The Las Vegas Raiders finally have a go-to superstar receiver in Davante Adams. Although the franchise has had some greats in the past like Tim Brown and Jerry Rice, the team hasn’t had a receiver of Adams’ caliber in a long time.
On Tuesday, Adams addressed the media in Las Vegas for the first time since being traded to the Raiders. He talked about a number of different topics, including which players in Silver and Black he looked up to growing up as a Raiders fan.
“Well, yeah. Many,” Adams said. “Obviously, there’s a couple of guys that stopped through here later in their career, Randy [Moss] and Jerry [Rice], who they didn’t necessarily establish themselves in the league while being with the Raiders, but those are two guys who I obviously watched. I mean those are some of the founding fathers for me. It was more than just receivers. It was obviously C-Wood [Charles Woodson]. Tim Brown was a big inspiration. My whole family was Raider fans, so I knew a lot about the history since I was young, too. Just growing up, honestly, all Raiders, anything Raiders was what I was about. I had a Tim Brown jersey, C-Wood, those got worn until the numbers fell off. Rich Gannon, I mean everything. So, I’m just looking forward to coming in and trying to leave my footprints as well as I can.”
The obvious comparison Adams has coming to Las Vegas is Brown. The Raiders legend racked up numerous records while he wore No. 81 for the franchise, and it appears some of his friends are reaching out to him to warn him that his records could become a thing of the past with Adams now with the team.
Adams responded to the prospect that he could eventually break some of Brown’s records during his introductory press conference and whether the Raiders legend had reached out to him since the trade became official. Also, Adams talked about what he it would mean to break records held by Brown.
“That means a lot,” Adams said about potentially breaking Brown’s records. “No, I haven’t had the chance to speak to him yet. Or Mr. Brown, I should say. But I would love to, so if at any point he wanted to, I don’t know if he’s going to see this, but I would love to talk to him at some point. I can’t promise that I’m going to leave those records alone, because I’m definitely looking for that. But the thing that I attribute all my success to is just living in the moment and playing each game. It’s really corny and really basic. In college, I did well, I got to the league, but I didn’t even think about the league. I just went and played, had fun, took every game one by one, and just thought about stacking it up. It was a one game season every time. They talk about how long the season is, season ain’t that long. I don’t believe that. I think the season is pretty short, honestly. 17 opportunities for all the work you’ve put in all year, it’s not that long of a season. So, for me, I attack it. I’m in the business of maximizing everything I do, so I’m definitely looking forward to, like I said, leaving my footprint, doing everything I can to hopefully allow this team to win a lot of games.”
Although Adams hadn’t talked to Brown before yesterday’s presser, it didn’t take long for the two to connect. Brown took to Twitter to say he had talked to the Raiders newcomer and how he’ll “demolish” his records.
@Raiders Alright Raider Nation! I just spoke with @tae15adams. Y'all are gonna love him! A little background: my wife and his dad's fiance were good friends in Oakland, I've been hearing about him since he started playing the game. Now i get to watch him demolish my records! Lol! pic.twitter.com/YNmG91cDOj
— Tim Brown (@81TimBrown) March 23, 2022
Although it’s extremely early and there’s no telling whether Adams will ultimately work out in Las Vegas, the expectations are high with the perennial Pro Bowler getting the full support of the fans, organization, current players and legends of the franchise.
