Gaines DeMario Adams IV

GAINES ADAMS Gaines DeMario Adams, IV, 26, resident of Vernon Hills, Illinois, died January 17, 2010 at Self Regional Medical Center. Born June 8, 1983 in Greenwood, SC, he was a son of Gaines K., III and Linda Watson Adams. Gaines excelled at every level of sports. He met challenges head on and played with heart and soul for each team he suited a uniform. Football seemed to be his natural sport and he played for and graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia after having attended Cambridge Academy, where he played on the school’s 8 man football team and performed well enough to be noticed by Division 1 College football programs. He was highly recruited by several major universities and decided to play for the Clemson Tigers. During his time with the Tigers he amassed an impressive playing record, having either tied or broken many defensive tackling records, including tying the Clemson career sack record previously set by Michael Dean Perry from 1984 to 1987. Gaines was one of seven unanimous 2006 All-Americans, and was named to five official All-America teams acknowledged by the NCAA. The 2006 season also brought Gaines the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He graduated from Clemson in 2006. He will always hold a special place in the hearts of Clemson fans who reveled in his excitement both on and off the field. The fans were always brought to their feet with thunderous cheers after being roused by Gaines’ calls for the Tigers to roar and make their presence known. He was drafted 4th overall in the 2007 National Football League draft being selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gaines earned a spot on the 2007 NFL All-Rookie team. He spent the next two seasons with the Buccaneers, but was traded to the Chicago Bears in October of 2009 and finished the regular season with the Bears. He was a member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Coronaca. Surviving in addition to his parents of Greenwood are a son, Gaines D. Adams, V of Greenwood; a daughter, Avery Michelle Brooke Adams of Tampa, FL; two sisters, Lashonda M. Adams and Yazmine Adams, both of Greenwood; a brother, Stanley Adams of Greenwood; his maternal grandmother, Rosa Carroll Watson of Greenwood; his maternal grandfather, Calvin Dunlap of Greenwood; and his paternal great grandmothers, Fannie Mae Campbell and Sallie Bell Adams, both of Greenwood; aunts and uncles. Funeral Services will be conducted at 1:00 p.m. Friday at Rock Springs Baptist Church, 201 Rock Springs Road, Easley, SC. Pallbearers will be team members of the Chicago Bears along with members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints. The body is at Blyth Funeral Home and will be placed in the church at 11:00 a.m. Friday. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday. The family request that flowers be omitted and memorials be made in Gaines’ memory to Specialized Foster Home Services, 1201 East Cambridge Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646.