Ex-Hog lends hand to team

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Isaac Davis hasn't donned the cardinal and white in seven years, but that hasn't stopped him from having an impact on the this year's Razorbacks football team.
Davis, who lettered as an offensive lineman at Arkansas from 1990-93, returned to Fayetteville last spring after spending the better part of six years playing in the NFL. Davis came back to complete work on his degree, and also to lend a helping hand to those who hope to follow in his footsteps.
Even though he's busy taking classes to earn a degree in communications next spring, Davis is working as a member of the university's academic support staff, serving as a tutor and mentor to student-athletes he says remind him of himself.
"A lot of these kids come in with stars in their eyes and big dreams," Davis said. "Of course, I never shoot that down because I was the same way. But if I can provide some type of leadership or guidance to kind of steer them away from making wrong decisions then maybe they won't have to face some of the things some of my former teammates have had to face as far as failures at school and putting all their eggs in one basket, so to speak."
After being taken in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, Davis put his academic career on hold. After four seasons with San Diego, one with New Orleans and part of another with Minnesota, however, Davis decided to step away from the game.
"I was blessed to make a good sum of money, but it got to a point with me where football was more of a job than having fun," said Davis, who was a member of the Chargers' 1995 Super Bowl team.
Despite the luxury of being financially stable, Davis chose not only to return to school, but also to work while he's furthering his education.
"Maybe he doesn't have to work, but the fact that he's coming back to complete that degree speaks for him and the fact that he wants to finish something that he started," said receivers coach Fitz Hill, the lone holdover on the coaching staff from Davis' playing days at Arkansas. "I think that speaks volumes to a lot of guys who are watching him.
"There has to be life after football, and Isaac is showing them that they can do other things than just play football."
With a double minor in education and social work, and plans to pursue a master's degree in education, Davis hopes to someday become a high school principal. Working with Razorbacks student-athletes, he said, is a natural way to gain invaluable experience, something he also gets by working as a counselor at Youth Bridge, an organization that provides services for troubled youth.
Working out of an office that used to be the dorm room of his fraternity brother and Arkansas high jumper Ray Doakes, Davis is far removed from banging heads against NFL defenders.
But just because Davis isn't running through the 'A' on game days doesn't mean he's no longer helping the Razorbacks. Davis just uses his words now instead of his muscles.
"The biggest piece of advice I give them is, 'Don't worry about two or three years from now. Worry about today. Worry about your plan for today, your goals for today,' " Davis said. "Once you get those things in perspective, everything else falls into order."

This article was published on Sunday, August 27, 2000

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