The U.S. Men’s World Cup Soccer Captain Tyler Adams is Grateful for the Sacrifices of His Parents which Lead to His Success

Tyler Adams became US Men’s National Team’s undeniable World Cup leader

Tyler Adams has a beatable bond with his parents

Tyler Adams was raised by a single mother in Poughkeepsie, New York, “and while we weren’t poor,” Adams said, “we didn’t have much.” Melissa Russo was 22 when she had Tyler, and paused her studies to care for him. They lived in a small two-bedroom apartment just below Tyler’s aunt and uncle. And they formed an unbreakable mother-son bond.

Melissa would take Tyler to soccer practice and elsewhere. He would accompany her to the library, where she’d pore over books for hours after working a full-time job, a route to her college degree. And on one hand, “our life was a roller coaster,” Tyler said. “We were never quite sure if things were going to stay on the tracks.”

But on the other hand, “we always had each other,” he mentioned. And he had responsibility, a level of responsibility that most pre-teens don’t have, which bred growth.

“Being raised by a single mother, and not having a father figure in life, I had to just figure out who I was as a person,” Tyler said recently when asked where his maturity comes from. He had, as he said, to “just figure out a lot of things on my own.”

And while his heroic mother did plenty to support him, he also felt a duty, even as a relatively powerless kid, to support her.

This is, perhaps, why that maturity was already evident when he joined the New York Red Bulls academy. By age 12, his talent was obvious — the Red Bulls selected him as a model for their online training video library — but so was his character. “What set him apart was, really, the mentality, the work ethic, and all of the intangibles,” says Simon Barrow, the longtime Red Bulls player development manager. “A lot of the things that you can’t coach.”

When Tyler was 13 or 14, he learned Melissa was dating Darryl Sullivan, and the relationship blossomed into marriage. For Tyler, his new stepdad became the coach, a mentor, and a father figure with the three sons.

“On the same day that I gained three brothers, I also gained a father as well. It was weird because I never had that father figure in my life, the bond that we created, specifically off the field, and how he nurtured me into becoming a young man and being a role model for my brothers. I was no longer the only child. I now had to be a role model to three brothers that were going to look up to me,” Tyler said.

“He [his stepfather] grew up in a role of coaching and playing [football] and having that influence from his parents who came over from Scotland.

“Not only did he help me grow as a man, but he also helped me grow as a player as well on the field.”

Barrow noticed, “his parents weren’t overbearing. They kind of let him figure it out. And I think his maturity is probably a sign of that.” Barrow, over a couple of decades, has seen his fair share of “helicopter parents” who hover over everything, or “snowplow parents” who “just charge out and remove every obstacle” for their kid.

Tyler Adams is grateful for the sacrifices that led him to the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Melissa and Darryl sacrificed for him — for example, by driving him 150 miles roundtrip to Red Bulls training day after day — but they also allowed him to learn to confront obstacles solo.

So, as he rose through the Red Bull ranks and became a U.S. youth national team regular, he welcomed responsibility. Tyler went off to U.S. Soccer’s under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Florida, then went pro close to home.

Tyler Adams now is in the U.S. men’s World Cup squad squaring off in Qatar against the world’s best national “football” (i.e., soccer to us Americans) teams, and his leadership qualities made him an easy choice for Coach Gregg Berhalter to be a team captain.

“Tyler fits a very specific role,” Berhalter said. “He is the general. He is the strategist. He’s the guy that goes out there and leads by example. When he talks, people listen.”

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