This is Adams in a nutshell. At times, the 300-pound defensive tackle has complete command of his man on the other side of the line, but he always has complete control of the locker room. Unquestionably one of the Nittany Lions' most original and light-hearted personalities, Adams keeps his teammates on their toes and the opposition on its heels.
"I kind of think of him as a Courtney Brown," says center Joe Iorio. "He's laid back but once he gets on the field it's all business."
Johnson says Adams has "made leaps and bounds" in developing his game. The results back that claim.
The redshirt senior from Detroit is fifth on the team in tackles, tied for second in tackles for loss and has one and a half sacks this season. His amiability turns to ferocity once the ball is snapped -- most of the time.
"On the field is when I stop it," Adams says. "But sometimes I don't. I always try to stay loose. I might even crack a joke with the refs. That's just the type of person I am."
Not surprisingly, Adams' propensity for pranks goes way back, to his days as a young boy growing up in Detroit. His mother, Constance Davis, remembers how Anthony would torment his friends during sleepovers at the family's home, putting things in their hands while they slept.
Davis also found herself roused from her slumber on a number of occasions by guess who.
"He was always sticking things in your ear and up your nose when you were trying to sleep," she says.
There's something to be said for genetics, however. When Adams fell asleep, his mother would return the favor, creating somewhat of a vicious cycle.
"In order for it to end, I used to have to lock my door so he couldn't get in," Davis recalls with a laugh.
Adams' jovial nature carried on into high school, where he would drop all the books he was holding if someone accidentally bumped him, leading to nervous reactions from offenders who were usually a lot smaller.
"I told him to stop doing that," Davis says. "I said, 'That's not fair, you really scare those kids!' "
Adams has always been big, but he didn't always want to play football. Too large for the youth leagues, he told Davis he'd rather play basketball ("He was going to be the next Michael Jordan," she says), but in high school, he found he loved the sport.
These days, many of his teammates are fairly close in size to Adams -- in fact, 330-pound linemate Jimmy Kennedy refers to him as "Mini-Me" -- but that doesn't stop him from getting their goose. Offense, defense -- it matters not.
"He gets anybody that comes around," says quarterback Matt Senneca.
Adams has admitted he doesn't play favorites, that he'll go after "pretty much everybody."
Even head coach Joe Paterno?
"All depends on what type of mood he's in," Adams says. "I've been here long enough to know when to joke around and when not to. I go on instinct."
But really, to what extent can you play pranks on the man who's basically built the entire program?
"Usually after practice I tap him on the butt and say, 'Good speech coach,' " Adams says.
Other times Adams will wrap the 74-year-old coach up in a bear hug. Whatever he does, he usually gets away with it.
"The repercussions for me? He'd just holler at me," Adams says. "Other guys would be scared to approach him."
They say we tease the ones we love, which perhaps explains why Adams is the way he is with his teammates.
"He's an only child so he never really had brothers and sisters," says his mother. "When he started playing football at Martin Luther King H.S., his teammates were like brothers. They went to class together, played on the field together -- it made him feel like he had more of a family."
In the Penn State family, Adams' unbounded enthusiasm is welcomed, especially when things are going bad, as they were earlier this season.
"He brings so much to the team, just with some of the antics he does," Iorio says. "When the team looks to a guy like that, who is still able to have fun when things are going bad, it's a great help, to younger players especially."
Davis also noted her son's ability to seemingly let nothing bother him, and how Adams' ever-positive outlook is an inspiration to her.
"He's the type of kid that he won't show his emotions when things are down," she says. "He's always saying, 'We're going to do better next game.' Instead of me telling him, he's telling me that. He has always had this ability to think or feel that things are just going to be OK, that there's a brighter side to everything."
Adams also inspires children. He dresses as Santa Claus for Penn State's Christmas party. Whenever he's at home for the summer, he'll visit youth league camps to stress the importance of education.
"He talked about how important school was and talked about how they had to do well in the classroom first," Davis says. "He told them that if your grades aren't right, you can forget it."
A dean's list student each of his first four semesters, Adams is on schedule to graduate in 2003 from the Smeal College of Business Administration. Davis is immensely proud of her only son, both for what he's accomplished and for the sensitive young man he's become.
The man who used to stick random objects in his mothers' ears is now all ears when she needs a good listen.
"He has been a blessing to me and my family, someone we can look up to and get joy from," Davis says. "And he's always been someone I can talk to. That's the best part of having him as a son -- he will listen to me."
