Kenneth Davis runs from tiny Bartlett, Texas, to Temple High, to TCU, to the NFL and Four Super Bowls
Bishop Dunne Athletic Director Kenneth Davis was honored Friday, October 23, 2015, at Temple High School, at the Wildcats' final home game of the season against Waco High School.
A Wildcat football standout and Buffalo Bills running back, Davis returned to his high school alma mater to present Temple High School with a special Super Bowl 50th anniversary golden commemorative football. The football represents Temple High School’s role in Super Bowl history. Davis played in four Super Bowls from 1990–1993, all as a running back for the Buffalo Bills, during which time he developed a reputation for stellar post season performances.
As a star running back at Temple from 1978–1980, he graduated as Temple's all-time leading rusher, a title that has since been passed on to Delarius Wilson and, in 2009, Wildcats star, Lache Seastrunk. In addition to rushing for nearly 3,000 yards in two seasons with the Wildcats, Davis scored 34 touchdowns. The team went 37-2 during Davis' three varsity seasons. After he started in the secondary as a sophomore, the team did not lose a regular season game. The Wildcats won their first state football championship in 1979, beating Houston Memorial 28-6. Nearly 30 years later, his nephew Derrick played for Temple as a linebacker and fullback, and Davis would go to his games to watch him play.
A legend at Temple, Davis was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in May of 2009. He's also been nominated for a place on the University Interscholastic League's all-century team, his name appearing alongside those of Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Billy Sims, and LaDainian Tomlinson on the online ballot.
Although he made his mark in Temple, his football career began 25 miles away in tiny Bartlett, Texas. One of 12 children, the fifth-born of six sons, Davis grew up in a large athletic family. His sister, Flo, was a basketball standout. His older brother, William, played semipro football and scored the winning point to lift Bartlett Washington to a Prairie View Interscholastic League state championship in 1964. His brother, Jesse, played college football at Southwest Texas State while Herbert and Earnest Davis played on Temple's 1976 state finalist team. His older sister, Eula, was the first homecoming queen at an integrated Bartlett High. Davis admits he really didn't care to play football, but his brothers insisted. He grew up playing football on a field that used the family home as one out-of-bounds marker and a fence for another one.
From high school he headed to Texas Christian University, where he found more success, finishing fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1984. A second-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers, Davis went on to enjoy a nine-year NFL career. His best years came in Buffalo, and from 1989-1994 he played in four Super Bowls and backed up Thurman Thomas, a former Fort Bend Willowridge star who also pops up on the all-century team ballot.
This December 27, 2015, at noon, Davis has been invited to attend the Buffalo Bills game in Buffalo and lead the team out onto the field. He said of his recent accolades, "There are things that come in your path in life and you don't understand how, what or why. You just feel blessed."
Upon his retirement from the NFL in 1994, Davis decided to coach. After a one-year stint as the offensive coordinator at Peabody High School in Alexandria, LA., and an internship with the Bills, he moved back to Texas and coached for 11 years at Bishop Dunne, turning the football program over to Head Coach Michael Johnson six years ago. Now as Bishop Dunne's athletic director, Davis oversees 24 sports for the school that enrolls over 600 students from the sixth through 12th grades. The varsity Falcon Football team won the TAPPS 5A Division 1 State Championship last year for the first time since 1990 and are undefeated this season.
The Bishop Dunne Falcons congratulate their Athletic Director on his impressive history as a player, coach, and Athletic Director.
For more information on Bishop Dunne Catholic School, see the school's website at: www.bdcs.org
The Bishop Dunne Falcon Football team travels to Midland for a District game Friday Night, October 30, 2015. The team has an undefeated 8-0 record on the season, placing the Falcons at the top spot in the TAPPS 5A Division. The team is the reigning 2014 State Champions and even with 18 seniors graduated from that team, has been impressive with consecutive wins including a victory over Episcopal of Bellaire, a team ranked high in the state. For more information on Bishop Dunne's sports programs see: www.DunneSports.com. Thirty recent graduates of Bishop Dunne Catholic School are currently playing in seven different collegiate sports at universities such as Notre Dame, The Air Force Academy, Baylor, OSU, OU, and the University of Texas at Austin.