Titus Davis (January 3, 1993 – November 11, 2020) was an American professional

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 ...

player who was a wide receiver. 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 ...

for the

Central Michigan Chippewas The Central Michigan Chippewas are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Central Michigan University (CMU), located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The school fields sixteen men's and women's intercollegiate teams that compete at the ...

, and holds the school records for both career receiving yards and touchdowns. Davis was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

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 ...

in 2015. His younger brother,

Corey Corey is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a masculine version of name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in a caul ...

, is a wide receiver for the

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

Early years

Davis attended

Wheaton Warrenville South High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School (WWSHS), locally referred to as "South", is a public four-year high school in Wheaton, Illinois. It is one of two high schools that are part of Community Unit School District 200, the other being Wheaton Nort ...

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

and starred alongside his brother and eventual

Western Michigan Broncos The Western Michigan Broncos are a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I program representing Western Michigan University (WMU) in college athletics. They compete in the Mid-American Conference in men's baseball, basketball ...

standout, Corey Davis. In 2010, he helped lead the team to a perfect 14–0 record and an Illinois Class 7A state championship, where he caught six passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the state championship game. He finished the season with 58 receptions for 1,239 yards and 18

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

, earning All-state honors from the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

and Champaign Gazette. Davis was also a state qualifier in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

(best of 7.29 meters or 23 feet, 11 inches), 4 × 100m (42.14 seconds) and 4 × 200m (1:27.82 minutes) in

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

as a junior. He also competed in sprints and posted personal-best times of 11.14 seconds in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and 22.24 seconds in the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

College career

Davis played at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

from 2011 to 2014. For his career he had 204 receptions and broke school records with 3,700 yards and 37

, both of which were previously held by

Antonio Brown Antonio Tavaris Brown Sr. (born July 10, 1988), nicknamed "AB", is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent, and an American rapper. Raised in Liberty City, Miami, Brown attended Miami Norland High School. He played college fo ...

. Davis was a 4 time All-MAC selection and a freshman All American. He capped off his career at CMU scoring the

ESPY An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...

nominated three-lateral TD with no time remaining against

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl. Davis was the first player in NCAA FBS history with 8 or more receiving touchdowns in four seasons.

Professional career

Pre-draft

San Diego Chargers

Immediately following the draft, Davis signed a free agent deal with the

. On August 30, 2015, Davis was released from the

New York Jets

On September 23, 2015, Davis was signed to the New York Jets practice squad. On October 14, 2015, Davis was released.

Buffalo Bills

On October 20, 2015, Davis was signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad. On November 9, 2015, Davis was released.

New York Jets (second stint)

On November 16, 2015, Davis was signed to the New York Jets practice squad. On November 26, 2015, Davis was released. Davis signed a future/reserve contract on January 28, 2016. Davis informed the team on August 6, 2016 that he no longer wanted to play football and abruptly retired.

Chicago Bears

On May 14, 2017, Davis was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

after a tryout at their rookie minicamp. He was waived by the Bears on September 2, 2017.

Personal life

Davis was a father of two. His brother,

, is also a wide receiver and now plays for the

. By July 2020, Davis was diagnosed with

renal medullary carcinoma Renal medullary carcinoma is a rare type of cancer that affects the kidney. It tends to be aggressive, difficult to treat, and is often metastatic at the time of diagnosis. Most individuals with this type of cancer have sickle cell trait or r ...

, a rare kidney cancer. He died at age 27 on November 11, 2020.

References

External links

Central Michigan Chippewas bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Titus 1993 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Wheaton, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football wide receivers Central Michigan Chippewas football players San Diego Chargers players Place of death missing New York Jets players Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bears players Deaths from kidney cancer Deaths from cancer in the United States