Former NFL running back George Adams, who played for the New York Giants back in the 1980s, was likely thrilled beyond belief to see his son Jamal get drafted sixth overall by the Jets during the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft on Thursday night. But his son’s selection could end up costing him quite a bit of money, if Jamal forces his dad to pay up on a bet they made many years ago.
According to the younger Adams, he told his dad that he was going to go higher in the draft than him one day when he was about 10. His dad, the 19th overall pick in 1985, told him there was no way it would happen. And at some point, Jamal placed a large wager with his dad. There are conflicting reports about how much money was put on the line—some people say $40,000, Jamal seems to think it could be as high as $100,000—but regardless, there was a bet that was made, and Jamal won it on Thursday night.
He spoke about it just prior to the draft while talking to The Advocate.
"At a young age, I basically told him I was going to go higher than him in the draft," Adams said. "He called me crazy. Now he sees a lot of mock drafts and now he’s taking it back. But at the same time, I’m still letting him take care of the dinner tab all the way up until the bet…People say it was $40,000. I believe it was like $100,000."
Fortunately, for the older Adams at least, Jamal has already gone on the record and said that he doesn’t actually expect his dad to hand him $40K, $100K, or any other amount of money. He’s about to come into a whole bunch of money on his own. But if nothing else, the kid now has bragging rights over his dad for the rest of his NFL career. Though we would imagine his dad doesn’t mind one bit after seeing his son get selected so high in the draft.
