"She is the perfect role model for me," Adams says. He stays true to the values that kept him and his mom going when they made up a two-person team, before his mom met Darryl - back then he was out for himself and for his mom. While some footballers have vast entourages, Adams only lets a handful in: family and extremely close friends. It's not in his nature, nor will his inner circle allow it. He refuses to give up or, once things go back in his favour, overindulge in the highs, whether he's playing in the Bundesliga or in a World Cup, which he will presumably be doing for the USMNT in Qatar this winter. Instead of raising his voice or letting his anger loose, Adams exudes a very calm, bubbling frustration. He's sitting on his sofa in his apartment, talking calmly about how he's been named again on the bench for Leipzig, but he's not happy about it. Tyler Adams is ticked off when he sits down to talk to ESPN. "Also the boy they knew growing up in high school, the one that gave back to his community. "I want people to know me for what I am like, not just as a soccer player," he says. Instead, you believe him, and you want to be on the same team as him. So when he talks about legacy at the age of 23, and why he's never given himself a mark higher than seven out of 10, you don't roll your eyes. He's looking for the "middle ground" - he wants to be the glue of the team, the persevering hard worker, but also a leader. When you watch Adams hustling an opposition player into losing the ball, or turning and pinging a pass 50 metres to put a teammate into space, he isn't looking for headlines. And if you're low, they'll get you back to the middle ground." "My mom always texts me saying, 'You're still that punk-ass kid that I remember, who I gave nuggies to.' It's her saying that when you get too high, my family are there to humble me quickly. His mom, Melissa Russo, makes sure he never forgets where he came from. But when his new dad, Darryl, arrived on the scene when Adams was 13, he became eldest of four brothers.
As an only child growing up in Wappinger Falls, New York, about a 90-minute drive from Manhattan, he was the man of the house.
He has some art to put up, but fundamentally everything about Tyler Adams - what drives him and keeps him accountable - is in those small 6x4 frames.Įverything comes back to family and his inner circle. Instead of football memorabilia, there are two electronic frames on the windowsill, cycling through photos of his family and some of him with his partner, Sarah. I know I'm a different breed than most people with how focused I am." We're not friends, we're rivals and competing. Then the seriousness returns: "But no, don't do that.
"If someone asked me for my jersey at halftime, I'd probably punch them." People still swap jerseys at halftime, I'm like, 'You guys are competing and you want that jersey? Are you serious right now?' " Adams laughs. "I don't need to go up to people and ask for their jersey - I'm not a fan," Adams told ESPN. men's national team and a key midfielder for RB Leipzig, one of the best teams in the Bundesliga. They're bare: no signed shirts, nothing suggesting he is one of the most influential figures on the U.S. The empty walls of his apartment are testament to that. Names and reputation mean little to him - there's respect, but not awe. Whenever he steps out on the pitch and looks at his opposition, his mind is whirring about how he can get the advantage. LEIPZIG, Germany - Tyler Adams doesn't get the whole swapping shirts thing.
USMNT star Tyler Adams doesn't care about the limelight - he's earning it anyway with Bundesliga success
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