KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Don Davis thought his pro-football career was over until his manager at the Foot Locker inside Oak Park Mall convinced him otherwise.
Eleven seasons, three Super Bowl appearances and two championships later, Davis — a former football standout and graduate at Olathe South and University of Kansas — remains grateful for that manager’s sage advice.
After going undrafted in 1995 and getting cut by the New York Jets in what Davis called “an awful experience” at training camp, Davis took part in a management-training program with Foot Locker.
“It was over at that point for me,” Davis said. “I had a couple of CFL (Canadian Football League) offers [but] didn't really want to do that.”
Davis was a month from getting his own Foot Locker store in Lubbock, Texas, along with a $50,000 to $60,000 salary plus commission. It seemed like a great opportunity weighed against a $45,000 contract to play in the CFL — so good he considered turning down a reserve/futures contract with his hometown Kansas City Chiefs.
“I really credit my manager then because I was like, ‘Why am I gonna give this up? I’ve got another month. I kind of can get on with life,’” Davis said. “But I remember that the manager at the time was like, ‘Listen, this will always be here. Very few men get the opportunity that you have to try out. I think you owe it to yourself to go and try.’ So, I did. I thank him, because had he been like, ‘Well, who knows if I'm gonna have your spot,’ who knows what I would have chosen?”
The Chiefs also cut Davis, but he had played well against New Orleans in the preseason, so the Saints offered him a contract.
Davis carved out a role on special teams during the next five seasons in New Orleans and Tampa Bay before getting a chance to start with the then-St. Louis Rams.
It was with the Rams that Davis played in his first Super Bowl, a 20-17 loss against a New England team led by Tom Brady in his first season as a starter.
After one more season in St. Louis, Davis signed with the Patriots, winning back-to-back Super Bowls during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He retired after the 2006 season, spending his final four years in New England.
Davis worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Patriots for two seasons after retiring but didn’t enjoy the coaching grind.
Eventually, he settled into a role with the NFL Players Association, where he currently serves as the senior advisor for player affairs — a life and career in pro football he never dared to dream of growing up in Olathe.
“I never thought about playing in the NFL until after my sophomore year in college,” Davis said.
He played three sports in high school and actually wanted to play basketball in college.
Davis received a scholarship offer from Hastings (Nebraska), but his father insisted that he take the full ride for football at Kansas.
The idea of an NFL career crystallized for Davis after watching former Jayhawks defensive tackles Gilbert Brown and Dana Stubblefield get drafted.
Davis’ agent told him he’d probably be a late-round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. Several teams called in the sixth round or later, saying they planned to pick him.
No one did.
“That was disappointing,” Davis said.
The Jets offered him the most money to sign as an undrafted rookie, so he headed to New York, but he thinks the organization never viewed him as more than a warm body for training camp.
After being cut, Davis spent some time on the Chiefs’ practice squad before taking the Foot Locker job.
Now, with an assist from his former shoe-store manager, Davis has two Super Bowl championship rings stashed in a safe in his house.
It might be three were it not for All-Pro kicker Adam Vinatieri, who drilled a 48-yard game-winning field goal to beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
That created an awkward moment when Davis’ wife, Yannette, first met Vinatieri.
“When we got there to New England, she was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to admit, I didn't really like you,’” Davis recalled.
Vinatieri didn’t forget the encounter and, after kicking a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in Super Bowl XXXVIII to deliver a win against Carolina and Davis’ first Lombardi Trophy, he circled back to Yannette.
“He remembered that (first comment),” Davis said. “We were at the party that night, and he turns to Yannette, ‘Do you love me now, huh?’ She was like, ‘I do.’ So great memories.”
Working with current NFL players, part of Davis’ job is to offer advice to new players coming into the league, like those who will be drafted Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City, Missouri.
As the NFL hopefuls nervously wait through the next few days, including some who will go undrafted like he did, Davis offers this message:
- Manage your emotions during the draft;
- It doesn’t matter where you go (or don’t go) in the draft, because wherever you go it’s a job interview;
- It’s business, not personal, so treat it as such.
“What does that mean? It means you’ve got to take care of your body, take care of mind and gotta be about your business,” Davis said. “Stay humble, stay healthy, stay hungry.”
He’s living proof that the draft doesn’t have to define a player, detours and all.
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Look for more coverage of the 2023 NFL Draft below and at kshb.com/kcontheclock
