Adam Lucio hasn’t let being a wheelchair user get in his way in the least.
Lucio plays a variety of sports and offers tennis lessons to people of all ages. During the summer, he often leads adaptive sports classes at Odessa College summer camps and he’s gotten into acting and pro wheelchair sports. He also has several speaking engagements throughout the year.
The 32-year-old Odessan has two chairs, one for everyday use and the other for sports, football and basketball primarily. He played wheelchair basketball at Oklahoma State University, but returned home after they dissolved the program.
“I was in a car accident when I was 5 months old. A drunk driver ran a stop sign and hit us, so I got my first chair when I was 4. I’ve always been a chair user, which I feel like is an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time. I felt like it’d be great to experience some of those things that I would have liked to play because I’m such an athlete. I would love to play these sports, but I feel like it’s also an advantage because I didn’t have to have that taken away from me. This is all I know and I’ve been able to flourish like this anyway, so I feel like I’m okay the way it is,” Lucio said.
As a result of the accident, he has incomplete paresis from the knees down.
Along with basketball, he also plays wheelchair football in a new league that is connected to the NFL and has been acting in commercials for a variety of businesses, including HEB, and services.
He plays in the U.S. Wheelchair Football League for a team affiliated with the Dallas Cowboys. They wear helmets and elbow pads and they play seven-on-seven on a 65-yard hard surface such as a basketball court, a parking lot or pavement.
Lucio plays pretty much every position, including quarterback, but mostly defensive line and center.
“There’s only 11 teams in the league. It’s a new league and that’s actually affiliated directly with the NFL. We’re the Dallas Cowboys, we’re the Wheelchair Dallas Cowboys. We’re affiliated directly with the Cowboys,” Lucio said.
Last year, they had their first season and finished 12-3, which was comparable to the Cowboys.
“It was the organization’s first season, so it was really good to have such an experience. It was cool … We had tryouts. There were like 32 guys (that showed) up, but they’re only taking 14. I feel like it was a cool experience from the start to the end because we finished at a really high note, too. I really enjoyed playing football that season. And hopefully we’ll get a chance to expand that and just with growth and chemistry, and now that we know everybody and we know more of the roles and things like that,” Lucio said.
All of their tournaments were out of state, so they went to Chicago, Tampa and Salt Lake City, for example.
“There’s only 14 guys all across Texas that are on the team. I’m the only one out here in West Texas. I’m the one that has to travel furthest on the team to get to the practice,” Lucio said.
Lucio has been playing basketball since he was a kid.
“Competitively, I played D1 at Oklahoma State. … I play on a D3 team now in the NWBA (National Wheelchair Basketball Association), but I’ve gone on and off just because everything so far, we really don’t have any close organizations or programs. I have to travel to everything, but I really enjoy it and I feel like that’s my passion. So I travel now to get to it as much as I can,” he added.
Making the team really helped him with sponsorships. He’s recently been backed by Reckless Wheelchairs and he got a footplate for it with the shape of Texas with a star that shows where Odessa is.
He got his Reckless wheelchair recently. This is the first one that has been custom tailored to him.
His everyday and sports chairs were made by Disability Lab in Houston. The everyday chair, he said, is like an extension of his body. He can climb stairs in it. It has a cup holder and it has a tow hitch in the back for workouts.
The sports chair has no brakes and no cup holder, but a lot of seat belts to keep him secure.
“Every chair they make is different and I feel like it’s custom to the user. So I feel like we have that same vision and they appreciate my performance. I’m not the best guy out there, but I’m not the worst either so they appreciate the way I play. I play hard,” Lucio said.
It also helps that he has a good following on Instagram and TikTok.
He hasn’t competed in his new sports chair yet. Lucio said having one made for you makes a world of difference.
The first tournament is in two weeks in Victoria.
“It’s the TAAF (Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Winter Games),” Lucio said.
He currently plays with the Harker Heights Hustlers out of Killeen.
As for acting, he got his first big TV commercial for HEB. He saw a casting call that asked for wheelchair users who felt like they could act or play a role.
“I was like, I can do that. So I did that and I met some great directors. I met great people and made great connections,” Lucio said.
Within about a year and a half, he’s made roughly 11 commercials.
“I don’t have an agent yet. I don’t have any representation. … Right now, I’m just kind of taking my options. I’m very new to the industry, so I’m just seeing how it works, seeing where that kind of road takes me and hopefully I can get an agent … maybe a movie here and there,” he said.
Along with HEB, he’s also made a print ad for Yeti, a commercial for Suddenlink internet, Optimus Energy Solutions, Indeed and Spinergy.
“I’m also endorsed by Spinergy Wheels and Kenda Tire, but these two manufacturers are part of some of my endorsements that I have from playing ball. And I post about those on social media and I’ve done some ads for them as well,” Lucio said.
He added that he wants to break the stereotypes around wheelchair users and show that there is a lifestyle out there for you if you want it.
“You don’t have to have the cliche wheelchair life that everybody expects people to have out there on TV. You don’t have to just be sitting at home doing nothing. If you have a passion, I believe that you should chase it and look at all the fruits that can fall from it,” Lucio said.
He added that he’s lucky in his love of sports.
“I’ve been very blessed. … I’ve been very blessed with the passion for the games. I feel like that’s very visible when I play and I feel like other people can see it also. I feel like I’ve just been blessed with the ability to play. God has given me an abundance of gifts to play ball and I feel like I’m going to use it to the most of my advantage,” Lucio said.
