Over the weekend, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick revealed the 2021 NFL Draft would be the last for longtime “Football Research Director” Ernie Adams.
Adams has been involved in professional football dating back to 1975, when he was a member of Chuck Fairbanks’ staff in New England.
Since that time, Adams made brief stops in New York and Cleveland before becoming the Patriots “Football Research Director” in 2000, a position he’s now held for two decades.
Under head coach Bill Belichick, Adams played an integral, but sometimes mysterious role in the Patriots rise to NFL dominance.
Although his specific job duties over the years varied, it’s known Adams assisted the scouting department in preparing for the NFL Draft each year, advised the coaching staff on game days, and became a Belichick advisor on when to challenge plays during a game.
“Ernie’s contributions are historic,” Belichick said Saturday. “He’s literally been involved in every single aspect of football program at every level that you could possibly be involved in and has done an outstanding job in all of them.
“Not all coaches have the kind of involvement that Ernie’s had in the draft process throughout his career. His knowledge, experience and decisions and organization and being part of the process, the way he set it up and taught it to really all the people that have come through here … he’s really had a big hand in the foundation when it was laid in the middle 70s. It’s on a major level.”
Although Belichick didn’t specify whether or not Adams was retiring from football altogether, his involvement with the draft process is now over.
Over social media Monday, the New England Patriots shared footage of Belichick personally giving Adams the special honor of making the teams final draft pick. Adams chose University of Central Florida wide receiver Tre Nixon.
Check out how the ceremonious pick went down in the link below.
Nixon later saw the video and shared the following reaction over Twitter.
https://twitter.com/tre_nixon1/status/1389227365050486785?s=20
Longtime Patriot Julian Edelman also shared some thoughts on Adams NFL career after learning of his departure from draft work.
The guy behind the guy. Look at all the HOF players Ernie has been a part of drafting over the past 50 years. It’s insane. #Legend https://t.co/kc7mLYYpU1
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) May 3, 2021
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