Adaptation Leads Palmer to Success on Rocky Top
Dom Palumbo
Adaptation: the ability to make something suitable for a new use or purpose.
It’s a word many of us learn in an elementary or middle school science class about different species of plants and animals who needed to change to fit the ever-changing environments they live in.
While we all tend to associate this word with a basic science concept, it can also be applied to how each and every one of us as humans change who we are and how we think as times and the world continually changes.
In 2020, that’s been the root of survival.
For Tennessee senior wide receiver Josh Palmer, adaptation has been one of the most integral parts of his life.
Palmer grew up in Brampton, Ontario, a midsized city, located about a 30 minutes’ drive away from Toronto.
Raised in a country where the sport Palmer eventually chose is not often the game of choice, he found a passion for the game that he “didn’t love initially.”
“(Football) wasn’t as popular in Canada, but I did play football when I was younger,” Palmer said. “I actually played three sports growing up: football, basketball and soccer. I didn’t really like playing soccer, so I quit that in the seventh or eighth grade. At that same time, I also quit football to play basketball. I played AAU ball and played for a few really good teams and played with R.J. Barrett.
“Then, when I go to high school, I played football again and I didn’t like it initially,” Palmer continued. “I wasn’t playing receiver at the time, because I was so raw. Then, before my second year I put in a lot of work. I played for Team Ontario and played against Team USA. I won an MVP trophy there. It was the first MVP trophy I ever won and that was the moment where I realized that I was probably going to play football.”
He eventually hung up his basketball shoes to fully pursue the game primarily played by Canada’s southern neighbor.
He excelled for two years in high school in Brampton, before understanding that he needed to move—he needed to adapt—to take his game to the next level.
He discovered American high school football power, St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as his next destination.
“I retired basketball and soccer, focused on football for that season, was looking for schools to go to and found St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida,” Palmer said. “I went to the school on a visit to see it out and see what it was like and eventually decided to go there.”
In Fort Lauderdale, Palmer lived with his dad’s sister and her husband, while adapting to a new life that meant new challenges and obstacles in a place nearly 1,500 miles from home.
“It’s funny, because I often tell people that I moved from one end of the map to the other end of the map,” Palmer said. “It honestly wasn’t that much different, because I was always in America and was always visiting that aunt and uncle in Florida, so it wasn’t that much different. I was used to it at that point, it didn’t really get to me and I didn’t really get that homesick.”
On the field he adapted to a new style of play on a smaller field—the Canadian field stretches 12 yards wider and 30 yards longer than a traditional American football field—and lining up against some of the best high school talent in the world day-in and day-out.
“It was eye opening. I went from being the guy on my high school team to being a nobody on St. Thomas Aquinas,” Palmer said. “On my first day of practice I was introduced to just a different type of football. It was played a lot differently, a lot of guys had different motivations for playing the game and it made me a better player. With the competition with the DB’s and being around the other receivers and my receiver coach was great too.”
Off the field he was “forced to be responsible” as he navigated early wake-up calls, the trials of using public transportation and late arrivals back home after long days.
“I took the public bus to school every day, so I would wake up around 5 a.m. and wouldn’t get home until about 8 at night every day,” Palmer said. “I had some people that would help me carpool, but for the most part I took the bus.”
“(That time) forced me to be responsible, but when I got here the transition was easier, because it was like I had already been in college before,” Palmer recalled.
After a difficult junior year, Palmer exploded as a senior, hauling in 32 catches for 506 yards and eight touchdowns, while being named to the Florida Class 7-A All-State second team and leading St. Thomas Aquinas to the Florida Class 7-A State Championship in 2016.
With a number of schools chasing Palmer’s talents, the Canadian found his home sweet home on Rocky Top.
In his first three seasons as a member of the Big Orange, Palmer reeled in just three receiving touchdowns and rushed in a fourth, while playing behind the likes of Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway.
Two players who helped mold and grow Palmer into the human highlight reel we’re seeing in 2020.
“Sitting behind them was good for me, because even though I was sitting behind them, I was still playing with them. So, even though I was the background guy I was still able to play and show what I was being taught. They taught me a lot on the field, off the field, being a better overall receiver and that’s really prepped me for this year. All of that growing is coming to fruition.”
Coming into his senior campaign, Palmer knew he would need to adapt his game to be able to shoulder a larger percentage of responsibility on the offensive side of the ball.
“I trained for it. I worked hard and I feel like hard is an easy way to put it. I did a lot during the offseason to prepare myself for the situation I was going to walk into for my senior year. I was willing to do anything I had to do to help the team win.”
So far, his stats are speaking for themselves. Through seven games, Palmer has pulled in 22 receptions for 331 yards and four touchdowns. Yes, four. The same number he had as a freshman, sophomore and junior combined.
He’s grown and adapted himself into an NFL level prospect, yet off the field, it seems Palmer has done just as much growing.
As a sophomore in 2018-19, Palmer earned the opportunity to be a part of the 2019 VOLeaders cohort. He participated in class, where he worked through an intense leadership driven curriculum with fellow Tennessee student-athletes, culminating with a life changing exchange trip to Rwanda that summer.
“It was an opportunity for me to become a better leader,” Palmer said. “The study abroad trip to Rwanda allowed us to demonstrate what we’ve learned in the class as leaders, but also learning how to use sports to help drive social change.
“The main thing I learned was that the people in Rwanda didn’t know what they didn’t have, but they took advantage of what they did have and had the most fun with it,” Palmer continued. “They don’t have phones, they don’t have Instagram, they don’t twitter, they don’t know what’s going on outside the world, so they just have fun with what they have.”
It was a humbling experience that Palmer has used to help guide both himself and his teammates through the tumultuous time that is 2020.
“From a leadership standpoint, it’s allowed me to continually find a reason to help others. It’s unfortunate that we still have to go through everything that’s happening, but it’s continuing to understand what we have and valuing everyone as people,” Palmer said.
He’s taken the lessons he’s learned both on and off field and applied them to how he’s helped lead the core group of receivers that will follow his own time in Knoxville.
“I just want to show them what it takes, and not just on the field. Showing them how to learn the game of football and to know why they’re doing things, not just what they’re doing,” Palmer said.
Palmer hopes to have a lasting career at the next level, like many receivers before him and like the many that will come after him. However, once his playing days are over, he hopes to take his talents to a different big screen.
“Obviously, I want to have a lasting career in the NFL, but after that I want to pursue a career in acting,” Palmer said. “I really enjoy movies and TV shows and commercials. I just feel like the one thing the world will never get rid of is actors. Movies and TV shows are always going to be made. When you think about everything else happening in the world, things are being replaced by machines, but you can’t replace actors with machines.”
While the future of that career may be unknown, Palmer will continue to adapt and perform and the rest will fall into place.
“I don’t know how I’m going to manage it, but what is going to rocket me into acting is going to be the name I make for myself in the league,” Palmer said “Obviously, I’m going to try to find classes and stuff on acting, but it’s my performance on the field that will take care of everything else.”
