Adam Seward
| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | June 15, 1982 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Champaign-Urbana, Illinois | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | University of Nevada-Las Vegas | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2005 / Round: 5 / Pick: 149 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2009 | |||||||||
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Adam Hartford Seward (born June 15, 1982 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois) is a retired American football linebacker and the Defensive Coordinator at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at UNLV.
Seward has also been a member of the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Early years
Adam Hartford Seward was born on June 15, 1982 at Carle Clinic Hospital in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. His father, Thomas Seward, was a football coach at the University of Illinois. His mother, Amy Seward, was a Chicago Bears cheerleader. As a young child, Seward was immersed in football, attending his father's games and constantly being around players and coaches. "It was all I ever wanted to do," Seward said. "When you sit in school and the teacher asks you what you want to be when you grow up, you're not supposed to say, 'I want to be a football player.' But, that's really what my heart was set on doing. As a kid, my family lived and breathed football. My parents were such great role-models, always using their experience to help guide me. I knew I could make it to the NFL if I tried hard enough."
After moving to Las Vegas at an early age, Seward quickly became interested in organized sports, excelling at soccer, wrestling, baseball, and tennis. At 12, he participated in his first season of organized football. However, it wasn't until the following season that Seward would first begin to play linebacker. Originally slated to play defensive end, Seward talked about the experience, saying, "My defensive line coach was set on me being a star defensive end, but when one of the linebackers got hurt, the defensive coordinator, who was also the linebacker coach, came looking for me. After he told my d-line coach that I was moving to linebacker, there was brief argument. Once d-line coach realized that there was nothing he could do, he look at me and said in a soft voice,'Get out of here, traitor.' It was that moment that I became a linebacker."
High school
Seward attended Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, NV. He was a two-time All-State selection at linebacker and a starting running back. His biggest game came during his senior season at national powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School. Despite being huge underdogs, Seward rushed for over 200 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Bengals to an overtime victory over the Gaels. The game is currently Bonanza's last victory over Bishop Gorman in football.
In addition to football, he was a star athlete in track (shot put and discus), and won the Nevada state heavyweight title in wrestling. He and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who were teammates in 1998, are among the 12 state wrestling champions in Bonanza High School's history.
College career
Known as one of the top defensive players in the State of Nevada during his senior year, Seward opted to stay home and signed a scholarship offer to attend college in his hometown at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he played four years for the Rebels. He became a starter during his freshman season and went on to be named All-Mountain West Conference three times. When he graduated in 2004, he left as both UNLV's and the Mountain West Conference's all-time leader in tackles (Though his UNLV record still stands, New Mexico's Carmen Messina would go on to break his MWC record during his final game of the 2011 season). He also had six sacks, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and two interceptions. Seward was also an active member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Professional career
At the 2005 NFL Combine, Seward (248lbs.) was official clocked at 4.56 in the 40-yard dash, leading many NFL scouts to believe that he would be a late 2nd-early 3rd round pick. However, scouts soon discovered a broken bone in his right foot, which caused his draft stock to fall dramatically. Nevertheless, Seward was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 5th round (149th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. Seward later commented on the experience saying, "I had a broken foot and didn't know it. Of course I wanted to be drafted on the first day, but it didn't happen. People always say that things happen for a reason, well, Carolina has the best foot doctor in the country (Dr. Bob Anderson). He was able to fix my foot and allow me to play another five years. Who knows what would have happened had another team drafted me. I enjoyed my time in Charlotte."
Despite the setback, Seward rapidly became a star special teams player and back-up linebacker during his rookie season. Over the course of his career with the Panthers, he was frequently known as one of Carolina's best special teams players. He also served as a backup to All-Pro Linebackers Dan Morgan and Jon Beason. In 2008, with one of the best defenses in the NFL, Carolina compiled a record of 12-4 and won the NFC South.
After a successful four-year stint with the Panthers that include two playoff runs and a trip to the 2005 NFC Championship Game, Seward signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an Unrestricted Free Agent. Though released during the 2009 preseason, Seward would sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars the very next day. He spent the 2009-10 season as a member of the Jaguars.
Life after football
In 2010, after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia that required intensive repairs to not only the abdominal area, but also to several tendons in the right leg, Seward retired from the NFL and took a job with the NFL's Representative Office in Mexico City. He also hosted a Spanish-language radio show in Mexico City aimed at promoting football in Latin America. In 2011, he received two top-level Spanish-language certifications from UNAM(Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico).
After achieving great success in Mexico, Seward was employed by the NFL's Representative Office in Beijing, China. In 2012, he served as a Chinese-language analyst for NFL football in China on Sina-Weibo.
Personal
Seward is currently pursuing a master's degree in business administration at the University of Southern California. He is fluent in both Spanish and Chinese.
His father, Tom, played for Eastern Illinois University, and was the co-captain of the squad which won the NCAA Division II football title in 1978. He later was an assistant coach for The University of Illinois, Howard University, UNLV, and Southern Illinois University. Seward's mother, Amy, was a cheerleader for the Chicago Bears.