Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams was named to first-team All-Pro for the third consecutive season, but this year’s honors were the most special to him as he completed his first season with the Raiders.
“It proved that I am me,” Adams said of the first time he had received the honors without playing with his former quarterback while with the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, who is now with the New York Jets.
“A quarterback doesn’t make me. … I make me. And I can do it consistently at this level” Adams added during an interview with The Ringer.
“That’s why [last] season meant a lot. Even if I went and played like dog s— next year, they can’t say it. Because now I’ve already proved it throughout the course of a season, played every game, and put together a résumé that says I do not need …
“You can erase all the numbers. You can just write in: He didn’t need Aaron Rodgers.”
Adams inked a five-year, $141.25 million deal with the Raiders which made him the highest-paid receiving in the league at the time and Adams would haul in 100 passes for 1,516 yards and a league-leading 14 receiving touchdowns in 17 games for the Raiders in 2022.
Adams mostly played with then-Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who is now with the New Orleans Saints.
Now people can’t say that,” Adams continued. “That’ll never be the narrative ever again. … If I wouldn’t have gotten first-team All-Pro, this is the first year where I would’ve actually cared.
“When I got it, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll never care about another one.'”
