Print
E-mail
Davis inspires with pursuit of NFL dream
 |
| Keokuk’s Whitney Jurgens is pushed by Canton’s Katrina DeCoster during Thursday’s soccer match. |
By Brad Cameron/Gate City Sports Editor
Jim Davis is proof that there is no age limit when it comes to following a dream.
Davis is a 44 year-old pastor of the Cornerstone Church in Keokuk. His goal is to play one down in a professional football game.
Davis will get the chance to show what he can do when he participates in front of NFL scouts at the Iowa Wesleyan Pro Day in Mount Pleasant at 9 a.m. on April 21.
“There will be a couple of teams from the NFL there,” Davis said. “For me, this day will be about closure. It's about competing in the Pro Day against college athletes just to show even at 44 years old, I might be nuts, but I am who I say I am.”
Davis' pursuit of the NFL began while he was an assistant coach at North Central High School in Farmersburg, Ind. Davis was looking for a way to inspire his players to do great things when the idea arose.
“The reason for this has been about inspiring young kids not to give up,” Davis said.
Davis' football career began with the Evansville Vipers, a well respected semi-pro team, at the age of 41.
“I could have been almost every one of their fathers,” Davis said. “I was 41 and the average age of the players on the team was around 25 or 26 years old.”
The Vipers made Davis a fullback, and early on he took a lot of hard hits.
“I got a big wake-up call,” Davis said. “We were doing drills where I came running straight through the line at a couple of linebackers, and they introduced me to football right away.”
However, as the season went on, the more comfortable he felt playing the position. Evansville finished the season 9-1 before losing in the playoffs.
“It was a lot of fun,” Davis said. “I didn't think I would be playing a position where I would be the one that always got hit, but I did pretty well. I had a great coach, and it just made me more hungry to play a little more football.”
Davis' motivation to fulfill his goal intensified when tragedy struck one of his football players.
One day while engaging in his normal training regiment, he learned one of his players at North Central had been involved in a horrible truck accident.
“The young man was buried under a truck, but he was able to push himself out from under it,” Davis said. “He was my best football player, and they didn't think he would be able to walk again.”
Not only was the young man able to walk, but he worked hard to get back on the football field.
“He was with the team as a sophomore, but he couldn't run,” Davis said. “He would train with the team, but when they were doing sprints, he was doing push-ups or sit-ups. The following year, he was with the team.
“His mom told me the last time I visited him that you can't believe how much he looks up to you, and I told her I feel the same way about him. There were so many times I wanted to quit and walk away from it, and if it wasn't for him I would have stopped a long time ago.”
Davis and his family moved to Lisbon Falls, Maine, where he was an assistant football coach on a state championship team.
Davis also did a little acting during his time there.
“They were looking for extras to play football players in (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson's) movie “The Game Plan,”” Davis said. “I went ahead and signed up and filmed part of that movie.”
The movie led to another opportunity for Davis.
“Being in the casting data base, I got e-mails from different reality shows,” Davis said. “One was a show called “The Great American Dream Vote” to see who had the best dream. They knew I wanted to play at least one down in the NFL. They liked my story and brought me in for that show.”
Before the show, Davis earned a try-out with the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League. The Renegades brought him back for a second try-out and asked him to return for a third try-out.
Davis felt he would make the team, but something unpredictable prevented that from happening.
“The owners of the team were losing so much money, so the Canadian Football League took the team back and dispersed the other players to other teams. This was going to be my shot to play professional football and the team gets canceled.”
Davis then appeared on “The Great American Dream Vote.” The show, hosted by Donny Osmond, featured contestants who wanted their dream to come true. The studio audience would pick the two finalists and those at home would select the winner.
The show didn't last on TV long. ABC canceled the show after two episodes, but Davis' story caught the eye of one NFL team.
“The (San Francisco) 49ers had seen the show, and they decided to give me a try-out,” Davis said.
“The 49ers were great to me. They loved the reason I was doing this in the first place. They really wanted to see this story get out. Not so much as a 44 year old trying to play football, but it was more about my desire to inspire these young athletes not to give up no matter what people are telling you.”
Davis flew from Maine to Loveland, Colo., on April 20, 2007, to participate in the try-out.
“It went pretty good,” Davis said. “I felt comfortable with it, but I knew I could do better. I had to do everything they do at the NFL Combine except I had to do it right in a row and by myself. The altitude, coming from Maine to Colorado, was also something else. It was hard, probably the hardest thing I've done to try out for a team, but I made it through it.”
His work out impressed San Francisco general manager Scot McCloughan.
“He called me right after and said I did a really good job,” Davis said. “He knows a lot of young guys who would not be able to go through that workout in that kind of atmosphere.”
Over the next year, Davis worked with one of the scouts to set up a Pro Day that would showcase his talents against some of the young athletes coming out of college. That day appeared to be March 27, but Davis backed out of it out of respect for the 49er orgainzation.
“One of the problems the 49ers were having and the reason they didn't want a lot of media attention on their part is once it happens everyone who thinks they can play football will be calling to get a try-out,” Davis said. “I think if I showed up to the Pro Day they would let me participate because that's just who the 49ers are. I wanted to take the pressure off of them, so I let it be my decision. I just felt they bent over backwards for me enough already, so the best thing I could do was respect their wishes.
“I have a strong place for the 49ers for everything they did to try and make this dream happen.”
But as Davis has found out during this journey, when one door closes, another one opens. A few days after he walked away from the March 27 Pro Day, he had the chance to participate in another Pro Day a month later.
How would Davis like to see his future in football unfold?
