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| Position: | Running back Return specialist | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1949-10-04)October 4, 1949 (age 75) Moline, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 197 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Theodore Roosevelt(Kent, Ohio) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Northwestern | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1971:5th round, 120th pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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Michael David Adamle (born October 4, 1949) is an American former professionalfootball player and sports broadcaster. He played professionally as arunning back in theNational Football League (NFL).
Adamle was a sports anchor at other Chicago television stations, includingWLS-TV from 1982 to 1989 before hostingAmerican Gladiators, a first stint atWMAQ-TV from 1998 to 2001, and then atWBBM-TV from 2001 to 2004 before returning to WMAQ-TV until 2017, when he was diagnosed withCTE-induceddementia which eventually forced his retirement.
For much of 2008, Adamle worked forWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in a variety of roles, including interviewer,play-by-play commentator, andGeneral Manager ofRaw.
Born inMoline, Illinois, Adamle grew up inKent, Ohio and graduated fromTheodore Roosevelt High School in 1967.[1] His father,Tony Adamle, also found some success as alinebacker with theCleveland Browns in the late-1940s and early-1950s,[2] before becoming aphysician.[3]
Adamle playedcollege football atNorthwestern University in theBig Ten Conference. He was a team captain, anAll-American fullback, and the Big Ten MVP in1970. Adamle's 316 rushing yards againstWisconsin in1969 set the school record (by 98 yards)[4][5] which still stands. He also set the record for kick return yards in a year, and graduated in 1971.
Adamle played six years in theNational Football League, two seasons each with three teams. He was afifth round pick (120th overall) of theKansas City Chiefs in the1971 NFL draft. After two seasons with the Chiefs, Adamle was traded to theNew York Jets on February 16, 1973, fordefensive endJerry Philbin.[6]
He spent two years in New York with the Jets, playing in 26 of 28 games, during which he started 7 times.[7]
Just before the start of the 1975 season, the Jets shipped Adamle to theChicago Bears along with a 1976 4th round draft pick anddefensive tackleRon Rydalch in exchange for running backCarl Garrett.[6] The Bears waived him prior to the 1977 season to make room on the roster forwide receiverJohn Gilliam, ending his professional football career.[8]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1971 | KAN | 8 | 0 | 13 | 43 | 3.3 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 1 |
| 1972 | KAN | 14 | 4 | 73 | 303 | 4.2 | 19 | 1 | 15 | 76 | 5.1 | 11 | 0 |
| 1973 | NYJ | 14 | 4 | 67 | 264 | 3.9 | 36 | 0 | 9 | 63 | 7.0 | 13 | 0 |
| 1974 | NYJ | 12 | 3 | 28 | 93 | 3.3 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 84 | 9.3 | 16 | 0 |
| 1975 | CHI | 14 | 7 | 94 | 353 | 3.8 | 21 | 1 | 15 | 111 | 7.4 | 25 | 0 |
| 1976 | CHI | 14 | 0 | 33 | 93 | 2.8 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 12 | 1 |
| 76 | 18 | 308 | 1,149 | 3.7 | 36 | 4 | 53 | 368 | 6.9 | 25 | 2 | ||
After retiring from playing football professionally, Adamle joinedNBC Sports, where he was both a studio host and sideline reporter for various events.[9] He spent six years with NBC Sports, hostingSportsWorld and pre-game shows.[9] He was also the host ofGrandStand, which was both a pregame show for theNational Football League (NFL) and a sportsanthology series during the NFL's off-season. In 1984, he wasABC's sideline reporter for theUnited States Football League.[9] In 2001, Adamle returned to sideline reporting when he joined KNBC'sFred Roggin on NBC's primaryXFL broadcast team.
He was also the co-host ofAmerican Gladiators from 1989 to 1996.[9] In addition, he was a contender in a celebrity contenders show towards the end of the show's run. Adamle also co-hostedInternational Gladiators with the UK and Australian Hosts and commentated in one series alongside UK commentator John Sachs. He appeared on the fourth-season premiere ofFamily Matters playing himself in a fictional episode ofAmerican Gladiators. AfterAmerican Gladiators ended, he became a reporter forESPN.[9]
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He has also covered the1988 Winter Olympics and the2000 and2004 Summer Olympics. In the summer of 2005, Adamle was the host of another NBC property,Bravo'sBattle of the Network Reality Stars. In July 2006, Adamle became a color commentator for theProfessional Bull Riders (PBR)'s Built Ford Tough Series (another event which NBC has split rights).
On January 27, 2008, at theRoyal Rumble, Adamle began working as an interviewer forWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).[10] He then worked onWWE Raw as an interviewer, often making mistakes with each onscreen appearance. During his debut, he mistakenly referred toJeff Hardy as "Jeff Harvey". He later becameECW's play-by-play announcer on April 15, replacingJoey Styles.[11] Adamle continued to make frequent mistakes during his commentary duties onECW, with formerECW owner and bookerPaul Heyman and former talentLance Storm criticizing Adamle for them.[12] On April 29, Adamle left a broadcast ofECW before themain event match, and his partnerTazz was asked to do the same. This was worked into a storyline as WWE reported that Adamle and Tazz may have left due to fan criticism of Adamle's commentary.[13] The following week, he cut apromo apologizing for his actions.
On the July 28 episode ofRaw, Executive Vice PresidentShane McMahon announced that Adamle was the newGeneral Manager for the Raw brand.[14] During his tenure as general manager, he promoted a variety of high-profile matches that he dubbed as "Adamle Originals." On the October 27 episode ofRaw, as part of his storyline, he slappedRandy Orton after Orton insulted him personally. The following week onRaw, during an in-ring segment with Shane McMahon and Orton, Adamle resigned from his position as general manager. This was Adamle's last appearance for the company.
Adamle was the play-by-play announcer for theChicago Rush of theArena Football League and broadcast Rush games for Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WGN. Following the 2013 AFL season, the Rush were unable to commit to the 2014 and 2015 AFL seasons and the team's operation were suspended immediately and the active roster was allocated amongst the rest of the AFL.[15]
Adamle and his wife Kim have four children and four grandchildren.
Adamle hasepilepsy. After work withEpilepsy Foundation, where he is currently a member of the Greater Chicago division's board of directors, Adamle was given his Personal Achievement Award at the 2007 Richard N. Rovner Awards Dinner.[16][17] Adamle has completed twoIronman Triathlons in Kona, most recently as a 60-year-old in 2009, where he completed the race in 14 hours, 7 minutes and 39 seconds. He has also completed other Ironman races like Ironman USA (Lake Placid) 2003.[18]
On February 7, 2017, Adamle said he was diagnosed withdementia, and that his doctor saw signs ofchronic traumatic encephalopathy. He believes this and the past 19 years ofepileptic seizures resulted from his concussions in football.[19] He officially retired fromWMAQ-TV on March 24, 2017, at a send-off party with colleagues.[20]
After graduating from Roosevelt in 1967...
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