2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Ray Davis

Ray Davis NFL Draft Profile

• College: Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Temple
• College Position: RB
• Ideal NFL Position: 3 down back
• Height/Weight: 5’10", 216 pounds
• Year / Age: RS Senior / 24
• Draft Projection: Round 4
• Where I’d Take Him: Round 4

Background

I usually take this time to talk about recruiting and high school football success. But Re'Mahn "Ray" Davis has one of the most interesting and inspiring stories in the 2024 NFL Draft. And talking about how many stars he had as a recruit would do a disservice to the incredible perseverance this man has shown from an early age. Below are snippets from an article posted on 247Sports, but I encourage everyone to read the full story.

Davis, born in San Francisco, California, was one of 15 children. Tragically, both his parents were incarcerated, and he was placed in foster care at age 8, ending up in a homeless facility by age 12.

At that time, he had to make the difficult decision to be split from his two younger siblings, a selfless move that gave them a chance at a better life he couldn't have.

“I had to make the decision to split us up,” Davis said. “My sister’s godmother wanted them. She didn't have room for me. So I had to make a very important decision. I was 12, and I made that decision because I didn't want them to go through the hardship that I went through. They were younger, and I didn't want them to have to sit there and wonder who was going to come and get them? I knew the hardships I was going to have to face, but I wanted them to be together.”

Davis, like most children in his situation, credited football with being a welcome distraction from the trials and tribulations of everyday life.

“The one thing that got me out of it was football,” he said. “It sounds cliché, but it's real. Anyone who knew me from age 12 could tell you football was always something I looked forward to. I could never think about all the negatives in life; I could always think about getting back on the football field because that's when everybody loved me.”

But Davis was a ward of the state and was prohibited from leaving the facility unless accompanied by an adult, which prevented him from playing football consistently.

“When football was taken away, I had some really rough times,” Davis said. “Because when football was taken away, the people were gone.”

Over the years, there were a few "guardian angels" credited with helping him and guiding him in the right direction. When Davis completed eighth grade, his former teachers, Ben and Alexa Klaus, invited him to stay with them for a brief time.

But no outsider was more beneficial to Davis than Lora Banks, a basketball teammate's mother. Banks filled out paperwork to be Davis' temporary guardian so Davis could travel to athletic tournaments, fed him when he didn't know where his next meal would come from, and still invites Davis on family vacations.

When a family friend suggested Davis consider attending Trinity-Pawling, an all-boys boarding school in Pawling, New York, Banks accompanied Davis across the country so he could interview. He received an athletic scholarship on the spot that changed his life.

“She never gave up on me,” Davis said. “Lora was able to help me and show me a purpose in life. She never wanted anything back; to this day, she will downplay it all.”

For Davis to be permitted to travel to New York for his new opportunity, he needed a legal guardian. Luckily, when he was 16, his father, Raymond Davis, was released from prison, and the two reunited and began to forge the father-son relationship that was robbed of them by the state.

Davis appeared in front of a judge to plead his case to convince the state to give his father custody and travel to New York, but attorneys and social workers argued against it.

“There were people on his team that were not for him leaving the state, which was shocking to me,” Banks said. “There was even an attorney for the county who showed up. We're in the hallway, my husband and I, and this attorney said, ‘I just want to let you know, I'm going to oppose it.’ I was horrified. I thought I was going to puke. The attorney said this child would be going to another state and wouldn't have any support and was destined to fail,” she added. “Ray’s attorney is a child advocate, which is basically like a public defender. They're not a litigator. They're not like a high-powered fighter.”

After the attorney pleaded his case to not allow Davis to leave the state, "The judge turned to Ray, who was only 15, and said, 'The attorney has raised the argument that you’re not supported.

And Ray says, ‘Excuse me, have I ever been?’” Banks recalled.

Davis even managed to convince the attorney to change his tune, and the rest is history.

Davis doesn't blame anyone for his situation. He just wants children who may be going through the same things he did to know there's a way out. As long as you keep fighting and never give up.

“I don't want to ever see a kid in my situation being down on themselves because I'm always telling them there's a way out,” Davis said. “You might have to go through about 20 doors, and every door may be a barrier that you got to jump over, but it’s going to be worthwhile at the end of the day.

“That's why I keep fighting every day,” he said. “I have a bad day, I have a good day. I still have a smile on my face.”

Davis eventually committed to Temple, where he spent two years before transferring to Vanderbilt and then Kentucky.