ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

With all the talk this week about eye gouging, half-game suspensions and coaches calling out officials, one of the best stories in the SEC has sort of been lost in the shuffle.

Arkansas’ Joe Adams played in a football game last week. He’s going to play again this week against South Carolina.

Why is that so significant?

A little more than three weeks ago, Adams suffered a mild stroke. It’s not every day that a 19-year-old goes through something like that.

Imagine how frightened Adams must have been when he started having those excruciating headaches that led to his stroke, and even more sobering, how he must have felt when doctors told him he’d had a stroke.

“I appreciate life more in general now,” Adams said after returning last week and catching a pair of touchdown passes in Arkansas’ 63-27 win over Eastern Michigan.

“I don’t take life for granted, and I’m blessed to still be here on this field and back out there playing with my team.”

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said Adams’ return was inspirational for the Hogs in a lot of different ways.

“He’s a special player, and I can’t say enough about him,” Petrino said.

Adams’ teammates were more worried about him just getting back to normal activity. The last thing on any of their minds when they heard about the stroke was when Adams might play football again.

For Adams, though, there was never any doubt that he would be back. It was just a matter of when.

“It was frustrating to have to see my teammates go through two tough games at Florida and Ole Miss,” he said.

His return to the lineup gives the Arkansas passing game even more firepower. He’s one of the best players on the team after the catch and is averaging a team-leading 22.4 yards per catch. He’s also second on the team with four touchdown catches despite having played in only five games.