Amid the Coronavirus disease pandemic currently going on across the world, there has been great news for two former USF Bulls Football players. Deatrick Nichols and Rodney Adams are the two former Bulls getting their shot at playing in the National Football League (NFL).
Nichols, 25, originally from Miami, Florida, played for the Bulls as a Defensive Back from 2015-2018. In 2015 and 2017, Nichols was named First team All-AAC, and in 2016 Second team All-AAC. Following an outstanding college career, Nichols declared for the 2018 NFL Draft. Despite going undrafted, Nichols was signed as an undrafted free-agent by the Arizona Cardinals. Making his professional debut on September 16th of the same year, Nichols was eventually released by the team in October, and resigned to the team’s practice squad. After being added back to the Cardinals’ active roster in October 2018, only to be released five days later, Nichols had to wait until late December to be promoted once again to the 53-man roster, only to be cut again three days later. The following season (2019-20), Nichols was released by the Cardinals.
In October 2019, only two months after being released from the Arizona Cardinals, Nichols was selected in the 39th Round of the 2020 XFL Draft by the Houston Roughnecks. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the XFL ended its season in the middle of March 2020. The league was only able to complete five of its scheduled weeks of play. Nichols recorded 24 tackles, one sack, six passes defended and a league leading three interceptions before the XFL’s season was cancelled.
Playing in the XFL gave Nichols an opportunity to rejuvenate his professional career. He signed with the New Orleans Saints of the NFL on March 24th.
The other former USF Bulls player to have recent success is Wide Receiver Rodney Adams. Adams, 25, from St. Petersburg, Florida, was a standout Wide Receiver for the Bulls for three seasons spanning from 2014-2016. After his campaign at South Florida, which included 16 receiving touchdowns, seven rushing touchdowns, a Kick Return touchdown, and a grand total of 3,465 all-purpose yards, Adams declared for the 2017 NFL Draft.
The 2017 NFL Draft, which spanned from April 27-29, featured seven rounds of each team selecting players. In the 5th Round, the Minnesota Vikings selected Adams with the 170th pick overall.
Adams’ career began very similarly to that of Nichols’. He was released by the Vikings in October of 2017, resigned on a reserve/future contract with the Indianapolis Colts in February 2018, and placed on the reserve list in April 2018. 21 months later, in January 2020, Adams was reinstated to the Colts’ active roster. Earlier this month, Adams announced his reinstatement to the NFL on Instagram with the following caption, “This journey of mine has been a wild one, everybody has a different path. I can’t wait to get back on the field with my brothers and go to war [against the other teams]!”
The SoFloBulls family wishes these two outstanding players success in their respective careers.