Former Steelers offensive tackle Mike Adams did not have the NFL career he wanted to have after being selected out of Ohio State. Coming out in the 2012 NFL Draft and drafted with the 58th pick in the second round, Adams only fell there after concerns made him drop there.
But with the Steelers, he never quite evened out his play on the field. As such, the team lost who they thought would be a cornerstone tackle, but that later turned into Alejandro Villanueva. Now, Adams is a yoga teacher and leaner, but his career was forever changed was stabbed in an apparent robbery attempt in 2013.
Joining the All for Nothing Podcast, Adams detailed the recovery process and night he thought he could potentially lose his life and career. He spent 10 days in the hospital recovering from the stab wounds, trying to make it back for training camp, which was about two months after the event occurred.
“I got stabbed in the stomach in an attempted robbery and carjacking,” Adams said. “That was the big pivot, the big turning point for me. It was the first time in my life where if I was going to make it, and then I didn’t know if i was going to be able to play football again. It cut my colon in half, so it was a real big battle.”
Adams said had the knife been deeper or paramedics would have come ten minutes later, he would have died. But from there, he still had to recover in full. He made a mostly full recovery and avoided needed a colostomy bag, which would have ended his playing career with the Steelers and any other team. So, Adams tried to rush back to the field. But by doing so, created a hernia where Adams could barely play. After that, he was benched and tried to recover fully.
However, before the 2015 season, Adams dealt with a major back injury. It was a massive herniation, that was related to his hernia, on the lower part of his spine. Adams could not raise the front part of his foot, and ended up having surgery to fix the issue. He would be cut after failing a physical in May of 2016.
“I rushed that, developed a hernia in my stomach, could barely play, and got benched for the first time in my life,” Adams said. “Coupled on this, I had PTSD and night terrors, I slept maybe one hour a night on average. That means some nights I didn’t sleep. I had suicidal ideations.”
His football career did not turn the way it was supposed to, largely because of this incident. But Adams has transformed his body and now teaches yoga. It seems that he is in a healthier place both physically and mentally after the incident. The struggle is something he never forgot.
“The whole mental struggle with that, I don’t think anyone could really be prepared for,” Adams said. “But all the great people, coaches I’ve had around me and teammates, friends, I was as prepared as I could have been.”
On the recommendation of a teammate, Adams got into what he does now, yoga. But the mental struggles he dealt with from the incident still played a massive role in his young life both on and off the football field.