Blanchette: CV graduate dares to deliver on dream

Surely you know someone who drolly insists, on a daily basis, that he’s “living the dream,” to the point where it seems clear the dream is to torture you with insincerity.

And then there is Will Davis, who acknowledges the surreality of his dream/life although there is nothing faux about it.

Davis is a 2008 graduate of Central Valley High School and a starting cornerback for Utah State, which visits the area this weekend for a Western Athletic Conference game against Idaho – a circumstance that has turned him into a one-man StubHub. He has managed to broker 45 tickets for family and friends and the hunt continues.

“The more the merrier,” he chirped.

This seems to be a Davis philosophy that extends beyond his personal rooting section into things like the twists and challenges of life – some of them self-inflicted – and, well, words. His conversation is a cascade – urgent, excited, relentless. He might be a 4.4 guy – not in the 40-yard dash, but in words per second.

But then, he has a pretty good story to get out – playing FBS football, as he is, just two years removed from being in a Division II program that was trapdoored by its administration.

Or even just cracking the USU lineup weeks after his coach pulled him aside to deliver an unorthodox pep talk:

“You’re underachieving,” Gary Andersen told Davis.

Which, Davis admitted, he was.

He had transferred in from DeAnza College, where he’d led California jucos in interceptions as an all-state corner – only to be shifted to safety in fall drills. He didn’t particularly like it, and when he was switched back a couple of weeks later, he felt behind and forgotten. He was even demoted to the scout team before Andersen got all frank with him.

“I needed to hear that,” Davis said, “and I needed to change. You want to be the best and I wasn’t sure I could be. You don’t bring in guys from JC to be on the scout team. It took me a while to believe I belonged. Gradually, I started making some plays and things have just kept going.”

But that seems to be the constant text to Davis’ football life, which had a late start and a strange momentum.

A standout in basketball and track, Davis didn’t play football at CV until his senior year after encouragement from his older brother, Shon. He had just enough success to attract some attention from coaches at Western Washington, who also knew he was raw enough that a redshirt year would be beneficial.

That would be the only year he’d get. On Jan. 8, 2009, Western announced it was axing its football program in an economic move to, it was rationalized, save the school’s other intercollegiate sports.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Davis said. “I’m sitting in class and a coach came to tell me there was a mandatory meeting and you could just feel something was wrong, although nobody knew anything. Robin Ross, the head coach, starts tearing up and we’re all in shock.

“I remember looking at the faces of the juniors who were looking forward to their last year and they just have it taken away from them. It was like it wasn’t real, and in the days after that players started looking at places to go and leaving.”

The school committed to honor the scholarships of players who opted to stay. A number of freshmen from Spokane did just that, and Davis himself did for a year – feeding his football Jones with some intramural flag action.

“But those faces you knew weren’t there anymore,” he recalled, “and it was just so different. And I’d watch college football on TV and think, ‘It would be great to be on TV and play in front of thousands of people.’ And you know what – I could do it.”

So he made his way to De Anza, rooming with another CV alum, kicker Blaze Vela, and made a big splash with two picks in his first game – running one back for a touchdown. But he told his coach his plans only had room for one season in JC.

He took trips to Southern Illinois and San Jose State, and Idaho showed some interest but wanted him to wait until after signing day to commit. But he’d found what he wanted at Utah State and couldn’t wait to put his name on a letter of intent.

“And I’m calling everybody,” he said. “Everybody. Suddenly, it was real and not just a dream.”

Reality can have its hiccups, too – hence Davis’ misbegotten turn at safety and on the scout team. And he keeps tabs on former Western teammates, both the ones who have chased their dreams and those who said enough.

“A couple guys, Chris Bolt and Dirk Dallas, went to Humbolt and they won the Great Northwest this year,” Davis said. “I think Cody Oakes is playing semipro. Kevin Jones was like a mentor to me – a senior corner there when I was redshirting who helped me train. He’s been a big part of this. McKenzie Murphy, who’s from Ferris, is one of the guys who’s still there and I talk to them.

“There were people who told me, hey, you’ve got your (scholarship), just stay and get your education. But I just felt I had to go do it. And when I had a good season in junior college, I knew there had to be some Division I team somewhere that would take me.”

These stories all start with a vision, and even if it took some time to crystallize in Will Davis’ imagination, he’s certainly been true to it. Of course, there’s one thing to remember about visions:

“It’s way better in person,” he said, “than it is in visualization.”