“I’ll tell you this. In any fight, it’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s gonna win that inch. And I know if I’m gonna have any life anymore, it’s because I’m still willin’ to fight and die for that inch.
Now I can’t make you do it. You got to look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes! Now I think you’re gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you. You’re gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows, when it comes down to it, you’re gonna do the same for him!”
The line given by Al Pacino’s character, Tony D’Amato, in Any Given Sunday may just be a be a speech—albeit one of the greatest speeches of all time—from a sports movie, but the parallels between football, life and battle ring true for Sammie Adams.
Sammie is a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, and an excellent one at that. Sammie’s commander hand-selected him to lead a platoon of over 40 Marines and Sailors on a deployment to Australia. While there, he and his team of Marines became a close-knit group that trusted each other, potentially with their lives. Though they did not deploy to combat, as the “nation’s force in readiness,” the Marine Corps preaches tough, realistic training that prepares Marines for the rigors and tribulations of warfare. Sammie’s team was ready, and he owes it all to football.
The link between football and warfare dates back to its inception, and plenty of studies, books and articles equate them to one another. Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated and the History News Network are just a few examples of publications that have correlated the two. Typically, authors associate the imposition of one’s will and the face-to-face alignment of the offense and defense to warfare of a bygone era, when troops would form a literal line and fire volleys at one another while marching straight towards each other.
But the elements of football that make Sammie such a great officer are vastly different than simply its structure. It is the discipline, preparation, adaptability and leadership that comes from a lifetime of playing football that enables his excellence in the Marine Corps.
Sammie played high school football at Kern Valley High School. It is a small school, with an enrollment of only 466 students. But even with such a small student population, Sammie was exposed to quality leadership that began to shape his own leadership style: leadership by example.
“I looked up to the captains of the team during my freshman and sophomore years and took the good qualities that they had and tried to emulate it. Really focusing on leading by example.”
By the time Sammie earned the role of team captain during his senior year, he was prepared for the responsibility. He had created a culture of accountability and setting the example.
“A lot of it was just holding my teammates accountable and leading from the front. Any conditioning workout we had, I would be the first one to show up no matter the situation. If I saw someone stop early or cut a corner, I would make the correction on the spot.”
In addition to being a strong leader, Sammie was unique in his adaptability. His coach, Coach Ben Goffinet, recognized that Sammie was a jack-of-all-trades and leveraged his adaptability.
“We changed his position around in high school. We used him to fit the needs of the team. We saw him as a jack-of-all-trades and could fill in gaps if anyone went down. We also built special packages for each team we prepared for. I think Sammie adapted well to new positions because he was a multi-sport athlete and had a baseline of going from sport to sport. That prepared him for switching from position to position.”
Sammie’s time in high school set the foundations for his future. Leadership, adaptability and preparation were the tenants he learned from football in high school that set the stage for his Marine Corps career.
While Sammie had offers to play football in college, he had an innate desire to serve. That is why he decided to attend the United States Naval Academy, the country’s premier leadership institution that graduates the most Naval and Marine Corps Officers every year.
Navy’s varsity football team spent time in AP’s Top 25 and was in the middle of recruiting some of the best athletes in program history; despite being a great player, Sammie was under no illusions he was going to walk onto the varsity team, but he still wanted to play the game he loved.
Instead, he chose to play for Navy’s Sprint Football team, which competes against eight other schools in the varsity Collegiate Sprint Football League. The CSFL follows the same rules as FBS Division I football, but with the unique twist that all players must be 183 pounds or less.
It was the league’s weight limit that forced Sammie to hone his discipline. Instead of simply being both larger and faster than his opponents, Sammie had to change the way he played and prepared. Every week, before game day, he would have to ensure he cut enough from his practice weight to make game weight.
Preparation was no longer simply watching tape, scouting, hitting practice reps and showing up for game day. It now included the discipline of monitoring weight, eating specific foods and weight cutting methods.
For four years, Sammie ate, slept and dreamed of football at the Naval Academy while also living and breathing leadership in preparation for leading Marines and Sailors after college. Sammie continued to utilize all he had learned throughout his years in football.
“You have your entire preparation phase and then execution on game day. Re-assess and learn from mistakes and the cycle begins again.”
After graduating from Navy in 2021 and receiving his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, Sammie received orders to Camp Pendleton, CA to be a Logistics Officer. While initially receiving the billet of Assistant Operations Officer, his Battalion Commander quickly recognized Sammie’s propensity for inspiring leadership with enlisted Marines. He was hand-selected to lead a platoon in Australia from among the Battalion’s 12 other eligible officers. It was his moment to shine, and just as he had at Kern Valley High School and at the Naval Academy, Sammie ran with it.
Sammie’s platoon performed well in support of infantry units in exercises throughout Australia, receiving praise from units outside of his own. His adaptability, earned through years of football, allowed him to overcome challenges that would crush the will of most others.
Sammie’s Company Commander, Captain Pierre “Juice” Sajous had specifically high praise for Sammie.
“Sammie genuinely cared. He cared about the mission, he cared about improving, he cared about efficiency, but most importantly he cared about the Marines. We learn in Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1 about the art and the science of warfare and how the best results are achieved when the two ideals are both aligned. Sammie was able to seamlessly find that balance and translate it to the mission. Accompanied with a healthy dose of common sense, his thought process in execution was masterful.”
Without knowing all of Sammie’s backstory, Juice does correlate Sammie’s excellence with his time playing football at Navy.
“Its difficult to say where he was able to find his ability to balance the science and art of mission accomplishment without intimately knowing his history. It may have been upbringing or his training at the Naval Academy.”
In any case, Juice recognizes in Sammie the tenants that he learned playing football: accountability and leadership by example.
“The Marines absolutely adore Sammie. He took care of them. He worked hard for them and with them. He was never above doing the small things and ensuring they did all of the right stuff. He messed up now and then; he’s human. But each time something like that occurred, he would own up to his mistakes and try to fix them on his own or ask for help. He was never too proud to ask for advice. He showed great humility.”
Sammie and his platoon returned from their six months in Australia having trained and prepared for crisis response. Though they never had to answer the call, they had become a tight-knit team ready for anything. When asked how his platoon was so effective, Sammie provided a very football answer, “teamwork is how things get done. Discipline is a behavior that is built into someone. The bonds you build through blood and sweat go far deeper than you can imagine, so while it sucks at times, it is good to struggle through something together.”
Sammie’s time in Australia and at his first unit recently came to a close. His Marines and Sailors were upset to see him leave, but hopeful for what his career holds for him. His leaders likewise are excited to see how he progresses. Juice knows that he will excel in the future.
“Sammie has a promising career ahead of him. He will be a better leader than I could ever be. He may already be one. He’s smart, humble, reasonable, and an all-around great individual. I have no doubts he could hold command at the battalion or regimental level. All he really has to do is continue being true to himself and his unique leadership style.”
Sammie’s next step is returning to school at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, for a graduate degree in Operations Research, a prestigious and selective program. Though the job will be much different on a day-to-day basis, Sammie knows that in the end, if he can continue to apply the foundational tenants he learned playing football, he is ready to continue to excel, no matter what the future brings.
It’s just like watching tape and applying it to the next game. As Sammie says, “re-assess, learn from mistakes, and the cycle begins again.”