“I never thought it would have happened,” Nate Adkins mused to the Denver Gazette in 2023, reflecting on his journey from a “super small, chunky kid” to an NFL tight end for the Denver Broncos. But as the old saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree – especially when that tree is rooted in football royalty.

Behind every NFL player’s success story, there’s often a family saga worth telling. For Denver Broncos rookie tight end Nate Adkins, that story is a blend of triumph and heartache, with a hefty dose of gridiron legacy thrown in for good measure. As reported by the Denver Gazette in November 2023, Nate’s return to Buffalo as a Broncos wasn’t just another game – it was a homecoming of sorts, a full-circle moment that began a decade earlier when his father, Greg Adkins, prowled the sidelines as the Bills’ tight ends coach.

Who Are Nate Adkin’s parents?

Michele and Greg Adkins are the dream team that saw Nate to the NFL. Tragically, Michele never lived to see her son in an NFL jersey. A heart attack claimed her in January 2021, which left a vacuum in the Adkins household just as Nate’s career prospects were beginning to look rosy.

Greg Adkins, speaking to the Denver Gazette in September 2023, choked up when talking about his late wife’s role in Nate’s life. “As a coach, you miss a lot of things and the mom becomes a major factor for these kids,” he said. “She was always there. She would take (Nate) to everything, whether it was to practice or to travel for baseball or whatever. She was always there to take care of him when I was gone and working.”

While Michele looked after the home, Greg was winning a reputation as a football lifer. With many years forging young talent behind him, his resume would read like a roll call of college football powerhouses from the late 1980s onwards—including a year stint as tight end coach for the Buffalo Bills during their Super Bowl era from 2013 to 2014. It’s 2023 now, and South Carolina is benefitting from Greg Adkins’s experience.

The Adkins family spins a long pedigree in football, as this bit of family football history shows. But Greg’s most important coaching job? That’s been right at home, with his son Nate Adkins. This father-son duo’s football journey is more than just X’s and O’s; it’s a heartwarming tale of bonding over blocking techniques and, believe it or not, goal post shenanigans.

Know more about Greg Adkins who coached Nate Adkins

Five-year-old Nate Adkins, not yet large enough to see over a real football, was already learning blocking from his father. And that’s where this tale begins. Still, Greg Adkins, who had more experience than many coaches together didn’t wait for Nate to reach high school before starting his football education.

But young Nate had his ideas about toughness. Greg recalls with a chuckle to the Denver Gazette, “I knew he was going to be a tough guy because he would run as fast as he could into the goal post (when visiting the team facility). He would just run smack dab into it and fall down.” Talk about taking one for the team!

Nate’s football IQ increased in parallel with his growth, thanks to lessons from Dad. “My dad’s an offensive line coach, so it was kind of what I’ve been around my whole life,” Nate said to the Denver Gazette. This early exposure paid dividends: In high school, Nate performed as both an offensive guard and defensive end before switching over to tight end at university.

The cherry on the cake for this father-son relationship? Greg got to coach one of those years when Nate was in college at South Carolina. It was a full-circle moment, with Dad on the sidelines and Son in the stands wearing Gamecock colors. According to SI in December 2022, despite challenges in his personal life – namely, health issues that led him to take leave partway through the season, Nate kept his focus and determination. And even though Michele couldn’t be there for its result, her breath surely lived again in every play, catch, and moment between father and son on that South Carolina field.