USMNT star Tyler Adams doesn’t care about the limelight

LEIPZIG, Germany — Tyler Adams doesn’t get the whole swapping shirts thing. Whenever he steps out on the pitch and looks at his opposition, his mind is whirring about how he can get the advantage. Names and reputation mean little to him — there’s respect, but not awe.

The empty walls of his apartment are testament to that. They’re bare: no signed shirts, nothing suggesting he is one of the most influential figures on the U.S. men’s national team and a key midfielder for RB Leipzig, one of the best teams in the Bundesliga.

“I don’t need to go up to people and ask for their jersey — I’m not a fan,” Adams told ESPN. “We’re playing on the same field. People still swap jerseys at halftime, I’m like, ‘You guys are competing and you want that jersey? Are you serious right now?’ ” Adams laughs. “If someone asked me for my jersey at halftime, I’d probably punch them.”

Then the seriousness returns: “But no, don’t do that … just don’t do that. We’re not friends, we’re rivals and competing. I know I’m a different breed than most people with how focused I am.”

Instead of football memorabilia, there are two electronic frames on the windowsill, cycling through photos of his family and some of him with his partner, Sarah. He has some art to put up, but fundamentally everything about Tyler Adams — what drives him and keeps him accountable — is in those small 6×4 frames.

Everything comes back to family and his inner circle. As an only child growing up in Wappinger Falls, New York, about a 90-minute drive from Manhattan, he was the man of the house. It was him and his mom. But when his new dad, Darryl, arrived on the scene when Adams was 13, he became eldest of four brothers. His life shifted, and he loved it.

His mom, Melissa Russo, makes sure he never forgets where he came from. “My mom always texts me saying, ‘You’re still that punk-ass kid that I remember, who I gave nuggies to.’ It’s her saying that when you get too high, my family are there to humble me quickly….