An Indigenous Australian,[1] McAdam played in the Northern Territory Football League prior to being recruited by North Melbourne.
In 1993, he joined John Longmire and Wayne Carey in the North Melbourne forward line and kicked 7 goals on his debut.
[1] He was unable to repeat this performance in 1994 and, after managing just one game in 1995, his league career was effectively over.
McAdam then began to concentrate on cricket and in 2003 represented the Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI, captained by Michael Clarke, in a three-day match against the touring Bangladeshis.
McAdam, who was a fast bowler, claimed the wickets of Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful and Javed Omar.