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Swearingen20 Offline
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Post: #1
Akeem Davis
Huge congrats to Akeem for making the team for the Washington Redskins!!!!! Enjoy your time in the NFL and thank you for always being a proud Memphis Tiger.
08-30-2014 11:39 PM
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21-17 Best Time I Ever Ha Offline
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Post: #2
RE: Akeem Davis
I am really thrilled about this. He was a super nice guy. I wish more people would watch the Tigers in the NFL video because this is an awesome deal for our guys. Of course, it would help if it was not played when everyone goes out for popcorn or to use the restroom at the half.
08-31-2014 12:55 AM
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Swearingen20 Offline
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RE: Akeem Davis
His dad called me last night to tell me he made the final cut. I was thrilled that his parents thought enough about me to call me to share in their joy. I will NEVER forget how happy his dad was last night when they called me. Akeem has worked so hard to make his dream come true. I wish his Tigers team would have had more success on the field when he was here.
08-31-2014 07:58 AM
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tnzazz Offline
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Post: #4
Akeem Davis
(08-31-2014 07:58 AM)Swearingen20 Wrote:  His dad called me last night to tell me he made the final cut. I was thrilled that his parents thought enough about me to call me to share in their joy. I will NEVER forget how happy his dad was last night when they called me. Akeem has worked so hard to make his dream come true. I wish his Tigers team would have had more success on the field when he was here.

Cool story and a dream come true.
08-31-2014 08:29 AM
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Swearingen20 Offline
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RE: Akeem Davis
Akeem was here during some of the worst years our program has ever seen. Even with the lack of wins, he worked hard every week on the field and NEVER gave up his dream to play in the NFL. I hope he gets a shot as some playing time this year.
09-01-2014 12:49 PM
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21-17 Best Time I Ever Ha Offline
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Post: #6
RE: Akeem Davis
Yep. He deserves everything he has worked so hard for. Like I said, I sure do wish more fans would stand up and cheer when they show the "Tigers in the NFL" clip. Every guy up there is a real nice guy and a great athlete and credit to the University. Marcus Ball is another one who just earned the right to be on that big screen.
09-01-2014 12:59 PM
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Swearingen20 Offline
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RE: Akeem Davis
Getting players to the NFL is what makes recruits want to come to your school. The University of Memphis should be doing everything they can to help celebrate ALL current and former Memphis players that made it to the NFL. I also wish the university would try harder to get those players to come to more games and be on the sidelines. Every big school does this and we should be doing the same thing!!! Having them more involved with the program might also help lead to more donations from those players.
09-01-2014 04:12 PM
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FUT Offline
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Post: #8
RE: Akeem Davis
Good for him. I still hope his team loses every game they play.
09-01-2014 04:19 PM
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k2tigers Offline
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RE: Akeem Davis
I remember I think 2 years ago vs. UT Martin, we brought in Poe, Gostkowski and one other guy whose name escapes me. It was a bye week for the Chiefs and Pats. It was pretty cool after watching the Tigers in the NFL video and then having the privelege of seeing them on the sideline via the big screen.
09-01-2014 04:21 PM
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papajohn Offline
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Post: #10
RE: Akeem Davis
(09-01-2014 04:12 PM)Swearingen20 Wrote:  Getting players to the NFL is what makes recruits want to come to your school. The University of Memphis should be doing everything they can to help celebrate ALL current and former Memphis players that made it to the NFL. I also wish the university would try harder to get those players to come to more games and be on the sidelines. Every big school does this and we should be doing the same thing!!! Having them more involved with the program might also help lead to more donations from those players.

FYI, we had two there Saturday (Ronald Leary and DeAngelo)and they put them both up on the big screen. Tom Hornsey was there also.
09-01-2014 04:22 PM
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Swearingen20 Offline
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RE: Akeem Davis
DeAngelo comes back EVERY chance he gets. His love for the Tigers is off the charts. You will no go a week without him posting something about the Tigers or a picture with him wearing some Memphis gear.

It would be great if they had a video on the jumbo tron of former players telling people to get loud or other fun stuff at big moments in a game.

I also wish we could find a way to get Isaac Bruce more involved with the program. He is a future NFL Hall of Famer!!!!
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2014 04:38 PM by Swearingen20.)
09-01-2014 04:38 PM
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Cletus Offline
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RE: Akeem Davis
Quote:[Image: washington-times.jpg]

HOME/SPORTS/FOOTBALL
For Akeem Davis, NFL dreams could be realized this week
By Zac Boyer - The Washington Times - Wednesday, August 27, 2014



As the University of Memphis wrapped up another miserable slog of a season in 2012, the losses piling on as apathy and disinterest ran high, Akeem Davis did everything he could to make sure his college career ended with a tinge of pride.

Davis, the Tigers’ affable, charismatic strongside linebacker, was tired of defeat. Memphis had won just six of its 45 games since he had joined the program prior to the 2009 season, including just one of nine by mid-November of his senior year. A player who would start practice each day by challenging his teammates and breaking down the huddle, Davis called upon them to muster something — anything — to end that season with success.

They responded. The Tigers finished that year with victories in their final three games, outscoring opponents by an average of 23 points a game. Davis, their leader, was the catalyst.

“He just kept them grinding,” said Justin Fuente, who took over as the coach at Memphis prior to that season. “He just continued every single day. What I would give to have him on this team now.”

Now with the Washington Redskins, Davis is trying to use those same qualities — hard work, dedication and performance — in his attempt to make the team when the preseason ends on Thursday night.

