Cleveland won AAFC championships in each of Adamle's first three years, after which the league folded and the Browns were absorbed by the more established NFL.

[4] After serving in the U.S. Air Force in the Mediterranean Theatre of War, he returned to Ohio State for the team's 1946 season—his only season with the varsity Buckeyes.

[4] Playing as a center in a November game against the Northwestern Wildcats, Adamle intercepted a Frank Aschenbrenner pass in the third quarter and returned it 38 yards.

[1][6] Adamle was eligible to play for the Buckeyes again in 1947, but decided to leave school and join the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

The interruption of the war had forced the suspension of the rule to account for players' military service, however, and he was allowed to leave college.

[9] Before the seventh game of the 1947 season, a matchup against the Chicago Rockets that October, Adamle replaced Motley as the team's starting fullback.

[12] Adamle, who was about 15 pounds lighter than Motley, started for a brief time as part of an offense led by quarterback Otto Graham, registering 23 carries for 95 yards on the season, a career-high.

[21] Cleveland's success continued in the NFL in its 1950 season as Adamle was named team captain, replacing Lou Saban following his retirement.

[14] Adamle was again one of eight Browns chosen for the Pro Bowl after Cleveland's 1951 season, when the team reached the championship game but lost to the Los Angeles Rams.

[23][24] He was named a first-team All-Pro by United Press International and the New York Daily News after the season, when he had one interception and one fumble recovery.

[26] Brown nevertheless traded the rights to Adamle to the Green Bay Packers as part of a deal that brought defensive back Ace Loomis to Cleveland.

[27] Adamle spent most of 1952 working as an orderly at Glenville Hospital in Cleveland, entering Western Reserve's medical school in September.

[29] He had been working as a scout for the Chicago Cardinals and was in his third year of medical school; he agreed to come back on the condition that he would only practice once a week so he could continue his studies.

[34] His son, Mike Adamle, was a running back at Roosevelt High School and Northwestern University, and played professionally as a fullback for the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Chicago Bears in the 1970s before becoming a sports broadcaster.