Davante Adams played in the fifth NFC championship game of his career during Sunday’s tilt against the Seahawks, and just like the other four times, Adams’s night ended in agony and heartbreak.
The Rams lost to the Seahawks in a 31-27 thriller that saw Sam Darnold exorcise his ghosts and lead a gritty Seattle side into the Super Bowl for the first time since 2014. Adams, who was drafted in ‘14, has also waited that long for a Super Bowl berth of his own, but following Sunday’s crushing defeat, it looks like he’ll be waiting a little longer.
Adams, now 0-5 in NFC title matchups dating back to his days with the Packers, looked emotionally torn up in his postgame media availability after missing out on the big game yet again.
“Heartbreak,” Adams said, when asked about his emotions after the loss. “It’s tough. It’s tough to talk.”
Adams then gathered himself for a few seconds and looked like he was fighting back tears before he continued to answer questions.
“I’m proud of the way the guys fought today. ... It’s tough to focus on [the future] right now. It’s a tough moment that we’re in right now, so I’ll process the emotions of this and then worry about that. But I mean, obviously I love this team, I love what this team is about, the fight that we had all year. It just sucks to come up short.”
A tearful and emotional Davante Adams on falling short in the NFC title game for the 5th time and what he will remember about this game and this season, his first with the #Rams pic.twitter.com/TToCrq8vpy
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) January 26, 2026
Adams made it to the NFC championship game in ‘14, ‘16, ‘19 and ‘20 with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers; he then missed the playoffs altogether during his brief stints on the Raiders and Jets.
“[Getting to a Super Bowl] just feels like almost like a mythical thing to me at this point,” Adams told ESPN before the NFC title game. “You do everything you can to get there. It's been so hard, and [I've] been working so hard at it. So we're close. We just got to finish it off.”
In his debut season with the Rams in 2025, Adams finally had the talented supporting cast to make it all the way but couldn’t get the job done, as Stafford & Co. fell short on the Rams’ game-ending drive and ultimately ran out of time for a comeback.
Cowboys great Dez Bryant was among those who empathized with Adams after the Rams’ bitter loss and wrote a heartfelt message about Adams’s pain:
“Some folks don’t understand the feeling of the amount of confidence you have to have, the countless hours you put into something you are committed to all year round to only get 17 chances to have an opportunity to play in something you always dreamed of as a kid, and that’s to play in the Super Bowl,” Bryant wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “... It’s a lot of pain and sacrificing behind those tears! Adams, first ballot..it’s more to his legacy, and I respect it! You got more than enough time..boss.”
Some folks don’t understand the feeling of the amount of confidence you have to have, the countless hours you put into something you are committed to all year round to only get 17 chances to have an opportunity to play in something you always dreamed of as a kid, and that’s to… https://t.co/1TDUN1Mlxq
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) January 26, 2026
In the end, Adams missed out on what have been a storybook ending to his NFL career but still enjoyed one of his best individual campaigns in recent history, hauling in 789 yards and a league-high 14 receiving touchdowns in the regular season.
“It meant everything. This is exactly what I wanted, what I hoped for, as far as what you want for in a team,” Adams said, of joining the Rams. “Obviously what I’ve been through the past few years, it was a long time coming to get back in a situation where you’re playing meaningful games in the month of January and potentially February. ... This is one of the favorite teams I’ve ever been a part of, no doubt, so you know that obviously adds to the pain.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Davante Adams Had the Saddest Line After Rams Miss Out on Super Bowl Berth.
