AUBURN, Ala. – Everyone lies in bed dreaming.
With eyes focused on a spinning ceiling fan above or glued to a poster of a professional athlete hanging on the wall across the room, a boy can spend hours imagining how his life will be in five, 10 or even 15 years. There is no shortage of money earned or sport statistic unobtainable in these dreams; anything is possible.
For Marlon Davidson, his dream — technically a promise — revolved around his mother, Cynthia Carter. He didn't want her to have to stress or worry about anything. He wanted to be financially sound, so she didn't have to go to work. He even wanted to buy her a house right beside his.
Unfortunately, Davidson's dream became a nightmare on Feb. 23, 2015.
Davidson had just finished getting a haircut when one of his three brothers called telling him to get to the hospital right away. Cynthia had fallen while walking out of a doctor's clinic and was rushed to a hospital.
Davidson was only a junior in high school when his mother passed away that fateful day.
"It was a real-life roller coaster," Davidson says. "All the sudden, I'm so high, I'm at (G.W.) Carver and had a great football season and playing basketball and was getting ready to play for the basketball championship. Then, all the sudden, I'm at an all-time low. I get a phone call saying come to the hospital, because this and this happened. I'm like, 'Dang, why did this happen?'"
Davidson's G.W. Carver teammates advanced to the AHSAA Class 6A basketball state championship game after defeating Woodlawn, 54-42, just three days later. Two days after that, the teammates and friends he shared a basketball season with won a state championship while Davidson was at his mother's funeral.
"And now I'm questioning everybody," Davidson recalls. "I just didn't want to talk to anybody. I was being disrespectful. I was doing this and doing that, but then I realized my mom wouldn't want this.
"I think, about a month and a half later, it actually just clicked in my head that I had made my mom a promise. So, in my head, after that month and a half, I said, 'Man, I've got to do this, because I said I was and I don't break promises.' I just started feeding off that energy and wanted to become the best."
Davidson transformed that energy into momentum -- momentum he'd use to start the 'real-life roller coaster' back towards the top.
After transferring from G.W. Carver back to Greenville High – where he started his prep career – for his senior season, Davidson helped lead the Tigers to an undefeated 2015 regular season. With Davidson anchoring Greenville's defense, the Tigers allowed an average of only 12.3 points to opponents.
No team scored more than 21 points in a game against Greenville that season until the eventual Class 5A football state champions St. Paul's beat the Tigers, 24-21, in the second round of the AHSAA playoffs.
Davidson concluded his final season of high school with 65 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, eight sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, two interceptions and two defensive touchdowns.
Davidson was named to the Under Armour All-American and Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Games. The Alabama Sports Writers Association tabbed him as one of the 12 best players in the state — regardless of school classification — when he was selected to the ASWA Super 12. He also became just the second player in Greenville High history to win Class 5A Lineman of the Year. The other? His older brother Ken Carter, who went on to play college football at Auburn from 2010-13 before joining the Tigers' support staff.
"I started doing more reps. I started doing extra after practice," Davidson explains. "I started going to talk to coaches to tell me what else to work on, what else can I do and try to find just the littlest thing so I could be the best I could be. It drove me to where I'm at now."
The promise. The pain. The energy. Everything drove Davidson so much and so far that he wasted no time making the move to the collegiate level.
Davidson verbally committed to Auburn on Sept. 4, 2015 — the same day he was credited with 10 tackles, including eight for a loss, and three sacks in only three quarters as Greenville beat Booker T. Washington, 42-14. He honored that commitment months later as he was an early enrollee and arrived on campus Jan. 4, 2016.
At Auburn, Davidson became the first true freshman to start the season opener on the defensive line since at least 1985 — when the school starting tracking individual starts. Athlon Sports and the league's coaches named Davidson to the SEC all-freshman team after he started all 13 games on the defensive line and recorded 38 tackles as a true freshman.
"That was a crazy high," Davidson remembers. "I did something that people normally don't do. But I couldn't have been in that situation without (defensive line) Coach (Rodney) Garner. He put me in that situation. I give Coach Garner all the credit. He turned me into the athlete I wanted to become."
The car continued to gain speed. Six media affiliations selected Davidson to their preseason all-SEC teams to start the 2017 season; the SEC coaches did the same. He was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week following his performance against Missouri, which included a 33-yard fumble recovery, four tackles and one tackle for loss. Everything was rolling.
2018 marked the third straight year Davidson was a starter on the defensive line. He entered his junior season on the Nagurski Trophy watch list before setting a single-season career high with 46 tackles, 11 quarterback hurries and 3.5 sacks. He even added to his game when he blocked field goals in three consecutive games (Mississippi State, Tennessee and Ole Miss) – his three blocks led the SEC and was second most in the nation.
"You can't do anything without hard work," Davidson said. "Hard work and dedication will always put you on top. When you look in the mirror and see yourself looking back, you have to be true to him first, then you'll be true to the game. If you aren't putting in that hard work to be great, then you'll never be great."
Three years removed from graduating high school, Davidson was eligible for the NFL Draft following the 2018 season. The NFL's College Advisory Committee, which evaluates underclassmen thinking about declaring, pegged him a late second or third-round pick. It was an opportunity for him to fulfill his promise to his late mother. It was an opportunity to fulfill the dream every young child dreams while lying in bed.
But Davidson wasn't ready. He didn't want to slow the momentum down and exit the ride. While there were countless voices talking with him about future endeavors and what to do next, there was one voice louder than the rest.
"I remember my mom telling me, 'We don't quit. Whatever we start, we finish,'" Davidson said. "I've always had the mindset that if I start something, I'm going to finish it."
The seed of that life-long message was planted when Davidson was in eighth grade at Greenville Middle School. Davidson and a coach did not get along, so much so, that one afternoon Davidson quit football. His mom found out when she arrived at practice to pick him up and he was not there. Once she got home, she disciplined him and told him, "A man doesn't quit – a little boy quits," which stuck with Davidson ever since.
And because of that, Davidson – a media studies major – announced in January he was returning for his senior season at Auburn. The post came with a caption that read "Best School In The Land!!! WAR EAGLE!!!" and a graphic that stated:
"The past three years at Auburn have been more than I could've imagined! From the fans, the coaches, my teammates, and the lives I have been able to impact through the sport I love; I wouldn't trade a moment of my experience as an Auburn Tiger for one second. As I reflected on my time at AU, trying to figure out what to do next, I realized that I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Auburn Football, and all that it means to put on #3 and battle in the SEC! After a lot of thinking, and praying, I will be returning to Auburn University to earn my degree and have One Last Dance! War Eagle!"
Family has always been a top priority to Marlon. Everyone from his mother, Cynthia Carter, to his brothers, Terrance, Ken and Marvin, to the loved ones who looked over him following his mother's passing and his current and former teammates – they have all made an impact on his life.
"I'm going to look out for my brothers no matter what," Davidson vows. "My mom always instilled in us back home, your brothers are all you've got. And I did not want to leave my brothers like that."
As Davidson enters his final season on The Plains, that love extends to the Auburn family, too.
"I want to thank them for everything they did for me," Davidson said. "I want to thank them for the excitement they give me. The highs. The lows. Everything. I appreciate the Auburn family for everything they do for Marlon Davidson. I love them."