/The Brandon (MS) Bowl Saints vs Jaguars, Davis vs Minshew

The Brandon (MS) Bowl Saints vs Jaguars, Davis vs Minshew

Davis, who plays for New Orleans Saints in the NFL, may be the best linebacker. He is the most prominent linebacker in the NFL, and he should be mentioned in the first sentence of any debate about the topic. Gardner Minshew, 23, was a senior at Brandon when he was ignored by Ole Miss and Mississippi State. He eventually transferred to Troy before embarking on a football journey that took him to Northwest Community College in East Carolina, then across the continent to Washington State. Minshew is a sixth-round draft pick and might be the NFL’s best rookie quarterback. Minshew is undoubtedly the most exciting rookie story in professional football. Sunday will see the New Orleans Saints’ Davis chase the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Minshew in an attempt to keep the Saints in first place in NFC South. Davis spoke Thursday afternoon about Brandon’s only active pro-football player. Davis stated, “Yeah. I know Gardner.” “Used to. When I would return to Brandon, I’d hear about this young quarterback from my friends and tell them how great he was and how hard they worked. Gardner was that. After that, I met Flint Minshew, his father, and began working out at Flint’s gym during the off-season. Gardner Minshew has been a good friend. I am extremely proud of him and all he has accomplished. It’s amazing to see Gardner at Jacksonville. He was able to play as a rookie quarterback due to injuries and then he played well and gave his team the chance to win. He’s probably the first quarterback from my hometown to play in the NFL. He’s a proud man. “I’m proud of Flint too.” Brandon can take great pride both in Davis, who has 35 tackles through five games, as well as Minshew who has thrown nine touchdowns to only one interception since taking over Nick Foles’ Jaguars’ first game. Davis believes that Minshew and he both benefit from a “blue collar attitude”, which he describes as common among Mississippi athletes. Davis stated, “It’s an Underdog Mentality, a Blue-Collar Mentality.” It’s a common theme with Mississippi athletes. We didn’t get much media attention in high school. We were not expected to be college-level players. This puts a lot of pressure on you and makes it harder to prove your worth. I remember hearing about Gardner’s hard work, the amount of time he spent throwing after practice and on Saturday mornings after games. I was also told how much time he spent in his film room. “And I know how hard it has been for me and I am still trying to prove myself. We didn’t have any help. It wasn’t easy for either of us. It didn’t happen overnight. This has been true for many of the best football players Mississippi has ever produced. Walter Payton, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, had only one college offer: Kansas State. Jerry Rice, a member of the College Hall of Fame, had no offers. Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre received his one and only D-I offer by Southern Miss the day before his signing date. Archie Manning, College Football Hall of Famer, had only three major college offers. All were hard workers. All were from Mississippi, and all had what Davis calls the “blue-collar mentality.” Last December, you might have seen an article about Davis’s inability to be noticed by the NFL despite his leadership of a better Saints defense into playoffs. Davis is getting more attention and more respect this season. He stands 6’2″ and weighs 252 pounds. His size allows him to cover running backs or tight ends in pass coverage. Davis said, “I don’t worry about the media coverage.” Respect comes from my peers. Teams using two players to stop me are a sign of that. “That’s the respect I want.” There have been many stories about Davis’s off-the-field activities as well as his on-field actions. The NFL first penalized Davis for wearing a “Man of God” bandanna. The fine was later canceled by the league, but Davis began mass-producing the bandannas with outside assistance. Davis stated that the bandannas had been sold for more than 40 thousand dollars as of Thursday. All proceeds will go to St. Dominic Memorial Hospital to fund a new emergency department. Davis’ mother was a cyto-technologist at that hospital when he played for Brandon Bulldogs. Davis stated, “It’s about using my platform in any way that I can help people.” In this instance, I am also honoring my mother. We can raise more, I hope. There is already a match that turns the 40 000 into 80 thousand.” Minshew’s football adventure took him to Pullman in Wash. 2,236 miles away from Brandon. Both Minshew and Davis are Cinderella-type stories, rags to riches. They both began in Brandon.