Word from TDEU: Kanorris Davis is one of those athletes you wish you had on your team. NFL team that is. He is all set and waiting for h...
Word from TDEU: Kanorris Davis is one of those athletes you wish you had on your team. NFL team that is. He is all set and waiting for his name to be announced at the Draft, and in the meantime, we had a chance to sit down with him and talk about his College days, Draft and NFL. Big thanks to Chris Blanton for setting it up!
College
To me, going to college was a dream. I never thought about being in the NFL. Couple college teams backed out on me, and that's where I realized it might be hard to get into college. Troy University came over, offered me a scholarship and actually brought me in. As soon as I arrived, they pulled me to the side and said I wasn't eligible to play. They said I can pay for the school on my own and if I couldn't - I'd have to go back home.
I had a lot of people calling me and encouraging me not to go home since it would be even harder to get back in. A lot of people don't go back once they leave. Some of the players took me in, they showed me a lot of attention, gave me what I needed and provided me with shelter and food. They made sure I was comfortable. Being a student away from home they made me sure to let me know that everything was going to be OK. One of these guys was Bear Woods. He's a brother from another mother to me.
I worked so hard at the time I couldn't play. I was physical enough to play with the team, I was fast, strong, I knew things they didn't think I'd know. By the mid-season they had to put in a lot of blitz packages, they started throwing me in games. After that, they saw I'm a hard-worker, I knew how to make plays and get to the ball. They also started seeing me as a role model, and started categorizing me as a leader.
Injury
A game before my last game, my junior year, I broke my ankle. I ended up missing my last game with the seniors. Same day I broke my ankle, Nov 2011, I flew to Alabama, they put a plate in my ankle, 8 screws. 5 months after – I attended the junior Pro Day, and I got the attention of a lot of scouts. Now, for this draft, it did bring a lot of questions about the injury I had.
Injury just made me work harder, be a bigger leader and get more motivation. Here I am today! Invited to the Senior Bowl Game which was in Jan. I played a strong safety, scouts said I did a great job – moved around well.
Pro Day
On my Pro Day I worked out as a LB, as well as SS. I ran very well, jumped well, etc.
I never played SS, just that one day. It did slow me down to pick up the plays, transferring to another position.. A lot of people said I wasn't tall enough or heavy enough to be a LB, but, I can also cover man to man. I can work both positions. As far as starting as a SS, I think I'd be a third or fourth on the dept, but, special teams.. They love me for the special teams. I might even start on every special team. As far as being on the defense, it will take me a year or two to work my way up to become a starter.
Dreams Coming To Life
I had 10 different teams contacting me. All ask for the same thing - how to contact me if I'm picked by their team, if I had any recent injuries since the Pro Day or since the last game I played, and the complete medical condition. They also want to know where you will be during the draft and what is the closest airport to you. Teams that have contacted me are the Falcons, Patriots, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams, Chiefs, Raiders, Texas, Jets and Colts.
Being in the position that I am - any team would be my dream team! Any team that would give me a chance to play at that level - I would be thankful and that would be my dream team.
If I had to pick three teams that would be on top of my list, it would be Steelers, Ravens and, before Payton Manning left, I'd love to play for the Colts.
You got through a whole bunch of meetings. A lot of the teams would tell you it's not up to them to draft you but that they want you. You have 3 chances - either get drafted, go as a free agent or wait for the call. Even if I don't get drafted, I know I'll be invited to camps as a free agent.
The Draft
I'm going home, where I'll have a small draft party, just in case. I'm not sure in which round I'll get picked, but I definitely want to have my family and close friends with me. I'm very excited!
You really don't know when will you get drafted, unless your 1st or 2nd round pick. Whatever team is interested in taking a chance with the athlete - they'll take him. Each team has different picks. Some teams switch, or trade, OR they can do free agent trades to get extra or early drafts. It's all about how much you can help their organization - that's how hard they'll fight for you.
Of course, everything also depends on how many slots they have open on their roster. I'm a strong safety, and let's say a team needs two or three strong safeties. And let's say they have 2 or three picks. They can have their first two picks in the first round, or some other round. Whatever round they have their pick in - that's the round they want to go for.
I don't know in which round I'll be drafted in, but I hope I'll be somewhere in there as early as the 5th round.
State of Mind
I'm home now. I don't want to go in the streets. I want to be with my closest family and friends who've always been there for me. When there's something so big for what you've been waiting for your whole life - you want your close ones with you. I want to share that moment and emotions with them. That one phone call changes everything and I want to celebrate with the ones that mean the most to me.
Right now, I'm just mentally preparing to hear my name called. You have to come in immediately, be in shape. It's kinda hard, your mindset is all about the approach on the whole thing since everything is happening so fast, anything non-football related that can go wrong - will go wrong. People popping out all of a sudden and things that you did all your life are suddenly getting their attention. A lot of family members are texting you - every day I'm waking up with text messages, and it goes down to you repeating yourself, which gets you aggravated sometimes as some of these people kept you on the side. I know they want to show support, but at the same time I have to let some of them know that it's not ok to give me attention now when something big might happen. I'm just confused basically. Every day something new comes up, and every day someone new comes up.
Even if something doesn't go the way you wanted it to go, don't ever lose yourself, don't ever forget where you came from, don't forget what got you to where you are and don't ever change what type of a person you are because of the situation you're in. 99.99% of the time, someone is always watching you, and you never know when that one day is going to come when someone has watched you enough and they want you to become a part of their team.
Mia Bajin
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