision a no-brainer.”
Adams, who has made more than $18 million in salary during his 11-year NFL career, is willing to spend money to build an immediate competitor.
“Of course I want to make money, but there are other things that are just as important,” Adams said. “I know if I give the community a good product, I’ll be able to make money. But it’s not about the money.”
NFL earnings aren’t the only benefit of his career in pro football. Being around the game at its highest level has prepared him to make the transition from player to owner.
“Because I’ve been in pro football, I’ve seen how the business works at the pinnacle,” he said. “It’s given me the opportunity to see how a successful team is run.”
That journey begins this Sunday, when the Hawks conduct their first open tryout in Seattle. While Adams won’t be there, he’s hoping to find some local talent to help fill out the roster of a local team.
“We’re an Everett team, and we want players from that area,” Adams said. “We want guys from UW, Eastern Washington, Central Washington – from that area and that state. Then, not only are they fighting for the team and the city of Everett, but they’re fighting for the area that they’re from.”
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