[Image: redskins_20140818_055_s877x584.jpg?f04dd...e5426d5c25]
Washington Redskins defensive back Akeem Davis (35) on the sideline as the Washington Redskins play the Cleveland Browns in NFL preseason football at FedExField, Landover, Md., Monday, August 18, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

The Redskins will wrap up their four-game exhibition slate at Tampa Bay, and not long after those final 60 minutes tick away, coaches and other personnel executives will huddle together and begin making decisions on the future of countless players, all in an attempt to determine who is best suited to helping a team win games when the regular season begins next week.


The goal, then, is to make those decisions easy. Davis has spent most of training camp and the preseason working as the third-string strong safety — a spot that puts him squarely on the roster bubble. To help his case, he has picked up responsibilities covering kickoffs and punts on special teams, standing out with a notable hit on New England punt returner Roy Finch in the third quarter of a preseason game on Aug. 7.


He has also worked to pick up every nuance of his responsibilities within the defense, focusing not just on the fundamentals of his position but also feeling comfortable enough to make calls and checks in the defensive backfield. Early in training camp, teammates marveled at the way in which Davis picked things up; even defensive backs coach Raheem Morris, his position coach, has been surprised at how thoroughly Davis can recognize the appropriate play call.


“If we go inside the meeting room, Akeem is going to rattle that thing off faster than me,” Morris said. “Sometimes I’ve got to ask Akeem what the playbook says on some certain calls. ‘Hey ‘Keem, what’s that say when we go back inside?’ ‘Backer, coach! Backer!’ ‘Thank you. Guys, we’re using ‘backer.’ He knows the playbook like no other.”


That depth of knowledge served Davis well last season at Memphis, where he served as a graduate assistant coach following his graduation from the university in 2013. Undrafted that April, his only flirtation with the NFL came via an invitation to a rookie minicamp in Seattle, where secondary coach Kris Richard told Davis he knew he could play in the league.


“It was pretty great advice for me, and it gave me the desire for me to keep doing what I needed to do, because they had the best secondary,” Davis said. “Coming from him, [it] gave me motivation to keep pushing and keep doing what I need to do.”


Davis did just that, continuing to work out at Memphis‘ athletic facilities — a perk granted to him as a graduate assistant. After the season ended, Davis registered for the NFL’s regional combine in Atlanta, a scaled-down version of the annual event geared toward players trying to work their way into the league.


There, he ran the 40-yard dash in a time he said “was fast enough to raise some eyebrows” — a blistering 4.37 seconds. The Redskins, made aware of the feat, invited Davis in for a workout two days later and offered a contract later that week.


Davis, somehow, felt conflicted. A native of Laurel, Mississippi, who spent his freshman year 15 minutes down the road at Jones County Junior College, he had ingrained himself at Memphis. He had enjoyed working with the Tigers’ young defensive backs and even became a mentor to some.


When he registered for the regional combine, he did so knowing that he didn’t want to regret later in life giving up on his NFL dreams. Fuente, too, had tried to prime Davis for that possibility.

Fuente said. “We talked about that for a while, and I told Akeem, ‘Listen’ — and I don’t think he needed me to tell him this — ‘this is the only time in your life you’re gonna have a chance to do this, so you’re not gonna burn any bridges with us if it happens. … We want you to go do it.’”


Davis signed a three-year, $1.5 million contract — standard for an undrafted rookie — and joined the Redskins in time for their offseason workouts.

He immediately made an impression on his new teammates: Cornerback E.J. Biggers remembered seeing Davis for the first time and being struck by his 6-foot-1, 200-pound frame.


“He came in and everyone was like, ‘Who is this kid? He’s so big and everything,’” Biggers said. “He has the physique of a freakin’ wrestler or something like that.”

[Image: redskins-ravens-footballjpeg-095df_s877x...e5426d5c25]
Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden, left, greets defensive back Akeem Davis before an NFL preseason football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)


After a preseason in which Davis has had a chance to make his case, his final judgment is pending. One respite: The recent suspension of starting strong safety Brandon Meriweather for the first two games of the season should give Davis a greater chance of sticking.


If he doesn’t, the lessons learned over an offseason with the Redskins could give him a shot at the other end of the waiver wire. And, back home, a wife, a newborn daughter and a Master’s degree that remains two classes shy of completion await.


“The whole process has been a bumpy process, but you know, the process is always stressful.” Davis said. “When you progress and you succeed, that’s what makes you keep going the extra mile.”



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09-15-2014 04:44 PM
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Bill83 Offline
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Post: #13
RE: Akeem Davis
Congratulations to a fine young man and a heck of a football player!

Go Akeem!
09-15-2014 04:56 PM
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snowtiger Offline
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Post: #14
RE: Akeem Davis
I am so glad my NFL allegiance is totally predicated on former Tigers on the field.
Not sure what I'll do...when there's one on each team... on the field at the same time.
09-15-2014 04:58 PM
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21-17 Best Time I Ever Ha Offline
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Post: #15
RE: Akeem Davis
(09-15-2014 04:58 PM)snowtiger Wrote:  I am so glad my NFL allegiance is totally predicated on former Tigers on the field.
Not sure what I'll do...when there's one on each team... on the field at the same time.

Agreed. And just pull for each Tiger to do good at his position.

Go Akeem! 04-rock Make me a Redskins fan!
(This post was last modified: 09-15-2014 05:48 PM by 21-17 Best Time I Ever Ha.)
09-15-2014 05:47 PM
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