In honor of all the hype in the air circling the first day of the preseason in the NFL, I thought it was only appropriate to talk about football. However, instead of reviewing on Preseason Day 1 of the NFL, let’s take a moment to appreciate the graduation of a quarterback in the Northwest.
After graduating from Eastern Washington University, Vernon Adams Jr. finalized his transfer to University of Oregon where he is excited to partake in the Sports Management graduate program … and fight for a starting position as quarterback on the Ducks’ well renowned offense.
As of yesterday, Adams was approved to begin partaking in preseason workouts with his new teammates, which he was very excited about, saying, “My expectations are just what I’ve been saying: come in and earn guys’ trust and earn the start spot when fall camp comes.”
If having to jump the hurdles of finishing his final classes at Eastern Washington weren’t taxing enough, Adams now has a series of new challenges he has graduated to.
First, Adams has to come into a completely new football program and offensive system. On top of that, he is coming into a program where most have been at the very least playing together since training camp in the spring.
Second, for the players that have been veterans at a well-respected national program, Adams has 3 weeks to earn their respect. One of whom is the current starting quarterback Jeff Lockie.
Having been Marcus Mariota’s backup for a couple of years now, Lockie is probably not the most thrilled about Adams’ arrival. Talent aside, no one likes walking into a room and staring someone in the face knowing that you might be putting him out of a job. Fighting for the starting spot.
Last, if Adams wins the 3-week bout for the starting quarterback position, he has the privilege of starting his football career with Oregon by facing his now Alma Mater.
That being said, if Adams has had the strength of character to make it this far and has passed the tests in front of him to get to Oregon, it is safe to assume that the preseason workouts and his first game as a Duck shouldn’t be a problem.
If nothing else, Adams has showed us in a national spotlight that he is able to rise to the occasion and has a bright future ahead of him.
The game between the Oregon Ducks and the Eastern Washington Eagles airs at 8:00 PM ET on the Pac-12 Network.
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