Position: Safety High school: Washington (DC) Maret Height 1.86 m Parents Sean Davis, Lisa Davis | Place of birth: Washington, D.C. Roster status: Active Weight 92 kg | |
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Date of birth: (1993-10-23) October 23, 1993 (age 23) NFL Draft: 2016 / Round: 2 / Pick: 58 Education University of Maryland, College Park Current team Pittsburgh Steelers (#28 / Safety) Similar Artie Burns, Javon Hargrave, Mike Mitchell, Robert Golden, Ross Cockrell Profiles | ||
Sean Davis (born October 23, 1993) is an American football safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Maryland.
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High school career
Davis attended Maret School in Washington, D.C.. As a senior, he recorded 87 tackles and three interceptions on defense and ran for 823 yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 601 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns on offense. He received offers from North Carolina, Boston College, and Connecticut but ultimately chose to attend the University of Maryland to play football.
College career
Davis played at Maryland from 2012 to 2015. He played safety his first three years before moving to cornerback prior to his senior year. During his career he started 40 of 50 games, recording 319 tackles, five interceptions and 2.5 sacks.
Pre-draft
After he performed well at the NFL combine, many NFL analysts projected Davis to be a second- or third-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft. Multiple teams and scouts had Davis listed as a safety instead of cornerback because of his size, athleticism, and tendency to give up big plays in coverage. It was reported up to 19 NFL teams were interested in him and he had visits with New England Patriot's head coach Bill Belichick and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was invited to the NFL Combine and completed all the entire workouts and all the positional drills. Davis was satisfied enough with his combine numbers, that he chose to only participate in positional drills at Maryland's Pro Day.
2016 NFL Draft
Davis was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 58th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Pittsburgh Steelers
On May 20, 2016, the Steelers signed Davis to a four-year, $4.08 million contract with a $1.17 million signing bonus and $1.80 million guaranteed.
Davis began training camp developing as the Steelers' future strong safety but was forced to play the nickel position after Senquez Golson suffered a foot injury. He was the best option with fellow rookie Artie Burns also out due to an injury.
On September 12, 2016, the Steelers started Davis at their nickel back position for the first game of the season against the Washington Redskins. He finished a total of four tackles in the Steelers' victory and became the first rookie defensive back to start a season opener for the Steelers since Chad Scott in 1997. During a Week 3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, he finished with a total of seven combined tackles and also suffered an injury to his back during the game. On October 9, 2016, he was again the Steelers' starting nickel back against the New York Jets and would finish the game with four solo tackles and six total. Davis was demoted from the nickelback position in favor for Artie Burns after playing in the slot for the first five games of the season.
On November 13, 2016, Davis made a critical penalty when he facemasked Cowboys' Tight End Jason Witten with less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The 15-yard penalty put the Dallas Cowboys, who were down 28-30 at the time, in field goal range and they would score the game-winning touchdown the very next play. He later explained he was attempting to pry the ball but when Witten ducked he accidentally grabbed his facemask. Davis finished the 35-30 loss with a combined five tackles.
The following week, Davis replaced Robert Golden as the Steelers' starting strong safety in a victory over the Cleveland Browns and finished the game with three combined tackles and a pass deflection. Four days later, Davis made his second consecutive start at strong safety against the Indianapolis Colts. Late in the second quarter, Davis saved a go ahead touchdown after stopping quarterback Scott Tolzien at the one-yard line after he attempted to dive into the end zone. The next play resulted in an incomplete pass on fourth down. The Steelers went on to win the game 28-7 and improving their record to 6-5. He played on every defensive snap for the Steelers during the game. The next game, Davis recorded four solo tackles, three assisted tackles, and intercepted his first career pass off of New York Giant's quarterback Eli Manning. The Steelers went on to defeat the Giants 24-14. On January 1, 2017, Davis made a season-high eight solo tackles, an assisted tackle, his first career fumble recovery, and sacked Robert Griffin III for the first solo sack of his career in a 27-24 overtime victory over the Cleveland Browns.
Davis finished his rookie season with 70 combined tackles, five pass deflections, 1½ sacks, and an interception while starting nine games and playing in all 16 games. On December 29, 2016, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that Davis was the winner of their Rookie of the Year award.
In the 2016 post-season, Davis recorded 16 tackles and a sack, tackling Tom Brady in the AFC Championship game. He was also fined $24,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Kansas City Chiefs' Chris Conley in the AFC Divisional round.
Personal life
Davis was born to Sean and Lisa Davis and is also trilingual. He speaks English, French, and Chinese and majored in communication during his time at Maryland.