“Realistically, I am a 44 year-old guy, but I still think there is a future for me,” Davis said. “I may play another year of semi-pro ball or I may try out for some arena football teams. Can I play in the NFL? Probably not, but I would love to go out and play at least one down.”
Davis is a 44 year-old pastor of the Cornerstone Church in Keokuk. His goal is to play one down in a professional football game.
Davis will get the chance to show what he can do when he participates in front of NFL scouts at the Iowa Wesleyan Pro Day in Mount Pleasant at 9 a.m. on April 21.
“There will be a couple of teams from the NFL there,” Davis said. “For me, this day will be about closure. It's about competing in the Pro Day against college athletes just to show even at 44 years old, I might be nuts, but I am who I say I am.”
Davis' pursuit of the NFL began while he was an assistant coach at North Central High School in Farmersburg, Ind. Davis was looking for a way to inspire his players to do great things when the idea arose.
“The reason for this has been about inspiring young kids not to give up,” Davis said.
ADVERTISEMENT |
“I could have been almost every one of their fathers,” Davis said. “I was 41 and the average age of the players on the team was around 25 or 26 years old.”
The Vipers made Davis a fullback, and early on he took a lot of hard hits.
“I got a big wake-up call,” Davis said. “We were doing drills where I came running straight through the line at a couple of linebackers, and they introduced me to football right away.”
However, as the season went on, the more comfortable he felt playing the position. Evansville finished the season 9-1 before losing in the playoffs.
“It was a lot of fun,” Davis said. “I didn't think I would be playing a position where I would be the one that always got hit, but I did pretty well. I had a great coach, and it just made me more hungry to play a little more football.”
Davis' motivation to fulfill his goal intensified when tragedy struck one of his football players.
One day while engaging in his normal training regiment, he learned one of his players at North Central had been involved in a horrible truck accident.
“The young man was buried under a truck, but he was able to push himself out from under it,” Davis said. “He was my best football player, and they didn't think he would be able to walk again.”
Not only was the young man able to walk, but he worked hard to get back on the football field.
“He was with the team as a sophomore, but he couldn't run,” Davis said. “He would train with the team, but when they were doing sprints, he was doing push-ups or sit-ups. The following year, he was with the team.
“His mom told me the last time I visited him that you can't believe how much he looks up to you, and I told her I feel the same way about him. There were so many times I wanted to quit and walk away from it, and if it wasn't for him I would have stopped a long time ago.”
Davis and his family moved to Lisbon Falls, Maine, where he was an assistant football coach on a state championship team.
Davis also did a little acting during his time there.
“They were looking for extras to play football players in (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson's) movie “The Game Plan,”” Davis said. “I went ahead and signed up and filmed part of that movie.”
The movie led to another opportunity for Davis.
“Being in the casting data base, I got e-mails from different reality shows,” Davis said. “One was a show called “The Great American Dream Vote” to see who had the best dream. They knew I wanted to play at least one down in the NFL. They liked my story and brought me in for that show.”
Before the show, Davis earned a try-out with the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League. The Renegades brought him back for a second try-out and asked him to return for a third try-out.
Davis felt he would make the team, but something unpredictable prevented that from happening.
“The owners of the team were losing so much money, so the Canadian Football League took the team back and dispersed the other players to other teams. This was going to be my shot to play professional football and the team gets canceled.”
Davis then appeared on “The Great American Dream Vote.” The show, hosted by Donny Osmond, featured contestants who wanted their dream to come true. The studio audience would pick the two finalists and those at home would select the winner.
The show didn't last on TV long. ABC canceled the show after two episodes, but Davis' story caught the eye of one NFL team.
“The (San Francisco) 49ers had seen the show, and they decided to give me a try-out,” Davis said.
“The 49ers were great to me. They loved the reason I was doing this in the first place. They really wanted to see this story get out. Not so much as a 44 year old trying to play football, but it was more about my desire to inspire these young athletes not to give up no matter what people are telling you.”
Davis flew from Maine to Loveland, Colo., on April 20, 2007, to participate in the try-out.
“It went pretty good,” Davis said. “I felt comfortable with it, but I knew I could do better. I had to do everything they do at the NFL Combine except I had to do it right in a row and by myself. The altitude, coming from Maine to Colorado, was also something else. It was hard, probably the hardest thing I've done to try out for a team, but I made it through it.”
His work out impressed San Francisco general manager Scot McCloughan.
“He called me right after and said I did a really good job,” Davis said. “He knows a lot of young guys who would not be able to go through that workout in that kind of atmosphere.”
Over the next year, Davis worked with one of the scouts to set up a Pro Day that would showcase his talents against some of the young athletes coming out of college. That day appeared to be March 27, but Davis backed out of it out of respect for the 49er orgainzation.
“One of the problems the 49ers were having and the reason they didn't want a lot of media attention on their part is once it happens everyone who thinks they can play football will be calling to get a try-out,” Davis said. “I think if I showed up to the Pro Day they would let me participate because that's just who the 49ers are. I wanted to take the pressure off of them, so I let it be my decision. I just felt they bent over backwards for me enough already, so the best thing I could do was respect their wishes.
“I have a strong place for the 49ers for everything they did to try and make this dream happen.”
But as Davis has found out during this journey, when one door closes, another one opens. A few days after he walked away from the March 27 Pro Day, he had the chance to participate in another Pro Day a month later.
How would Davis like to see his future in football unfold?
“Realistically, I am a 44 year-old guy, but I still think there is a future for me,” Davis said. “I may play another year of semi-pro ball or I may try out for some arena football teams. Can I play in the NFL? Probably not, but I would love to go out and play at least one down.”
 |
||
| Wrestlers compete at AAU State Tournament |
