There is a report out of Gaines Adams' hometown of Greenwood South Carolina that he passed away this morning. I almost don't know what to say but I feel like I need to say something. I had the pleasure of meeting Gaines his rookie year. In all actuality it was I who sought him out. The season was about half way over and he wasn't having a lot of success. I just reached out to him to try to give him some encouragement and pass on a few tricks of the trade. Now Gaines didn't really know me from anybody and I was a little apprehensive that he might not be all that interested in hearing what some old head had to say since he was the number 4 pick in the draft and a starter as a rookie. But I have to say the exact opposite was true. Not only did he listen to what I had to say intently, he also asked some very good questions. I got the distinct impression that the kid had a burning desire to be great but he just felt lost because he didn't know HOW to be great. He ended up finishing up pretty well that year and then he had some ups and downs before finally he was traded in the middle of this season to Chicago. I personally felt it was going to be the best thing for him, being under my old defensive line coach Rod Marinelli. I had strong feelings that he would finally find himself on the football field and start living up to his potential. Sadly that will not happen now and that is a real tragedy. My prayers are with all his family and friends as the NFL family mourns another one of ours called home.
RIP Gaines.
RIP Gaines.
Do teams ever encourage players to get EKGs or the like? Are there team doctors who observe workouts and offer such advice or are the players on their own? I mean its one thing to ignore such advice but quite another if there is no one watching young men who need to push their bodies so hard.
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