The game has been uncommonly cruel to David Adams. Fresh off being named Pennsylvania’s high school Defensive Player of the Year, he arrived at Notre Dame with visions of national championships and a future in the NFL.

Those visions ended uncommonly early. Dealing with a range of maladies from concussions to torn labrums to knee surgeries, he never entered a game. After his freshman season, in 2018, he was medically disqualified.

Four years later, the college grad now working a desk job in Pittsburgh is awaiting a core surgery, one more reminder of the toll the game of football took on him. His good friend and former Central Catholic High School teammate, Bills safety Damar Hamlin, nearly died on the field Monday, when, after a seemingly innocuous hit, his heart stopped.

Adams has every reason to begrudge the game that has taken so much from him and nearly stole something (or someone) irreplaceable.