EAST LANSING – If you followed the recruitment of wide receiver Felton Davis, you may recall that he was a standout track athlete at Richmond, VA, Highland Springs when he committed to Michigan State over Virginia Tech during the summer before his senior year.
“I didn’t really start running track until high school, but I got good at it quick,” Davis said.
So good in fact that he could have gone to college on track scholarship if he hadn’t opted to play football instead.
“I ran everything, all the way up to the 400,” Davis recalled. “Then I did every jump, including pole vault.”
Pole Vault?
“I take it as an extreme sport,” Davis said. “We had the top pole vault coach in Virginia. Since I did so many events he wanted me to do the decathlon in nationals.”
The 1500-meter and the discus prevented Davis from competing at the highest level in the decathlon, but he managed surprisingly well at pole vault, despite being introduced to the discipline relatively late in his track career.
“It’s a lot of balance, and fearlessness too,” said Davis of skills from pole vault applicable to football. “Anybody can clear the normal heights, like 10 feet, 11 feet. But once you get to the high heights like 14 feet, you’ve got to go upside down and be able to pull yourself up the pole as its bending to shoot you (over).”
Beyond football and track, Davis is also pretty good at basketball according Michigan State defensive tackle Raequan Williams, a self-described rec-league equivalent of Golden State Warriors forward DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins.
“I’m probably the best baller on the team to be honest,” Williams said. “I know I probably don’t look like it, but let me tell you, I get buckets. Ask Felton, ask Khari (Willis). I be getting buckets all the time.”
Davis isn’t too far behind, however, and Williams says his roommate’s game is reminiscent of Carmelo Anthony.
“I’d say Melo because he just keeps shooting, no matter how many shots he misses,” Williams said. “He’s just a shooter, right there. He’s gonna shoot everything.”
Since he broke his hand as a freshman, Davis has been cautious with any activity that might put the tools of the wide receiver position at risk. So, you probably won’t find Davis involved in pushing, shoving, or throwing a punch after the whistle.
That said, Davis’ trepidation does not extend to the basketball court.
“Raequan, my roommate, loves basketball, and Darrell (Stewart),” Davis said. “So, I play with them sometimes. I don’t play with them all of the time.”
Davis believes the hand injury he suffered as a freshman prevented him from getting the yards after the catch he was capable of.
“I broke my hand as a freshman in the spring, and it plays a huge part in being a wide receiver,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of things you can’t do without your hand. When I broke my hand I also learned that you have to focus more. It actually played a huge part in me focusing more on my catches.
“It was in a cast, so I only had like two fingers. I had to focus on catching the ball, not really worrying about trying to run and stuff like that.”
Increasing Y-A-C yards was the top priority for Davis going into last off-season.
“I re-watched all of my games from last year and wrote down 15 things I can improve on,” Davis said. “The first thing I wrote down was getting more Y-A-C.”
During self-evaluation Davis noticed a handful of things he could do better to increase his Y-A-C.
“It is just not trusting strength, when I leave a cornerback,” Davis said. “Sometimes its just not fighting for extra yards. You can fight for a few extra yards, and make one guy miss and you might go and score. A lot of times I catch the ball and go out easily. This year, if I catch the ball I try and get at least three more yards.