The call ended so abruptly that Rodney Adams figured his mother would redial from the car to hear Toledo’s new punt returner recount the rest of his day against Eastern Michigan.

The true freshman had accumulated 23 all-purpose yards and absorbed a wicked tackle which Michelle Scott playfully tormented her son about seeing him on television.

“I got smacked really hard and she was just cracking on me about that,” recalled Adams, the speedy wide receiver whom the Vikings drafted in the fifth round. “But the music was too loud and she didn’t want to be on the phone with me in the car. The phone just hung up. She normally calls me back.”

Scott never called back.

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Gary Kubiak on Vikings’ offensive woes: ‘I’ve got to do a better job’ She was killed about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 3, 2013, when the gray Dodge Charger in which she was a passenger lost control on a Georgia highway, rear-ended another vehicle and slammed into a tree.

Almost four years later the episode continues to haunt and inspire Adams as the opportunistic playmaker embarks on the NFL career he and his mother always dreamed about.

Scott’s cousin, Kawonda Taylor, was driving that night. Witnesses told police Taylor was drag racing another car. A crash reconstruction determined she was driving 104 mph with a blood-alcohol level almost twice the state legal limit of 0.08.

Taylor pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide among 11 charges and is serving a 10-year prison sentence.

“She’s family. We would see her occasionally — once every blue moon,” Adams said of Taylor. “I’ve never spoken to her since the accident.”

What if she tried to reach out?

“I don’t know,” Adams said. “I forgive her. But I won’t listen to her.”

He is playing for his late mother. For his younger brother, Antonio. And his extended family in St. Petersburg, Fla., where celebration and validation erupted April 29 when Vikings coach Mike Zimmer called to ask whether he was ready to fulfill his destiny.

“When I said it’s time to be a Viking, that’s when everyone just sort of lost it,” Adams said about the day he was drafted. “I made it to the next step. Everyone kept talking about how proud my mom would be.”

Adams has a steep climb up Minnesota’s receiving depth chart starting next month at training camp. Versatile but raw his quickest path to the field might be as kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson’s successor.

Perseverance is his partner.

“When tragedy struck, he didn’t give up,” said Adams’ maternal grandmother, Ruth Cooper. “Thank God he kept his mind right, did well in school and is playing football.”

THE WRECK

Michelle Scott was a social worker by trade. The 37-year-old single mother of two boys had worked for several years in the Head Start program in Pinellas County, which incorporates St. Petersburg.

She and Taylor left that Saturday to visit relatives outside Atlanta.

“She would come to her all the time; Michelle was her favorite cousin,” said Cooper. “I love the Lord. I had to forgive her. I told her I forgave her for what she did but I’ll never forget. But I don’t know if Rodney will ever forgive for what she did to his mother.”

Early Sunday morning, Taylor was driving east on Highway 138 in Clayton County. She and Scott were leaving a nearby club, according to police. The speed limit was 55 mph on the four-lane road. It was clear and 50 degrees with dry road conditions, said Clayton County Police Officer Keith Jones, who investigated the crash.

“We never found the other car that witnesses indicated was in the race,” Jones recalled. “It was just reckless going that fast. The driver lost control and hit the back of one car, caromed off and hit a tree in the ditch.”

Scott was killed instantly, Jones said. Taylor was unconscious and airlifted to an Atlanta hospital. Eight hours later her blood-alcohol level was 0.05. Investigators extrapolated the blood test and determined Taylor’s level was double the 0.08 legal limit at the time of the crash.

On March 16, 2015, she was sentenced to 10 years. Taylor is eligible for parole in 2020. She is 45.

Later that Sunday morning, Adams was left to pick up the pieces after his world was shattered by Toledo position coach, Jason Candle.

“I woke up about 8 that morning and I didn’t have a missed call from my mom,” he said. “I thought she might have overslept. Then I saw coach Candle standing in front of the (dormitory) door asking me, ‘Do you know what happened last night?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘You sure?’

“So he took me down to the coaching offices. I thought I was in trouble. He sat me down and said, ‘Your mom passed away last night.’ I just lost it. I blacked out for a minute because I didn’t want it to be true. I threw a tantrum in the room, trying to break windows.”

Adams was 18 and in a fog as he returned home to Florida to bury his mother. The confidence he had slowly built by steadily earning more playing team evaporated. He told Cooper he was not returning to Toledo.

“I said, ‘No, we don’t quit,’ ” recalled Cooper, who was grieving her daughter’s death. “I said I’m going back to work. You go back to school and finish out the semester. That’s what he did. Then he came back home.”

REBUILDING

The NCAA granted Adams a hardship waiver that allowed him to transfer from Toledo to the University of South Florida without penalty in 2014 so he could be closer to his family.

