The story behind Sean McVay’s ‘funny’ tapes to Davante Adams during Rams’ courtship

The Los Angeles Rams offered a geographical advantage in the Davante Adams sweepstakes, but that didn’t stop Sean McVay from putting on a unique recruiting pitch to land him.

McVay sent Adams several highlights of the star receiver prior to him signing a deal to join the Rams, but with a twist: the head coach added narration over the plays, according to FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer.

“I’ve never heard this one before. Davante Adams, he’s overseas, I think in Japan, on vacation. Sean McVay starts sending him narrated clips of Davante Adams,” Glazer said on the most recent episode of the “NFL on FOX Podcast.” 

“He’s saying things, like certain things, basically there’s a certain play where he’s showing him this and Sean’s calling it out, ‘Why are they doing this?’ Then, all of a sudden, the DB trips and falls over and Davante breaks one off. Sean’s narrating and is basically like, ‘Look at how many times we can do this if we’re on the Rams.'”

McVay continued to charm Adams through several clips, with each narration getting “funnier and funnier,” Glazer said.

“There was another play where I think [Adams] catches a touchdown to cap off a 99-yard drive,” Glazer said. “But Sean says to him, ‘But how cold was it out there? Sure, it’s a touchdown. You know where it’s not cold? Los Angeles. It’s not cold.'”

When Adams was introduced as a member of the Rams earlier in March, he said that McVay had sent him clips of his own highlights during the free-agent process.

“It was kind of Jon Gruden-esque a little bit,” Adams told reporters. “And you know how he is with ball, so he’s breaking down every single clip. The first one was like seven minutes, and then he sent another one that was like probably another two minutes where he’s just going through everything.

“I thought he took that job to be on TV for a minute when I was watching it, but, yeah, it just shows how much ball means to him, how much of a priority I was for him.”

While Glazer didn’t say when those specific plays were, there’s a good chance the second one he mentioned occurred during his time with the Green Bay Packers. Adams called Lambeau Field home for the first eight years of his career. Despite playing in chilly Green Bay, Adams was one of the game’s most productive receivers in his last four years with the team, averaging 108 receptions for 1,328 yards and 12 touchdowns per season over that stretch.

Of course, Adams had a future Hall of Famer throwing to him over those years, catching passes from four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. But he’ll have another potential future Hall of Fame quarterback in Los Angeles, with the Rams opting to keep Matthew Stafford after risking letting him leave this offseason. 

Adams shared that the way Stafford helped Calvin Johnson set the record for most receiving yards in a single season left a positive impression on him. 

“He doesn’t make it any harder than it needs to be out there. He’s simple. Dating back to when ‘Megatron’ broke the record, I think he needed like 180-something [yards] and he went and got him like 220-something [yards],” Adams said. “Seeing that and just knowing that in that situation, I don’t think they were headed anywhere near the playoffs, but to play in that game, not check out in the last game of the year, know how much that means to ‘Megatron’ and know how much it means to him to be a part of something like that, it just says the type of person that he is.”

But as Adams waxed poetic about Stafford, Glazer also believes that McVay’s tapes and narration were just as pivotal in getting the wide receiver to sign a two-year, $46 million deal.

“When Sean gets enthusiastic about somebody, it’s hard not to get the same enthusiasm back. Like, this dude is courting you, there’s a good chance you’re going to say, ‘OK, I’m in. I want him as my prom date.'”

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