There once was a time when I admired the ones that came before me. Our ancestors paved a way for us to break barriers, end stereotypes and change the perspective of how we handle our gifts and talents. I often admired my family members that I grew up with; my father loved technology and fixing electronics so much that he once opened a radio just to see how it worked. All my uncles are talented with their crafts. My uncle Michael loves to lay tile on walls and floors so much that he now does it for a living. When I was growing up the only thing, I would watch on television would be cartoons, wrestling, and football. I admired athletes like Terrell Owens and even college greats like Peter Warrick when he played for Florida State University. There was one football player that I discovered and liked, who brought a new perspective to the comedy world, his name was Anthony Adams.

Anthony ‘Spice’ Adams was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 18, 1980; he was the only child of Anthony Adams Sr. and Constance Davis. There is not much known of his mother’s profession, but she played a major part in his upbringing. Spice’s father is an Abstract painter who was incarcerated when Spice was only four years old but at the age of twenty-eight his father was released from prison. His father got to see Spice play when he was on the Detroit Lions team. Spice’s mother never held any malice or talked negatively about Spice’s father’s absence. Young Spice would often entertain his relatives and friends as a child when they came over. As Spice got older, he became a great defense tackle at football. In college, Spice was a part of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and was initiated at Nu Chapter. He also played college football for Penn State and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft where Spice played for four seasons. He then played for the Chicago Bears from 2007 to 2011. Spice later got into and has even appeared in a few ‘Verzuz Battle’ spoofs on Instagram where he and Affion Crockett do impressions of two celebrity music artist and their performances. Spice is happily married to his wife Andenika and together they have four children. Spice then dabbled in television shows such as hosting a weekly half-hour show titled Inside the Bears and “The Great American Baking Show Holiday Edition.” Since 2006, Spice has been involved with Youth Ville, a program in his hometown. He once gave away two Super Bowl XL tickets to a student who demonstrated the greatest improvement in their grade point average. In 2009, Adams visited several Chicago Public Schools to help students write letters to troops overseas during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Anthony Spice Adams was a great player on the football field and is a great father in real life. He never complained about life’s struggles. Spice just lived his life and ran toward what made him happy. Football is a dangerous sport, but Spice took a leap of faith and shot for the stars becoming an entertainer.

The article Former Defense Tackle NFL Player, Anthony ‘Spice’ Adams and His Fatherly Love first appeared at DearFathers.com.