Tyler Dale Davis (born September 29, 1994) is an American

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 ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

who is currently a free agent. 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 ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Early years

Davis went to St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois, but did not participate in football. However, he played for his high school

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team, and participated at the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

. During his sophomore year of high school, he had to sit out the year due to a car crash. He came back in his junior year and scored a school record with 25 goals.

College career

Davis started his college career at

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...

, where he did not play football but soccer. After a year at Bradley, Tyler transferred to

, where he walked on to the football team as a

. During the 2015 season, Davis went a perfect 8 for 8 on

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball ...

and 11 for 11 for

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

s. He shared kicking duties that year with freshman

Joey Julius Joseph Thomas Julius (born March 26, 1995) is a former college football kicker for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Early years Julius was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, where he played football for Lower Dau ...

. During his junior season, he went 22 for 24 on FGs (both misses being blocked), and remained perfect with extra points going 55/55. He finished the regular season with 121 points in total and received All-Big Ten honors. In his senior season, Davis struggled only going 9 of 17 and only making two kicks from 40 yards or beyond. In the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

, Penn State was up a touchdown and Davis had a chance to secure the Penn State win with a 45-yard field goal, but pulled the kick. Penn State went on to win the game.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

, Davis signed with the

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

as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2018. He was waived on August 21, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Tyler 1994 births Living people American football placekickers Bradley Braves men's soccer players Buffalo Bills players Footballers who switched code Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from St. Charles, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Soccer players from Illinois Sportspeople from DuPage County, Illinois Sportspeople from Kane County, Illinois Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality