Frederick Martin Davis (born January 15, 1986) 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 wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. He was drafted by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at USC.

Early years

Davis prepped at Rogers High School in Toledo. He was on the

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

All-USA second-team. According to Scout.com, Davis was rated the second best wide receiver in his recruiting class coming out of high school. Davis played in the 2004 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. As a high school junior, Davis considered attending

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

because it was the first program to offer him an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

. His senior season resulted in many other offers, with USC winning out with a combination of weather, location, coaches, quality players and a style of offense that suited Davis; he conversed the matter over with fellow recruit Dwayne Jarrett before they both decided to join the Trojans.LQ Singian
Exit Interview: Fred Davis
, WeAreSC.com, August 21, 2008, Accessed August 24, 2008.

College career

Davis graduated from Robert S. Rogers High School in Toledo, OH, a semester early to start spring training with the Trojans.Gary Klein
It takes a while, but Davis catches on
, ''Los Angeles Times'', September 26, 2007, Accessed August 24, 2008. Tired of the recruiting process that accompanies top prospects, Davis secretly left Ohio to enroll at USC. Recruited as a wide receiver, he showed solid speed and raw athletic ability but lacked the route-running skills and ball-catching ability of other receivers. After consulting with then- offensive coordinator

Norm Chow Norman Yew Heen Chow (born May 3, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Helvetic Guards in the European League of Football. He was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Ma ...

, Davis decided to try converting to tight end. His freshman year, Davis contributed as a reserve to the eventual-national champion 2004 USC Trojans football team, playing in nine games and catching four passes behind fellow tight ends

Dominique Byrd Dominique Montiel Byrd (born February 7, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern California. He was also a member of th ...

and Alex Holmes. However, because of repeated incidences of tardiness, reporting late after trips back to Ohio, Davis was not allowed to travel with the Trojans to the

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

in 2005 Orange Bowl. Davis reapplied himself the next season, catching 13 passes in 13 games during the 2005 season, including two in the

2006 Rose Bowl The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It feature ...

. During the 2006 season, Davis started ten games and caught 38 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Davis was a preseason team All- Pacific-10 Conference player prior to 2007 and was considered a likely high draft choice for the 2008 NFL Draft. He was on the 2007

Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ...

watch list. Against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, Davis had the best game of his career, with nine receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns.John Nadel
(1) USC 47, Washington St. 14
, Associated Press, September 22, 2007. The performance marked the most yards receiving ever in a game by a Trojans tight end.Gary Klein
Trojans find the right balance
''Los Angeles Times'', September 24, 2007. Prior to that, Davis had never caught more than six passes or gained more than 68 receiving yards in a game. At the end of the 2007 regular season, Davis was selected to the All-Pac-10 Conference first-team by league coaches.
, Pacific 10 Conference, December 3, 2007. He was also selected to the

SI.com ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

All-American Second-team.SI.com's All-Americas
, SI.com, December 11, 2007. Davis became the first USC player to win the Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end.Gary Klein
Rose Bowl says no deal, for now
''Los Angeles Times'', December 7, 2007. When asked his favorite game as a USC player, Davis noted the 2006 Rose Bowl.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

2008 season

Davis was drafted in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the

. On May 4, the last day of the Redskins mini-camp, Davis overslept and missed the morning practice. On July 19, Davis received a four-year contract from the Redskins worth $3.5 million, including $1.8 million in bonus money. Davis was not much of a factor during the 2008 season, partially due to the lack of playing time, for the

. He caught three passes for 27 yards.

2009 season

During the 2009 season, in a Week 7 game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles, Davis caught his first

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

and recorded a career-high 7 catches for 78 yards. Davis was playing first-string tight end for most of this game due to an injury to starter

Chris Cooley Christopher Ken Cooley (born July 11, 1982) is a former American football tight end who played for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Utah State University, and was drafted by the Redski ...

. He finished the season with 48 receptions for 509 yards and 6 touchdowns.

2010 season

In the 2010 season, Davis had 21 receptions for 316 receiving yards. He played in all 16 games of the season and started 9 of them.

2011 season

During the 2011 preseason, Davis switched from his original jersey number of 86 to 83. In the 2011 season, Davis would eventually become the starting tight end after starter,

, was placed on injured reserve. In Week 14, Davis and teammate,

Trent Williams Trent Williams (born July 19, 1988) is an American football offensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma, where he was recognized as an All-American, and was drafted ...

, were suspended for four games after repeatedly failing league drug tests. Starting in 12 games, he finished the season recording career highs of 59 receptions and 796 yards, as well as having three touchdowns. Despite his suspension, he was named the Redskins' 2011 Offensive Player of Year.

2012 season

On March 2, 2012, the Washington Redskins placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Davis. On March 16, 2012, he signed his one-year, franchise-player tender contract worth $5.446 million. After the release of

, he was officially named the Redskins' starting tight end. In the Week 7 game against the New York Giants, Davis tore his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

in the first half, ending his 2012 season. Cooley was eventually brought back to replace Davis. He finished the season with 325 yards on 24 receptions and no touchdowns.

2013 season

On February 26, 2013, Davis was officially cleared by medical personnel to play. Set to become an unrestricted agent, he re-signed with the Redskins on March 29 to a one-year contract. Before Davis could test the upcoming free agent market for the 2014 season, he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for violating their substance-abuse policy.

New England Patriots

2015 season

On May 1, 2015, Davis was reinstated by the league after being suspended for roughly a year. On May 11, 2015, Davis signed a one-year contract with the New England Patriots. On June 19, 2015, Davis was released.

Personal

On January 10, 2011, a woman by the name of Makini R. Chaka filed a civil lawsuit against Davis for an altercation that occurred between the two at a nightclub in Washington, D.C. Davis was accused of assaulting Chaka by dumping his drink on her. The civil case is closed. During the September 17, 2013 ruling, Judge Laura Cordero wrote that Chaka "has established by a preponderance of evidence that Defendant Fred Davis assaulted and battered her." The judge awarded Chaka $186 in medical damages, $575 to compensate for damage to "her boots, her dress, ndher hair weave." The judge also awarded Chaka $9,000 in lost earnings and $10,000 in pain and suffering. On July 23, 2014, D.C. police announced that there was a warrant for Davis' arrest for assaulting his ex-girlfriend on June 2. The next day, Davis surrendered himself to the police. The charges were dropped on August 27, 2014 due to insufficient evidence.

References

External links

*
Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Fred 1986 births Living people American football tight ends Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio USC Trojans football players Washington Redskins players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Ohio