He moved in with his grandmother in nearby St. Petersburg. Adams became legal guardian to his then 16-year-old brother, Antonio Blount, while they lived with Cooper.

“I couldn’t go to court so my grandma and aunt did all of that,” Adams said.

He also reconnected with his mentor at Lakewood High School, Erika Miller.

The health and wellness teacher and athletic trainer had accompanied Adams on recruiting visits and drilled him on the importance of building an academic safety net while chasing the NFL.

“I wanted him to focus on doing things in his mom’s honor and really dedicate himself to show his brother and others around him it is possible being through what he’s been through to stick to these goals and put everything into doing it for his mom,” said Miller.

Adams also formed another pivotal connection with his new position coach at USF, Ron Dugans. The former Florida State star schooled his protégé on the professional work ethic Dugans learned playing three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals in the early 2000s.

Adams’ speed was self-evident. But his technique was shabby. His ability to pull down contested catches and blaze past would-be tacklers were honed during countless one-on-one sessions after practice and hours spent in the film room bonding with Dugans.

“Rodney’s a hard worker but I knew I had to get into his head to get him to perform with confidence on field and buy in before I could do anything else,” Dugans recounted. “It was a mental thing because he didn’t believe in himself.”

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In 2008, his 8-year-old daughter, Ronshay, was killed when the school bus she was riding collided with a cement truck.

“Rodney didn’t trust many people or think anyone could relate to him with what he had gone through,” Dugans said. “I wanted him to know who I was so I cooked him dinner and told him my story and how I coped with getting through the everyday struggle of having lost someone you loved.

“He was hurting inside and I wanted to him confident to open up what used to be secrets. I wanted him to know I could not only be his coach but his mentor, prayer partner, dad — all of the above.”

Adams flourished under Dugans’ protective wing.

He became a starter as a junior in 2015 and finished his Bulls career by setting school records with 67 receptions and 822 yards as a senior. His 16 career touchdown catches rank second in program history.

As a returner Adams tallied 1,140 yards on 46 returns, including a 97-yard kickoff score.

Adams injured his ankle during USF’s 46-39 Birmingham Bowl victory over South Carolina. He did not play in the college all-star games and rehabbed the next two months instead of training for the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

He ran it anyway, ripping off a 4.44-second time in the 40 that garnered headlines and left scouts wondering what Adams could have accomplished with weeks worth of training.

The Vikings took notice, inviting him to Winter Park for an official visit. They eventually invested a fifth-round pick and $2.6 million on a four-year contract for a development project.

“You know, he makes a lot of plays, catches the ball good, runs good,” Zimmer noted during last week’s minicamp. “He has got good quickness in and out of breaks. He does not seem to be making very many mistakes.”

DREAM COMES TRUE

Adams’ draft party stretched over two days April 28-29. More than 50 friends and relatives gathered at Cooper’s bungalow to watch and wait.

There were too many Crock-Pots for the electrical outlets to handle. Grandma made enough fried chicken, macaroni salad, red snapper, baked beans, nachos and tuna salad to feed a battalion. Most of it was gone when the Vikings finally called that Saturday afternoon.

“Everybody was screaming their heads off,” Cooper said.

Michelle Scott never missed any of Adams’ flag football or high school games but only got to see her son play one college game at Toledo before she died.

Adams majored in public health because his mother was a social worker. Studying third-world disease and famine overwhelmed and motivated him to try to make a difference.

Before he secured a lucrative contract, Adams vowed to raise $3,000 at the Scouting Combine to fund a one-week counseling retreat for children and teenagers who have suffered the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver.

He tied more than 50 donations to his vertical jump, reaching the goal before he skied to 29 1/2 inches.

“You don’t appreciate something until it’s fully gone,” Adams said. “My mom wanted to see me graduate from college. She wanted me to make the NFL. She wanted me to play on Sundays. I checked my little boxes. When the phone rang and it was the Vikings calling, the dream was still alive. I’m still here. Now I’ve got to work extra hard to play on Sundays and keep my family close.”

RODNEY ADAMS FILE

Born: Sept. 15, 1994, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Ht/wt: 6-1, 189 pounds

Pos: WR/KR

College: Toledo/University of South Florida

Drafted: Fifth round, 170th overall, Minnesota Vikings

The skinny: Ran a 4.44, 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine, fourth-highest among wide receivers. … set USF records with 67 receptions and 822 yards as a senior. His 16 career touchdown catches rank second in program history.

He said it: “I was just trying to wrap my mind around, how could that happen? What could she have done to not be in that situation? Nothing. I just had to let it go. I had to fulfill what she would have wanted me do to.” — Adams talking about his mother’s death in a November 2013 car crash.