Kevin Davidson was on his way back home from where he'd been training in Minnesota, and he was traveling through the state of Montana — and while the Princeton product glanced up at the mountains off to the side of I-90, he had to be thinking "wow, so much can happen in one year." He'd worked his tail off at the prestigious Ivy League school and had three career opportunities lined up. But now, as he rode through Montana on the way back to his California home, he was juggling a fourth career opportunity — as an NFL quarterback, starting this weekend.
While his FCS career saw him start only one full season, he'd impressed, and now he's being mentioned a potential Day 3 pick.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
[divider]NFL Draft Feature Stories:
Derrek Tuszka, NDSU | Adam Trautman, Dayton | Jeremy Chinn, Southern Illinois
Bryce Sterk, Montana St. | Christian Rozeboom, SDSU | Jonah Williams, Weber St.
J.J. Koski, Cal Poly | Bronson Rechsteiner, Kennesaw | Pete Guerriero, Monmouth
Ron'Dell Carter, JMU | Nick Tiano, Chattanooga | Cam Gill, Wagner
Riley Stapleton, JMU | Kevin Davidson, Princeton
[divider]
What an amazing situation for a guy who followed in the footsteps of several top Tigers quarterbacks. He was invited to the NFL combine, he actually got his campus Pro Day position drills in (March 12th, right before the pandemic shut things down) … and he truly impressed during the week of the East-West Shrine Game. Things have come together quite nicely for the signal-caller who patiently waited his turn at Princeton.
"I think this is starting to feel more real," Davidson told HERO Sports this past weekend while traveling home. "The combine was a tremendous experience and I think I showed out in certain areas, and that I'm able to hang with the big boys. I actually ended up getting to know (Joe) Burrow and (Justin) Herbert pretty well, and I've stayed in pretty close touch with Herbert since then. It was a great experience … As I've been talking to coaches and scouts on FaceTime, in some cases we've actually been installing an offense. And they've said this is going to be really beneficial to you if you can pick this up remotely, so when the NFL gets the all-clear, I'll be ready to go."
That truly could be a huge advantage and a reason Davidson could be a prime target. Chew on this, sports fans: He's tackling two big things this week … keeping in touch with NFL teams, and finishing his senior thesis (it's on former U.S. Army General and CIA Director David Petraeus), remotely. All the draft prospects are wrapping up their senior theses this week, right?
Davidson's story is interesting. Coming out of high school, he was ranked a three-star prospect by 247sports.com and he was committed to UC Davis originally. Early in his process, he liked the idea of going to Stanford … and late in the process, he was wooed by Missouri and San Diego State to go on official visits. But he fell in love with Princeton, and boy did it ever work out well for him.
So a senior thesis and the potential to be an NFL Draft Pick — in the same week. How's that for pressure?
"It's been very enjoyable, the process … I don't get stressed out about pressure," Davidson said. "Princeton has built up my ability to handle a lot of pressure. I did homework at the combine. I've been able to handle it. My agents have been awesome and we're just taking this all day-by-day. It's all kind of out of my hands at this point and it's a great scenario to be in. There are pros and cons either way, whether I'm drafted or go the free agent route."
When reached over the weekend, Davidson said the phone calls from teams had really ramped up in the past week and he'd done eight FaceTime calls with teams and a lot of fun calls. He said he's just focused on building those relationships and learning as much as possible.
By the end of this weekend … just days after driving through Montana with a lot of time to think about what's next … he'll know what the details are.
It was one of the most physically impressive player groups I've seen here. And let me tell you about Princeton QB Kevin Davidson. He had his notebook out, scribbling down everything that was said. Good kid, too.
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) February 24, 2020
[divider]
NEXT: Best NFL Careers From The FCS
MORE: Best FCS Traditions
Listen to the latest episodes of B-Mac and Herd's FCS Podcast, which is also available on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Spotify, iHeart, Stitcher and Spreaker.
SUBSCRIBE: B-Mac and Herd's FCS Podcast
