Keith Lamont Davis (born December 30, 1978) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

Early years

Davis attended Italy High School. In football, he was a four-year starter. He had 33 touchdown receptions and 5 blocked punts in his last 2 seasons. He was a two-time All-District and All-State wide receiver and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

at UIL Class AA. He was a starter on the varsity

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team that won the 1997

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

State Championship. He also lettered in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

College career

Davis accepted a football scholarship from

. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

freshman, he started 5 games at safety and made 40 tackles. As a sophomore, he was named a starter at safety, posting 104 tackles, 11 passes defensed, 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 3 blocked punts. As a junior, he was named

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

Defensive Player of the Year and team MVP after posting 99 tackles, 14 tackles for loss (led the team), 2 interceptions and 2 blocked punts. As a senior, he led the team with 96 tackles (led the team), 67 solo tackles (led the team), 7 pass defended, three forced fumbles, one sack, and one fumble recovery. He earned

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

All-American honors and All-Southland Conference honors after the season. He finished his college career with 339 tackles (fourth in school history) and 6 interceptions. In 2013, he was named to the

2000s All-Decade Team. In 2014, he was inducted into the

Sam Houston State Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

Athletic Hall of Honor. On December 7, 2018, Davis graduated from Sam Houston State with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology degree.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

Davis was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

. He was waived on September 1. He was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 3. He was released on September 11. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 16. He was promoted to the active roster on October 12. He was cut on October 22. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 23. He was promoted to the active roster on November 22. He played in 8 games as a backup

and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He was credited with 5 defensive tackles, 2 quarterback pressures, one pass breakup and 8

tackles. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, before the start of

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

, he was shot in the right hip and left elbow around 2:20 a.m. outside the Dallas Gentlemen's Club. Davis had driven to the club after closing time to pick up a friend. The friend was sitting at a table where an altercation broke out, and spilled outside to the parking lot, culminating with his shooting while defending her girlfriend. While he did nothing to provoke the incident, and was regarded as an unwitting victim,

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

believed Davis should not have placed himself in a questionable situation and released him from the team on July 26. On January 13,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, he rejoined the club after Parcells gave him a second chance, re-signing him to play in

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. Davis took advantage of the opportunity and was named All-league, while helping the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

to the

World Bowl XII World Bowl XII was NFL Europe's 2004 championship game. The game was played at Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on June 12, 2004. In this game, the defending champion Frankfurt Galaxy returned to try to protect their title after going th ...

championship. He compiled 65 tackles (second on the team), 4 interceptions (second in the league), 15 pass defenses and 2 forced fumbles. He made the Cowboys regular season roster and was second on the team with 21

tackles. He also was selected to the USA Today All-Joe Team. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Davis started 15 games at

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

alongside Roy Williams. He finished 68 defensive tackles (fourth on the team), one tackle for loss, 3 passes defensed, 16

tackles (led the team) and one forced fumble On April 10,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

signed him to a restricted free agent offer sheet, but the Cowboys retained his player rights by matching the offer. On July 16, he was shot for the second time in just three years. This time he was randomly shot in the back of the head and in his right thigh, while driving to church at 5:30 a.m. on a Dallas freeway. He drove himself to the hospital and was later discharged. He was part of a platoon at

with rookie

Pat Watkins Patrick Watkins (born December 18, 1982) is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers. He also was a member of the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Foo ...

. Davis started 6 games, tallying 21 defensive tackles, one quarterback pressure, 14

tackles (fourth on the team). In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Ken Hamlin Ken Hamlin (born January 20, 1981) is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft and also played for the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens an ...

took over the

position. Davis appeared in 14 games with one start at

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

, making 7 defensive tackles, one pass defensed and 18

tackles (tied for third on the team).

Miami Dolphins

On March 11,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, Davis signed as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, reuniting him with team vice president

. In a surprise move, the Dolphins released him a day before the final preseason game.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

On August 31,

, Davis was re-signed by the

, just days after being released by the Dolphins. He was named team captain for the season despite being on the roster only a few days. He appeared in 16 with 9 starts at

, collecting 40 tackles (one for loss), 2 passes defensed and 20

(led the team). He also received the

Ed Block Courage Award The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a ...

for playing with a torn pectoral muscle. He wasn't re-signed after the season. Davis finished his professional career with 171 defensive tackles, no interceptions and 6 passes defensed. He is considered to be one of the best

players in the history of the

Oakland Raiders

On May 21,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

signed him as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

to add depth at the

position. He was released before the start of

on July 12.

Florida Tuskers (UFL)

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, after being out of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for one year, he signed as a

with the

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

of the United Football League. He was a backup

behind J. R. Reed. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, he played for the

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 UFL season, 2011 season. They played their ...

which was the team that replaced the Tuskers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Keith 1978 births Living people People from Italy, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football safeties Sam Houston Bearkats football players Dallas Cowboys players Berlin Thunder players Florida Tuskers players Virginia Destroyers players Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Ed Block Courage Award recipients