Adams attended Westlake High School, where he was a two-way player. As a junior, he had 113 tackles, rushed for 1,500 yards and was named regional offensive player of the year. As a senior, he tallied 109 tackles, 6 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and rushed for 700 yards. His play on defense earned him a selection for the Georgia-Florida All-Star Game, where he had 6 tackles. He also was the state runner up in wrestling and clocked 10.8 seconds in the 100 metres.
College career
Adams accepted a football scholarship from Clemson University. As a freshman in 1998, he was a backup at linebacker. As a sophomore in 1999, he was named a starter at outside linebacker. He registered 186 tackles, 35 tackles for loss and 16 sacks. He set a school record with 27 tackles against the University of South Carolina. He set school records with 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss against Duke University. He had 10 tackles and received the defensive MVP award against Mississippi State University in the 1999 Peach Bowl. He earned first-team All-ACC, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and second-team All-American honors. As a junior in 2000, he recorded 138 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 19 quarterback pressures, 4 forced fumbles and one interception. He received first-team All-ACC and consensus first-team All-American honors. At the end of his junior season he declared his intention to enter the NFL Draft, finishing his college career after playing in 35 games, ranking sixth in school history in career tackles, third in career tackles for loss, third in career sacks, number one in tackles in a game, number one in tackles in a season, number one in sacks in a game, number one in sacks in a season, number one in tackles for loss in a game and number one in tackles for loss in a season. In 2011, he was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame.
Adams was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round of the 2001 NFL Draft, after dropping because of his size. He played throughout the preseason, but was a roster cut on August 31.
On November 8, 2001, He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys to their practice squad. On November 21, he was promoted to the active roster. He played in four games on special teams and was declared inactive for the last 3 contests. He collected 3 special teams tackles. In 2002, he was allocated to NFL Europa and played in ten games for the Berlin Thunder, finishing with 55 tackles, one sack. He helped the Thunder reach World Bowl X and win their second consecutive Championship. He began the NFL season with the Cowboys and started 5 games at middle linebacker, replacing an injured Dat Nguyen and registering 27 tackles. After head coachDave Campo decided to start Markus Steele in his place, he was waived on October 22, to make room for guardJeremy McKinney. He finished with 27 tackles, one quarterback pressure and 4 special teams tackles.
Philadelphia Eagles
On October 21, 2002, the Philadelphia Eagles released linebacker Quinton Caver to claim Adams off waivers. He played mainly on special teams under then assistant coach John Harbaugh. In 2003, he played in 15 games, leading the NFC in special teams tackles. In 2004, he played in all 16 regular season games, making two starts. He recorded 54 defensive tackles and 24 special teams tackles. He started at weakside linebacker in place of an injured Mark Simoneau, in three postseason games, but returned to a reserve role in Super Bowl XXXIX. In 2006, he was named the starter at weakside linebacker over Mark Simoneau, playing in all 16 games and registering a career-high 101 tackles.
