Late Bloomer

Back in the Lincoln football office, Davis reclined in the folding chair and assured his high school coaches that given the chance to do it over again, he would attend Georgia. "The whole thing made me much tougher mentally," he said. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"Nietzsche said that, right?" said a visitor.

"Nitschke?" said Jackson.

"Friedrich Nietzsche," said Player. "Nihilist philosopher."

Noticing that everyone was staring at him, Player felt compelled to explain. "I've studied philosophy," he said.

The time was ripe, Davis decided, to stroll down to the main office, say some hellos. As he moved down the corridor, warm testimonials followed in his wake.

"I hadn't met him until just now," said Tim Williams, a junior cornerback. "He's a nice guy."

"He's just a wonderful person," said Paulette Watson, who works in the career counseling office.

"The guy's worth $6.5 million," said Jeff Person, a former Lincoln wideout who played with Davis and now coaches at San Diego Mesa College, "and it hasn't changed him a bit."

Nobody had any dirt on the guy; everybody wanted to tell you what a prince he is. Davis would never admit it, but the kind of reception he got at Lincoln probably felt as good as having his own shrine.