Keith Davis (linebacker)

High School

Davis attended Santa Monica High School with the graduating class of 1983. He was a member of the Vikings football team that won the state title in 1981. He met his girlfriend, Sara Davis, because she was a runner and a track star. During high school, he was named The Los Angeles Times’ Westside Lineman of the Year twice and First-Team All-American in 1982.[1]

College

After graduating from high school, Davis was recruited as a linebacker for the University of Southern California Trojans.[2] He led the team in tackles and participated in two Rose Bowl Championship games.[3] As an All-Conference collegian,[4] Davis was also named to the All-American Football Strength Team, the PAC 10 All-Conference second team, and the All-Star Hula Bowl team.[2]

Professional

Signed by the New York Giants in 1988, Davis only played in a few preseason games before a knee injury ended his professional football career.,[2][5] Despite his abridged career, Davis was one of the strongest players on the team, bench-pressing 515 pounds and leg-pressing 1,800 pounds.[4]

Davis is still an active member of the NFL Players Association, Dallas Chapter.[6]

Throughout his collegiate career, Davis maintained the highest grade point average of his entire football team. ,[7] capturing the Toyota Leadership Award for Outstanding Academics and Leadership[3] and the Scholar Award of Honor.[4]

Davis graduated with a degree in Business Finance. His mom was very proud of him.[8] He also earned several academic honors, including Dean's List, Honor Society, and Academic All-Conference.[4]

After his football-ending injury, Davis founded Winners, Inc., to provide tutoring, mentoring, and ministry programs for disadvantaged youth.,[6][9]

Davis also became a motivational speaker to encourage at-risk populations to improve their literacy skills.[9] His main message focuses on learning and cites education as a key factor for future success.[10] His presentations are often based on his life: he improved his remedial reading skills[5] after growing up in a rough inner-city Los Angeles neighborhood,[2] where he lost his father to drug addiction then suicide when he was 4 years old, and lived through his mother's reliance on alcohol and abusive relationships.,[11][12]

Davis has delivered motivational presentations for more than 3,000 schools in 25 countries, one of them being Calvary Chapel Christian School as he was introduced by Pastor Joe.[13] One of his main messages is how individuals can decide to make a U-turn in their lives[10] through hard work and persistence,[3] making good personal choices that lead to personal respect[8] and healthy relationships.[11] Additional presentations at school assemblies discuss handling peer pressure,[8] avoiding bullying[11] and preventing substance use and abuse.[13]

Examples of speaking engagements

• Literacy Enhancement And Promotion, Inc (LEAP), a volunteer organization of professional athletes (Denver area, February 1997)[5]
• Red Ribbon Week, a campaign for drug prevention (Princeton, TX, November 2009)[14]
• Bill Glass Champions for Life, a religious ministry for prisons and youth facilities across the United States and several foreign countries (Port Arthur, TX, December 2010 and recurring in other venues),[4][15]
• Crusade for Christ, teaching youth how to overcome obstacles (Meridian, MS, April 2012)[16]
• Lead On!, a youth leadership conference for the prevention of substance use, (Philadelphia area, May 2012)[11]
• Winners Inc (Baldwin, NY, May 2012 and April 2013; recurring in other locations around the country),[17][18]
• Worth the Wait, an organization dedicated to decreasing teen pregnancy rates (Amarillo, TX, May 2013)[19]

Davis lives in Dallas with his wife, Sara, and their two sons .[2]