Cowboys Blog Official

Parcells Guys Editorial

Playing Free Safety for the Cowboys in 2005

Sign Lance Schulters, sign Reggie Tongue, sign Izell Reese, sign Ty law and convert him, sign anyone you want – the job is mine people. I am Keith Davis.

Davis took three bullets, two in his arm and one to the leg, in 2003. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and we all know the rest of that story. It seemed his career as a Cowboy was going to be over before it even began. Oh well, just another story about a young athlete not knowing what is right for him and what is wrong for him.

Here’s what Davis said at the time of the incident, “By the grace of God I am still here, and I have suffered no ill-effects. It was a really bad experience, but you live and you learn - and I think that I have learnt from that experience. I have dealt with it and I am just looking forward to playing football and putting that all behind me."

Nicely said, but the Cowboys cut him anyways.

This is what Coach Parcells said back in 2003 about the Davis incident, "I've told our guys that night clubs are not the place to be," Parcells said. "And I intend to have pretty good citizens around here." Sounds like Coach Parcells didn’t want any thugs back in 2003 either.

I guess Davis was never going to fulfill his dream of being a star for the Dallas Cowboys. Raised in Texas and playing college ball at Sam Houston State Keith Davis was the hometown guy everyone was rooting for. He just had to make it big for the Cowboys, but had he just blown his chance of a lifetime? Almost.

Some of you are saying “well, he shouldn’t have been at that stupid club in the first place so he shouldn’t have gotten a second chance, right?"

Wrong. In my eyes everyone deserves a second chance. So I think Keith Davis should get a chance to go out there in this upcoming training camp and win this Free Safety job.

But that’s just me. What changed in the eyes of Coach Parcells that he decided this kid was worth another chance? I mean Coach Parcells is a man of very little patience; he isn’t a baby sitter for these young adults. He gives them the speech about staying out of places that even offer the slightest amount of trouble, he let’s them know that having any contact with the law just about gets them a bus ticket out of Dallas. So what did Keith Davis, basically a walk on for the Cowboys, do to get another chance to become the next great Free Safety for the Dallas Cowboys?

He listened and he learned from his mistake. This is about all you can ask from a young adult learning about life. He turned his football career around. He came back and asked the Cowboys for another chance. He went to NFL Europe and played great football. He showed the world, not just Coach Parcells, that he isn’t some knucklehead who will let his 15 minutes be about getting shot outside a strip club. He did what many top tier athletes with a chance to make the NFL can’t do. He proved that he could be trusted not to make the same mistake twice. Coach Parcells is tough as nails, he is as old school as old school gets. But he’s human and he probably knows people better than anyone else in football.

Back in 2003 Coach Parcells cut Davis for one reason and one reason only, the kid messed up by being anywhere near that strip club. The idea that Davis wasn’t a good football player had never crossed Coach Parcells mind, he was a standout player everywhere he had played so far. Davis was a free agent who made the Cowboys in 2002 on his special teams play and we all know how much emphasis Coach Parcells puts on special teams. If Davis could get over this incident and show the Cowboys he was worthy of another shot then his dream would again be alive. He could gain a better understanding about the Safety position while still playing like a monster on special teams. But the question was still the same, could he do it?

I guess so. Come September 11, 2005 against the San Diego Chargers Keith Davis will be the starting Free Safety for the Dallas Cowboys.

Comments?