SANFORD, Fla.---
Gabe Davis is living his NFL dream, but he’s not about to forget where he’s from.
“Love this school. Got a lot of pride in this school,” Davis says during a work out at Seminole High School’s weight room.
The former Seminole receiver, turned UCF record setter is now a Buffalo Bill.
“Ready to be up in Buffalo. They believe in me,” Davis said. “They see me as a guy that can really help them out. So just ready to get to work.”
It wasn’t easy to get to know players during the draft process. Davis says that because of coronavirus precautions it was done mostly virtually. The Bills were a team that made sure their interest was known.
“From the jump the Bills were on me,” Davis said. “Before the combine they were already talking to me. After the combine we got more in depth into their schemes and how important I am to them.”
When the 4th round came and his name hadn’t been called yet, Davis had a feeling the Bills would be the one.
“I got a call they told me it was the Buffalo Bills and you know it was awesome and once my name showed up on screen that’s when I got real emotional because you sacrifice a lot to be in these positions,” Davis said. “Every player in the NFL sacrifices a lot. And I feel like nobody knows the type of sacrifice, commitment, the discipline and determination we put into this game and how important it is to us. I just know I could sit back and breath for a second knowing I got my goal to get drafted.”
If anyone knows how hard Davis has worked it’s his trainer Bert Whigham. Whigham played football at Seminole High School and Illinois State. He’s now a NFL combine speed and conditioning specialist. He’s trained athletes like Saquon Barkley, Khalil Mack and Dak Prescott. He’s been working with Davis since he was in high school.
“The one thing about Gabe is he’s not the most athletic guy, but what he was and is smart enough to know he needed to work harder,” Whigham said. “He realized to be a pro you have to train like a pro and you can’t take spring breaks, you can’t take winter breaks if you want that to be your job. That’s the approach he took and the results speak for themselves.
At UCF Davis’ steadily increased his numbers each year. From 391 yards receiving and four touchdowns as a freshman, to 815 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore, to 1241 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior. The 2019 receiving yards were a UCF single season record.
“First of all I want to say I’m extremely happy for Gabe,” Saints receiver and Davis’ former teammate at UCF Tre’Quan Smith said. Smith is one of the many former UCF players rooting for Davis to continue his success in the NFL.
“We are all a group of guys, a group of brothers.” Smith said. “We welcome him in teaching him everything we know about the game so when he gets there he can dominate.”
The UCF football fraternity supports Davis. Now he wants to do the same thing for his hometown.
“It’s a blessing to be one of the guys that comes out of Sanford, Florida,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of great athletes out here with great opportunity, great athleticism. And I feel like they can do the same thing I’m doing if not way better. We’ve got some young guys at school right now, my name shouldn’t even be brought up the type of talent we’ve got here. And I hope they can surpass what I’ve got going on and be the big names of Sanford. This school should be talked about around the country with the athletes that we have. If I have to start that and pave the way for it then that’s my job.”