It was his father, Nelson, who last Thursday was released from an Oklahoma City halfway house.
“He was kind of giggling a little bit,” said Adrian, Oklahoma’s 21-year-old star running back. “I said, ‘What’s so funny?’ He said, ‘I’m driving, and it’s nighttime.’ So it’s just the little things that he would take for granted. That phone call was just funny.
“If you were in his position, you’d understand.”
It’s the little things father and son have experienced together in the short time that Nelson has been out of prison that have generated the most enjoyment for Adrian.
Little things such as a shared phone call or a shared football game. Though the latter isn’t so little.
On Saturday, when Oklahoma plays host to Iowa State, Nelson will attend one of Adrian’s football games for the first time since his boy was 12 years old.
“It’s a real big deal,” Adrian said. “Since middle school, he hasn’t been to none of my games.
“It’ll be exciting and emotional at the same time.”
Nelson could have attended the Sooners’ game against Texas last Saturday in Dallas — often OU’s biggest game of the year — had he chosen to live the last four months in a Texas halfway house. He chose, Oklahoma City, instead.
“Long-term, it was best for me to be here,” said Nelson, who spent eight years in a Texas prison for laundering drug money. “I could see more games here than if I was to go to a Texas halfway house.
“It’s real close for him. It gives us the opportunity to continue our relationship.”
As excited as Adrian will be Saturday, knowing his father is in the stands, he expects Nelson to pass him on the enthusiasm scale.
“He’s been locked up a long time, hadn’t been able to step in the stadium to see me play,” Adrian said. “I’m pretty sure he’ll be a little more excited about it.”
Adrian’s excitement is already showing, says someone who knows Adrian as well as anyone.
“He’s ready,” said backup running back and Adrian’s roommate, Allen Patrick. “He ain’t said nothing yet, but I can tell. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen him practicing out there a little different. I’ve seen it show.” And Patrick has noticed more than excitement coming from his roommate. “He thinks the most of his dad. He loves him to death,” Patrick said. “I think he feels pretty good about the whole situation. He’s getting to see his daddy a little more. “He really likes that.” Nelson, Adrian and football have always gone together. Nelson was an assistant coach on Adrian’s youth team. He was the first to start teaching him the fundamentals of being a good running back.
The two still talk football. They did that even when Nelson was behind bars. But conversations go beyond the game these days.
“I’ve learned to teach him the different things of life that I had no previous knowledge of,” Nelson said. “Make him aware of all the pitfalls that are out there, to be thankful and feel blessed that he’s accomplished the things that he’s accomplished so far.
“Like a light switch, it can turn on and off for you just like that.” Said Adrian, “We still talk a little football, but it’s bigger than that.” And if Adrian scores a touchdown Saturday — as he usually does — he’ll take a brief second to share the moment with his dad. “I’ll probably glance over there and try to look for him,” Adrian said. “It’ll be a good feeling, man, a good feeling. “I don’t know where he’ll be sitting at, but I’ll figure it out.”
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