Not many families can say Temple University means more to them than the Adams family.
When James Adams first stepped foot on the university’s North Philadelphia campus in 1981, he was just a kid trying to make a name for himself on Temple’s now-defunct baseball team.
Adams was already a hot commodity in college baseball as a left-handed pitcher. He walked on to the team, and former manager Skip Wilson kept him around to work out of the team’s bullpen. Now, 42 years later, he still walks campus as a member of Temple’s police force alongside his son John Adams, a wide receiver on the Owls’ football team.
“I couldn’t script this any better, could you?” James Adams said. “Back in 1981, I had no clue that this [would] develop into this story. If you told me that back in ‘81 that I was going to have a son that would play football at Temple and all the other stuff that’s happened, I mean come on. There’s no way that I would believe you.”
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John Adams walked on to Temple’s football team in 2021 as a speedy but unpolished wide receiver from Deptford High School in New Jersey. He impressed enough people to stick around the following two years and play an important role on special teams. On Oct. 7, 2023, he had his statement game at receiver against Texas-San Antonio, finishing with 10 catches, 127 yards, and a touchdown.
James Adams’ Temple legacy goes much deeper than his family ties. He worked as an on-campus security guard following his 1986 graduation. A decade later, he became a police officer for Temple’s police department. Now, he’s back in his role as a security guard. But James Adams finds more joy watching his son take the field for the Owls.
In September, James Adams was chosen as an honorary captain for the Owls’ home opener against Coastal Carolina. He took the field for the opening coin toss and shared a moment on the sidelines with his son, who later scored a touchdown in a tight loss.
“I’m glad they recognized his hard work because that’s really where I get my hard work from,” John Adams said. “He was living his dream, and to see how happy he was, to see me on the field with him, it was only right for me to get a touchdown that game too. It was just a dream come true and a blessing.”
John Adams credits his dad for being there during the toughest moments of his life. Adams broke his leg at the tail end of last season and thought about quitting football entirely. But it was his dad who kept him going through his darkest points, he said.
“I was actually about to stop playing,” John Adams said. “But my mom and my dad continued to keep my mind straight and just remind me how much I really loved this game. I was in dark moments and dark times, but I feel as though that injury made me into a stronger man.”
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Despite coaches often having short memories with walk-ons, Adams worked his way back into the receiver rotation and as a full-go leading up to the 2024 season. Before the Owls’ season opener this year, former head coach Stan Drayton secretly reached out to James Adams and his wife while they were in Denver telling them John was going to receive a full scholarship and asked them to record a video to show their son at one of the team’s last practices of the offseason.
Adams, who watched the video before his entire team, immediately teared up. He spoke to his teammates after the video ended thanking them for treating him like family. But it’s his dad that gets the most credit every time he accomplishes something new, he said.
“My parents instilled in me to always be ready and to never get pressured in big moments,” John Adams said. “[James] has been a big part of my life and growing up. He played a big role in where I’m at now, and he knows how much I love him and I know how much he loves me.”
However, James Adams also said he will always be the first to be real with his son. When John Adams graduated high school, he had to decide whether to become the focal point of a Division II offense or try his luck as a Division I walk-on. While his dad suggested he consider D-II football, John’s list started and ended with Temple because of his dad’s history at the university.
“I was trying to convince him to go to a Division II college so he could go and play right away,” James Adams said. “But he told me, ‘No, Dad, my heart is set on Temple.’ Well, he got a tryout and they liked his speed; he ran a 4.4 [second] 40 [-yard dash], and the rest is history. I was worried he might not get a shot to play for Temple but he just grinded. I’m proud of him.”
Both James and John are fully aware of how rare it is for a Division I football player to be so close to their family on a daily basis. James has traveled to every road game during John’s Temple tenure and lives just five minutes from campus. He regularly sees and meets up with his son during the week, and John loves having his father so close and available to provide guidance.
“Remember the guy who invented the light bulb?” James Adams said. “He tried for years and years and years and then boom, it came to fruition. That’s how I feel [about] me and my son. Back in 1981, I had no idea this was going to happen. If you believe in yourself and you have support, good things happen. I’m a living testimony that these things do happen to good people.”
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