Winnipeg-4nov2016. Photo Scott Grant
Darvin Adams is on the telephone from his hometown of Canton, Mississippi, attempting to multi-task between chatting and working his barbecue.
Yes, life is good for the 27-year-old veteran wide receiver, and it just got a whole lot better with the announcement Monday he has signed a new three-year contract that will keep him with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers through the 2019 season.
And he made it perfectly clear in a conversation with bluebombers.com that he really had no temptation to test the Canadian Football League free agent market, scheduled to open on Feb. 14th.
“I really like Winnipeg, man,” began the Auburn product.
“I like the vibe. I like the family atmosphere with the team. I like the staff, the fan base… it’s just a great place to play football.”
“What the coaches and staff are building is something I want to be a part of because you can see a positive future there. You saw it last year, especially when we started to put some wins together in a row.
“We had a pretty good season, but we all want more.”
Adams will return after spending the last two years with the Bombers, pulling in a combined 112 passes for 1,529 yards and 12 touchdowns in just 24 games. He seemed on the verge of a bust-out season in 2016 as he was among the league leaders in receiving yards when he injured his shoulder in a Week 6 win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
Even so, he finished the year with 51 catches for 690 yards and six TDs in just eight games – four of those 100-yard efforts – in a hint of what could be ahead.
“The injuries… that’s football,” said Adams. “All you can do is keep training to get ready for the season. I feel like I’m a good receiver and they have faith in me and I appreciate the team for having that faith. I know I can produce, I just have to do my part to try and stay healthy.
“That was just a freak accident when I got hurt last year, I just fell on it wrong. I’ve looked past that a long time ago and don’t even focus on it now. I was raised like that, that you can’t go back and change things that happened in the past. So you move on and try to make things better.”
Adams has been productive at every level of football. He had 66 catches for 867 yards and 10 TDs as a senior at Harrison High School before landing at Auburn. And with the Tigers, he was a member of their 2011 BCS National Championship team that included quarterback Cam Newton and an Outback Bowl MVP award for their 2010 win over Northwestern. He also set a record in the 2010 SEC Championship game with 217 receiving yards.
He decided to skip his senior year at Auburn after the National championship game and declared for the NFL draft but was not selected. And from there Adams’ odyssey took him to the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2011, to the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League, then the Toronto Argonauts before signing with the Bombers as a free agent in February of 2015.
“Who would have ever thought a few years ago that I would be in Canada playing football as a professional,” Adams said. “But I wouldn’t change anything for it. I’m so appreciative of the CFL and what it’s given me, especially Winnipeg. It means a lot when a team believes and trusts in you so much that they want to bring you back.”
The signing of Adams leaves the Bombers with 14 players still scheduled to become free agents next month. The biggest, of course, is quarterback Matt Nichols, but the list also includes receivers Clarence Denmark, Rory Kohlert, Quincy McDuffie and Tori Gurley; linebackers Khalil Bass, Tony Burnett, Jesse Briggs and Sam Hurl; defensive tackle Euclid Cummings; offensive lineman Jeff Keeping; safety Macho Harris; defensive back/linebacker Teague Sherman and fullback/linebacker James Tuck.
