Rashied Davis to announce a Chicago Bears day 2 selection at the NFL Draft

Earlier today the NFL announced a list of 32 current players and Legends, one for each franchise, that will participate at the NFL Draft by announcing a day 2 pick for their respective team. The representative for the Chicago Bears will be Rashied Davis.

Davis may not be of the same stature as previous Chicago draft day participants, Mike Singletary and Charles Tillman, but Davis’ path to the NFL may be even more inspiring.

Davis grew up in South Central Los Angeles with eight brothers and sisters and was late to the game of football. He wasn’t a 5-Star recruit coming out of high school, in fact he never even started a game, so he began his collegiate journey as a two-way player at West Los Angeles College before ending up at San Jose State University.

He had 40 catches, 785 yards, and 6 touchdowns as a Junior wide receiver with the Spartans, but during his Senior season he was flipped over to cornerback. He only ended up only catching 7 balls that year, but he did finish with 2 interceptions.

The NFL wasn’t interested at that time, so he signed with the Arena Football League’s San Jose SaberCats, and he played with them from 2002 to 2005 as a wide out/defensive back.

He signed his first NFL contract with the Bears in June of 2005 and he ended up playing 12 games at corner as a 26-year old rookie.

He moved to offense in 2006 and played in Chicago through the 2010 season, where he became a fan favorite for his special teams play and timely third down receptions.

His final season in the NFL was spent in Detroit, which gave the former undrafted free agent a productive 7-year career as a gunner, returner, wide receiver, and cornerback. He ended his Bears career with 49 tackles, 79 combined kick/punt returns, 3 rushes for 14 yards, 88 receptions, 1,032 receiving yards, and 5 TDs.

These days Davis has been coaching with his former Bears teammate, Jason McKie, who is the head coach at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Illinois, and he’s still active in the Chicago community as his charity, Saturday Place, is helping 3rd and 4th grade public school students stay on track with their grade level.

For more on Davis, be sure to check out this article from SF Gate, From San Jose to Super Bowl / Chicago’s Rashied Davis beat some long odds, and this fantastic interview from Jack M Silverstein that we published in 2016, Rashied Davis: The King of 3rd Down.

And for the full list of players and former players set to announce picks at the draft click here.