SEATTLE — Several football players who transferred to Roosevelt High School in the 2024-25 school year falsified claims they were homeless, used fake addresses and were "pawns" in illegal recruiting efforts, according to a new fact-finding report by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA).
However, it’s not the athletes at fault, the WIAA states, but the school officials who failed to investigate the players’ documents in an attempt to "achieve a superior football team."
"Student football players are not to blame. Students were pawns and victims, not coconspirators," the WIAA's June 8 report states. "Every parent I spoke with wanted the best for their child. Parents received promises of better academic and athletic opportunities. Parents believed they were acting in their child’s best interest."
KING 5 first reported on the claims of illegal recruiting, student eligibility, and compliance with the rules after the WIAA approved a 'fact finder' in October to investigate allegations by other schools.
The school initially conducted its own investigation into those allegations, and found no rule violations.
The Roosevelt Roughriders achieved a remarkable turnaround last season, going from a winless 2022 season to reaching the state semifinals in 2023.
During that same timeframe, the high school also had an "unusually high" number of athletes transferred into the school. Of the 18 total transfer athletes, eight football players were investigated for being recruited.
Between the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, Roosevelt had a “significant increase” in the number of homeless students, especially in the number of male students, according to data from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
Most of the football players claiming to be supported by McKinney Vento, a federal law providing grants to homeless students to ensure access to public education, were ineligible and also should have been ineligible to play varsity sports because they did not live within the school boundaries.
Four football players listed the same address for a home which was for sale and vacant for two years. One player provided an address for a home that did not exist. Several others did not respond to inquires verifying their provided addresses, the WIAA found.
Their transfer paperwork was "incomplete, unresponsive, unsigned by parent and/or student and the information provided is contradictory," the report outlines.
“Neither Seattle nor Roosevelt thoroughly investigated each player’s residency and the circumstances of the students’ transfer to Roosevelt,” the report states. “This is indicative of the systemic failure which Seattle’s McKinney Vento office later determined existed.”
In interviews with parents of players, students and others in the Roosevelt football community, coaches “encouraged students to attend Roosevelt for the purpose of playing football.” They were reportedly promised college scholarships, special programs and the opportunity to meet college coaches.
It was a “systemic failure” by Roosevelt’s football coaches, athletic director and principal to not intervene, investigate or respond to the WIAA violations, the report states.
Several of the football players who left their former schools, which included Federal Way, Rainier Beach, Puyallup, Hoquiam, Kennedy Catholic and others, departed without notice or communication, the report states.
“Transferring football players withdrew from their previous school in a shroud of secrecy about the reasons for withdrawal and transfer to Roosevelt,” the report states.
School officials faulted
The WIAA handed down significant penalties on June 11, including a one-year suspension for head coach Sam Adams, a former Seattle Seahawks player. Adams must also pay a $2,500 fine as part of the sanctions.
Head Coach Sam Adams also reportedly texted a parent of a football player stating, “I will feed him” and “I will 1000% help him get a scholarship” if he played at Roosevelt.
Coach Sam Adams is “respected and feared,” the report states. Several people reported they feared retaliation if their participation in the fact-finding report was revealed.
Principal Tami Brewer is among other school officials who were also fined. She was placed on leave on June 13. In the new report, it states Brewer did not “take steps necessary to protect students from being pawns in the quest for improving the school’s football program.”
She reportedly shut down staff members who attempted to raise concerns about the Roosevelt football program.
KING 5 has reached out to Seattle Public Schools for comment.
This story includes reporting by KING 5 Investigative Reporter Kristin Goodwillie.