'A dream come true': Deshaun Davis receives Senior Bowl invite

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AUBURN, Ala. – When the initial list of invitations for the Reese's Senior Bowl was released on Dec. 5, Deshaun Davis immediately went to look for his name. Not only was the senior linebacker one of the more productive players in the SEC this season with a team-high 107 tackles and 14 tackles for loss, but he grew up in Mobile where the game is played every year.
 
Auburn teammates Jarrett Stidham and Dontavius Russell received their invitations. So did fellow inside linebackers Bobby Okereke (Stanford), Cameron Smith (USC) and Germain Pratt (NC State). But Davis was noticeably absent from the list.
 
"It was kind of a slap in the face, honestly," Davis said. "I never got mad at the Senior Bowl. I never got mad at Jim [Nagy]. Regardless, I was going to go to the game because it's a city event and my family does something big for the game every year. I just kind of stayed the course."
 
If anything, it was everybody else that expressed frustration in support of Davis. Fans began tagging him in posts on social media, and one even started a petition to get him to play in the game.
 
Little did any of them know that Nagy, the executive director of the Senior Bowl, had a special plan in the works to invite Davis. The 18-year NFL scout called Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn during a team meeting last Thursday and asked for Davis. He then extended an official invite to the Mobile native to play in the annual college football all-star game.
 
"You want to come down and play in our 70th annual game?"
 
"Of course."
 
The room full of Auburn players and coaches went crazy with excitement.
 
"That's a dream come true," Davis said. "Going off to college, that's something you want to do – finish your career in front of the people that you started it with. It was kind of overwhelming, but I was in front of my teammates so I couldn't be too emotional. I'm just ecstatic about the opportunity, just going to play in front of my city, competing against the best talent in college football, and I'm excited to go down and do that."
 
Growing up, Davis went to the Senior Bowl probably five or six times. His family would always have a big tailgate. His little league team also had a tailgate where they would give out tickets to the little league players, so they could attend the game. It's a major event in the community.
 
It will be no different this year. If anything, it will be even bigger with the hometown hero coming back to play in it. But Davis won't be focused on all that. He'll be focused on the game itself and the week of practice leading up to it because this is his chance to prove to NFL scouts that he can play at the next level.
 
It's fitting that Davis received his invitation late. He's always played with a chip on his shoulder. 

"You don't even have to ask (if I have something to prove)," Davis said. "Most definitely. I know it. 'He's a 5-11 linebacker.' Yeah, OK. 'He doesn't run a 4.3.' OK. But I know these (scouts) are looking for the 6-3 guys with this sort of wingspan and this and that. I'm a football player. When I step on the field, you can tell that I'm a football player.
 
"So I think it'll be good for me to go out and showcase my talents in front of the scouts. There won't be any pressure on me at all because it's football, and I've got home-field advantage."
 
You can watch Davis, along with Stidham and Russell, in the Senior Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 26. The game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on NFL Network.
 


 
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf