Davante Adams has achieved nearly everything a wide receiver could hope to during his ultra-productive 12-year NFL career, but one key accomplishment has eluded him.
A trip to the Super Bowl.
“It just feels almost like a mythical thing to me at this point,” Adams, 33, said. “You do everything you can to get there. It’s been so hard, and I’ve been working so hard at it. We’re close. We just got to finish it off.”
Sunday is set to be Adams’ fifth appearance in an NFC Championship Game. His fifth-seeded Los Angeles Rams (12-5) are visiting the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks (14-3) at Lumen Field with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
Adams’ previous four trips to the conference championship game came with the Green Bay Packers, who lost all four.
That’s why Adams wasn’t exactly giddy when the road-warrior Rams defeated the Carolina Panthers in the Wild Card round or the Chicago Bears in last weekend’s Divisional Round.
“Forgive me if I’m not smiling ear to ear after the first win or the second win,” said Adams, who attributed his stoic demeanor to “having been here so many times and understanding exactly what it takes to get where we’re ultimately trying to go.”
Expect that to change if the Rams pull off a mild upset of the Seahawks on Sunday.
After all, Adams signed a two-year, $44 million contract with the Rams last March in large part because it gave him the chance to play for a contender for the first time in years.
This is Adams’ first trip to the postseason since January 2022, which ended up being his final appearance with the Packers.
He then played 2 ½ years with the Las Vegas Raiders before the Jets acquired him in an October 2024 trade, reuniting Adams with quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a last-ditch effort to salvage that season.
Adams was productive with the Jets, hauling in 67 catches for 854 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games.
But the Jets went just 3-8 with Adams and finished 5-12.
Adams’ fate was largely tied to that of Rodgers, whom the new regime of head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey opted to move on from last offseason.
The release of Adams — who was set to count $38.3 million against the salary cap — followed, and he became a Ram about a week later.
It proved to be a productive proposition, as Adams made 60 catches for 789 yards and an NFL-high 14 touchdown receptions in 14 games.
“He’s meant so much, and he’s done so many different things,” head coach Sean McVay said. “Obviously [he has] the stats and what he’s done in the red zone, but … there’s a lot of stuff that don’t go in the stats that move our offense forward, with the amount of [pass interference calls he draws], contact fouls.”
McVay continued, “He elicits attention that opens things up, but also, he’s a phenomenal leader. He’s got so much wisdom.”
Adams ranks seventh in NFL history with 117 receiving touchdowns and 26th with 12,633 receiving yards.
Pairing the three-time All-Pro with star receiver Puka Nacua gave the Rams one of the NFL’s best duos, helping quarterback Matthew Stafford lead the league in passing yards (4,707) and touchdowns (46) in a potential MVP season.
Adams replaced franchise stalwart Cooper Kupp, 32, whom the Rams released in mid-March.
Kupp, the 2022 Super Bowl MVP, signed with Seattle in the offseason and will face his former team on Sunday in another compelling storyline.
This is the third time this season that the Rams and Seahawks will play each other. The teams split their regular-season meetings, with Sam Darnold-led Seattle winning an instant-classic Week 16 bout with first place in the NFC West on the line.
Adams missed that game with a hamstring injury, which he said “crushed” him. The Rams led, 30-14, in the fourth quarter of that game, only to lose in overtime, 38-37.
“My presence out there, I always feel like I can help, whether it’s making a play or just affecting coverage or whatever it is,” Adams said ahead of the playoff rematch. “It’s exciting to be able to get another crack at it.”
