Sept. 24, 2016
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - If you line up the slowest running back in the SEC next to the league's fastest defensive lineman for a 100-yard dash, the running back is going to win. Every single time.
It's just the nature of their positions.
Marlon Davidson agrees with this hypothesis, to a degree.
"True," says the first Auburn freshman to start on the defensive line in at least 30 years. "But, hey man, some D-linemen are different."
Confidence and the brashness that comes with being young and gifted explains only partially the remarkable effort Davidson demonstrated against Texas A&M.
To get the whole story, you have to dig a little deeper.
Davidson's Dash
It was Texas A&M's 72nd offensive play. Mid 4th quarter. 2nd-and-11 on the Aggies' 11.
Trayveon Williams, a freshman who coach Kevin Sumlin says has "home run speed," ran up the middle, made a few cuts and took off.
By the time Davidson shed his blocker, 6-foot-5, fifth-year senior Avery Gennesy, Williams was by him.
Undeterred, Davidson gave chase the whole way. In hot pursuit for 89 yards, Davidson never caught up with Williams, who as a junior in high school ran the 100 meters in 11.42 seconds.
The sight of the 273-pound, 6-foot-3 lineman remaining just a step behind a former sprinter was noteworthy.
At the Auburn 35, Davidson brushed against a Texas A&M receiver, slowed down for a step, then continued his race.
"I think if I would have never slowed up, I think I would have probably got him," Davidson says, still convinced he is one of those "different" D-linemen who can hold his own in a race against a running back.
On the stat sheet, it's an 89-yard touchdown run. In the film room, there's more to it.
"It's just a football play," says Davidson, who received "extra credit" for the extra effort on his grade for the play. "It's showing that you never give up, and you're a fighter."
Don Beebe
A few months into my sportscasting career, at a tiny TV station in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, I got to cover my first big story.
Don Beebe, a speedy receiver at Division II Chadron State, was an unlikely NFL prospect. A small (5-11) player at a small school, Beebe could fly. His 4.21 40-yard dash is one of the fastest recorded times in league history.
A few days before the 1989 draft, I drove 100 miles from Scottsbluff to Chadron to interview Beebe.
Halfway back to Scottsbluff, my car died. I ended up hitchhiking 60 miles, thanks to my new friend, Buck, who dropped me off at the KDUH-TV studio with just enough time to put together a sportscast.
Later that week, the Bills drafted Beebe in the third round. He ended up playing in six Super Bowls.
Four years after I hitchhiked home after our interview, Beebe made one of the most memorable plays in Super History when he chased down a showboating Leon Lett, knocking the ball loose just before the goal line.
Beebe's Bills had no chance of winning the game, but hustle and effort are not dependent on the scoreboard.
When I saw Marlon rumbling the length of the field last week, I instantly flashed back to Super Bowl XXVII.
The difference between the plays: Beebe was a skill position player chasing a lineman. Davidson was a lineman chasing a skill position guy.
The similarity: Despite their teams being defeated at the time, neither Beebe nor Davidson ever gave up.
"Keep fighting no matter what"
Marlon Davidson's brother, Kenneth Carter, Auburn football's assistant director for player development, helped instill in Marlon the attitude modeled by their mother, Cynthia Carter.
"It tells what type of person you are," Marlon says. "My brother always told me never to give up. And just keep fighting for what you believe in. Keep fighting no matter what happens. That's what I do every day. He told me never to quit. That's what I'm going to do."
Besides, Marlon tried quitting once before. In eighth grade. Cynthia wasn't having it.
"That was the worst day of my life," Marlon says. "I was going to be done with football. But my mom pulled me back in. That's why I have gratitude to her for everything I do today. And to show my respect and loyalty."
When Marlon was a junior at Montgomery's Carver High School two years ago, his basketball team was making its annual playoff run when the unthinkable happened.
Cynthia Carter died after falling and hitting her head. She was 47. As a senior, Marlon returned to his hometown of Greenville, wearing jersey number 47 in her honor.
"Think about her every day?" I asked Marlon after practice last week.
"24/7," he said instantly. "Whenever I step on the field."
Give up the chase? Quit? Marlon Davidson? After what he's been through? Not a chance.
Auburn's first freshman starter on the defensive line in at least 30 years, Marlon Davidson has 10 tackles in four games." style="width:100%; height:auto;" class="imported_image" legacy-link="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/m-footbl/auto_a_storywide/12119816.jpeg"> Auburn's first freshman starter on the defensive line in at least 30 years, Marlon Davidson has 10 tackles in four games.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer