Ray Davis Provides Inspiration Ahead of NFL Draft

by:Nick Roush•03/03/24•

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Ray Davis was one of the most talked about players at the NFL Combine. It wasn’t because of his 40-yard-dash time, a solid 4.52. The former Kentucky running back was never supposed to make it this far. Now he’s on the verge of hearing his name called in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Before he was an All-SEC selection with 21 touchdowns at Kentucky, long before he transferred from Vanderbilt and Temple, Ray Davis was one of the many kids caught in the foster care machine. The Athletic detailed his arduous journey from homelessness to the NFL Combine.

It’s a story that isn’t for the faint of heart. At one point he was living in a homeless shelter with two of his 14 siblings. When two spots in a foster family opened, he volunteered to stay behind to make room for his siblings. Despite all of the challenges, he stayed the course. Now he hopes to serve as an inspiration for others.

“I would love to be a great running back, but at the end of the day, I just want to be a name that you remember. I want to be able to be somebody that every day when you wake up and you look at that story and there’s a kid that’s sitting there that wants to play collegiate football, play basketball or play any sport, and they may not have the resources and they may not have the academic piece a part of it, but they have the fight and the courage because somebody else did it,” Davis said at the NFL Combine.

“I want to be known as somebody who continued to fight, who tried to defeat the system, who bet on himself, who against all odds didn’t fold, didn’t crack under pressure and he attacked it head on. That’s how I attack life. What is there to be sad about? What is there to be mad about? At the end of the day, there’s some people going through some real-life situations. I’m blessed to be here. A lot of people would be blessed to be in this situation, so I’m going to continue to be that shining light for them, to go out there and achieve my goals and my dreams. Once I make it and when I make it, I’m going to go back and make sure they have a platform too.”

There is no secret to success. Yes, he was blessed with abilities, but he also learned to work hard and never rest on his laurels.

“I don’t dwell celebrate the small wins. Once you celebrate the small wins, you become complacent. Once you become complacent, you won’t get to where you need to go. If I sit here and try to celebrate that I’ve made it, then truthfully — what is there to celebrate? I’m supposed to be here. I’m supposed to have been a college graduate,” said Davis.

“Statistically, I’m the 1% who made it out of the situation I was unfortunately in, but I made it. I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing it for a lot of other kids who are in that situation if not a worse situation. To know that I can provide a platform and be a speaker for those kids who don’t have it, that’s the reason I keep going every day, that’s the reason I keep fighting.”

After an exceptional college career, Ray Davis is well on his way to defying the odds and hearing his name on day three at this year’s NFL Draft.

Ray Davis NFL Combine Results

Relative Athletic Score is a calculation created by Kent Lee Platte that helps make sense of the numbers at the NLF Combine. Davis scored a 7.29 out of 10.00, ranking as the No. 480 RB out of 1,765 from 1987 to 2024.