Standing on his own

Alex Leon

BURBANK -- Living in the hills above Burbank gives Mike Davis Jr. a

panoramic view of the city where his family lives and the place where his

football dreams are starting to take shape.

Those dreams for the 17-year-old senior from Los Angeles Cathedral

High include earning a football scholarship to a Division I college, as

well as a degree, and maybe a chance to play in the NFL.

“Ever since we moved to Burbank two years ago, I have started to allow

myself to consider the opportunities that football might afford me,”

Davis said. “Since football ended last fall, several schools, including

Arizona State and the University of Washington, have offered me

scholarships and several others have contacted me by letter or by phone.

“I’m still in the process of making up my mind, but it won’t be a

decision made entirely about football. The opportunity to study

aeronautical engineering is also a priority for me and I will take my

time in making a decision.”

At 6-feet-3 and 185 pounds, Davis may not fit the mold of a typical

defensive back. In fact, he possesses more than the basic instincts to

stop a quarterback from completing a pass to a receiver.

For example, take his final play for the Phantoms in their 18-13 loss

to Orange Lutheran in a CIF Southern Section semifinal playoff game this

past season.

With just seconds left and the Phantoms kicking off after allowing a

safety, the ball touched an Orange Lutheran player following an onside

kick. Davis picked up the ball and ran it in for the apparent winning

touchdown.

However, the celebration by the Phantoms and Davis was short-lived, as

officials ruled that the ball did not touch an Orange Lutheran player

before it was picked up.

“In the matter of just a few seconds, I went from being very happy to

so sad that I was crying,” Davis said. “The last high school game for my

school ended very emotionally. But one of the coaches from the other team

spent about 20 minutes with me afterward saying that I had a lot of good

football ahead of me, and any college that recruited me would be proud to

have me as a student-athlete.”

*

To his father -- Mike Davis Sr. -- the comparisons between himself and

his son are inevitable. But Mike Davis Sr. says his his son should be

judged on his own skills and ability, and not for who his father is and

what he accomplished during his own football career.

The elder Davis played nine years in the NFL as a defensive back from

1978 to 1986. He competed on two Super Bowl championship teams for the

Oakland Raiders in 1981 -- a 27-10 win against the Philidelepha Eagles --

and Los Angeles Raiders in 1984 -- a 38-9 win against the Washington

Redskins -- before finishing his career with the San Diego Chargers.

Davis played on a hard-hitting Raiders’ secondary that featured Lester

Hayes and future NFL Hall of Famer Mike Haynes. He had 11 career

interceptions, including two in one game on Jan. 8, 1984 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Hayes once said of Davis: “During the Super Bowl XVIII season, the

three most important players of the right side of the defense were Howie

Long, Ted Hendricks and Mike Davis. Mike Davis became a starter in Super

Bowl XV and he did such a stupendous job enabling me to be free for the

bump-and-run pass coverage.

“Playing the old-school Oakland Raiders, we played like a team of

gladiators.”

With his extensive football knowledge, Davis has served as a voluntary

coach for the defensive backs at Cathedral the past two years. Davis Sr.

is probably one of the most qualified people to talk about the skills it

takes to become a college defensive back.

“From a football standpoint, Mike is very coachableand is technically

sound at his position. He will get bigger and stronger at the next level

and I very much expect him to become an impact player,” said Mike Davis

Sr., who played in college at Colorado.

“As a father, I’m very proud of what my son has accomplished in the

last four years and I feel fortunate that he will have the opportunity to

accomplish something as a student-athlete in college.”

Coming from a man with years of experience in the NFL, and Super Bowl

rings with diamonds shining on each hand, those comments might be enough

to leave a young man’s head spinning.

But Mike Davis Jr. is not about to succeed solely on the accolades of

his father. And his skills as a football player aren’t just a product of

what he’s inherited.

The young Davis was not even allowed to play tackle football until he

reached high-school age, and has worked hard the last four years to make

himself a better player.

“I don’t know if I was born to play football because my father played

the game, but I look up to him so much that I wear his No. 36 and try to

play the game just like the way we worked on it in practice,” said Mike

Davis Jr, who had five interceptions last year and eight in two years at

Cathedral.

“And I don’t feel any pressure being the son of NFL player and a Super

Bowl champion. Most of the pressure I feel I put on myself and that is

much more than could come from anybody else.”

*

Davis Jr. realizes a promise is a promise. But when it comes to

playing in college, just wants leave his options open. Although he made a

verbal commitment to play at Arizona State next year, he is still willing

to entertain the idea of playing somewhere else if another college sweeps

him off his feet.

The school making the biggest push is University of Washington (8-4

this season), and Davis made an official recruiting visit to the school

this week.

He also attended the Dec. 28th Holiday Bowl game in San Diego where

the Huskies played against the University of Texas. Although Davis Jr.

was at the game as a guest of the Huskies, he couldn’t speak to the

Washington staff because of the NCAA dead period throughout the holidays.

But until he signs with a school on the dotted line Feb. 6, Davis Jr.

will keep all interested colleges in his field of vision, just like he

does receivers on a football field.

The Davis File

Name: Mike Davis Jr.

Date of Birth: Jan. 19,1984.

Student Success: He has a 3.0 grade-point average and scored 1,010 on

the Scholastic Assessment Test.

Favorite Team: The Oakland Raiders.

Favorite Player: Raiders’ defensive back Charles Woodson Musical

Taste: The band Ludacris and Brian McKnight.

Last Movie Seen: “Shallow Hal.”

Did you Know: Davis was born three days before the 1984 Super Bowl

between the Raiders and the Washington Redskins. A live feed was hooked

up in the hospital so his father, who was practicing for the game, could

see his newborn son for the first time.