The higher Rodney Adams can leap at the NFL Scouting Combine, the greater the number of grieving children who may be able to jump for joy once again.

Adams isn’t just aiming to enhance his draft stock next week in Indianapolis. The University of South Florida wide receiver is using the platform to raise money via internet fundraising for Experience Camps, a program designed to provide a one-week getaway for youngsters who recently lost a parent, sibling or primary caregiver.

Adams hopes to solicit $3,000 in donations through pledges for each inch he soars in the vertical jump. Adams was already 70 percent to his goal Tuesday morning through Pledgeit.org.

"It’s a difficult time for those kids being that they don’t have that parent," Adams told co-host Zig Fracassi and me on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “It’s tragic. We wanted to do this cause to raise money and let them have a week of fun to forget about all the bad things that have happened."

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Adams knows all too well the agony those children are experiencing.

His mother, Michelle Conway Scott, was killed in November 2013 as a passenger in a car crash outside Atlanta. The Tampa Bay Times reported that behind the wheel was Adams’ cousin, who was charged with DUI and first-degree vehicular homicide.

At the time, Adams was playing as a freshman at the University of Toledo. Scott’s death prompted Adams to transfer back to his hometown of Tampa.

"I was lost. I can’t lie," Adams said. "I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to go back to (Toledo). I had to re-focus my life."

The NCAA granted Adams a hardship waiver that allowed him to play immediately at USF without needing to sit out for a season like traditional transfers. Adams said that aided him immensely in the healing process.

"Playing football was a time to get away, a time to get your anger out," he said.

Adams also credits the support of his family, friends and the USF program for helping him pull through. As fate would have it, Adams' wide receivers coach had weathered his own family tragedy. Ron Dugans, who played three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals (2000 to 2002) after a standout career at Florida State, lost his 8-year-old daughter in a 2008 school bus accident.

"He was the one that stood with me dealing with my mom," Adams said. "He could relate to me. We shared a lot of stories."

Thanks to Dugans' coaching, as well, Adams was able to write his own chapter in USF's history books.

(Getty Images) https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sporting_news/b6/84/rodney-adams-022117-getty-ftrjpg_pin2beg9f2ke1odpifzrjwqtb.jpg?t=1645508274&w=500&quality=80 Rodney Adams (Getty Images)

In 2016, Adams broke the Bulls’ single-season record for catches (67) and matched his own school record with 822 receiving yards set the previous year.

An NFL front-office executive told Sporting News that Adams is projected as a third- or fourth-round pick in the draft.

While he still adroitly handled kickoff returns (24.3-yard average), Adams adjusted to a new receiving role last season after being moved into the slot. The 6-1, 190-pound Adams said studying Miami Dolphins wideout Jarvis Landry helped him make a successful transition to a position he will most likely play in the pros.

"He brings every facet to the game just like I do,” Adams said of Landry. “Dynamic kick and punt returner, jet sweeps, out routes, deep ball threat ... He has it all."

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The same can be said of Adams in many ways even though his mother isn’t here to help him enjoy all that he continues to accomplish.

"Everything happens for a reason," he said. "With having great people around me I was able to get through this. It's tough to lose my mom at a young age, but she shaped me into the man I am today and the man I am on the football field.

"Without her none of this would be possible."

Alex Marvez can be heard from 7 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET Tuesday through Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio.