Does Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Adams’ Legal Troubles Jeopardize Future With Team?

Aug 19, 2013; Landover, MD, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Mike Adams (76) prepares to block Washington Redskins defensive end Darryl Tapp (54) during the first half at FedEX Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

We all felt for Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Adams last summer didn’t we?  The former 2012 2nd rounder was stabbed in the abdomen late in the evening (or very early in the morning depending on how you look at it) during what Adams would report as an attempted carjacking.  A carjacking?  That’s pretty serious and an unfortunate “wrong place at the wrong time” event that left Adams at the wrong end of a knife.  Seemed like an open and shut case.  Three men were involved and were arrested by police shortly after the incident.  Adams would need surgery to repair laceration damages sustained in the attack, and would miss a large chunk of workouts during his recovery.  He struggled most of the season – never really improving much from his rookie season the year prior.

The trial for these three men are taking place this week, and so far, we are learning that there are two very different sides to the events that occurred that evening – far from an open and shut case.  I mentioned in a recent post about this incident that the defense for the three men had subpoenaed Steelers GM Kevin Colbert for personnel records that pertained to Adams.  They want to rub away any sheen left on Adams’ character.  The defenses’ statements for these three men aren’t backing down in any attempt of character assassination either.

Nakama Japanese Steakhouse in Pittsburgh’s South Side near where the altercation too place.

In a report late Tuesday night from the PPG, the defense opened up with a completely different side to the story.  According to the three men, Adams was drunk, walking down the street, bumped into one of the three men, which then lead to an altercation, and eventually ended in Adams being stabbed by a shish kabob he was carrying from the Japanese restaurant he just exited.  They are framing Adams as the aggressor and arguing that the carjacking story was made up as a cover for Adams’ behavior.  That’s what defense attorneys do – chip away to leave doubt.

There’s no questioning that Adams was stabbed.  Someone’s going to jail for that.  What the defense is trying to do is lower the eventual penalty by making it seem like a random altercation rather than an attempted homicide.  And they have the ‘evidence’ for that too: Adams’ BAC at the hospital was .185 (more than twice the legal limit in PA).  How he would be coherent enough to even get in his truck in the first place is somewhat surprising.  They are also questioning motive in the whole thing.  Why would these three men go after a guy way bigger than them?  Why would one of these men, who is an up and coming rapper and recently signed by Wiz Khalifa (now there’s some irony), want to carjack someone?  They say that Adams is making up the carjacking story because “being out at 3 o’clock in the morning, drunk, is not the Steelers’ way.”

They don’t have to be right, but just put enough doubt in a jury’s mind that the three men are not guilty of attempted homicide.

Does the defense of these three men change anything with Adams and the Steelers?  If the jury finds the defense not guilty of homicide under the premise that Adams was not completely truthful, what will the front office have to say about that?  Adams was already in legal trouble prior to joining the ranks of NFL athletes.  The Steelers took a chance on him then, believing in giving second chances to a guy with a lot of potential – both on the field and as a man.  I can tell you that if the defense wins this case, then that pretty much throws egg on the Steelers FO’s faces.  Will that be the end then of Adams?

Is a guy who was drafted to be the next starting left tackle, who currently playing as an average right tackle, worth that kind of embarrassment and trouble?

Adams takes the stand on Wednesday morning at the first witness.  Guess we’ll find out.