Inside The Huskies

Davis Joins Bednarik Watch List, Will Make People Watch Him

The Arizona transfer is projected to have a big season for the Huskies.
Dan Raley|
Cornerback Tacario Davis dressed for the Spring Game, but didn't take part while recovering from an injury.
Cornerback Tacario Davis dressed for the Spring Game, but didn't take part while recovering from an injury. | Skylar Lin Visuals

When Tacario Davis recently was speaking with the media following practice, a formation of Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornet jets flew over Husky Stadium with a deafening roar and drowned out the conversation.

Everyone was muted, everything was inaudible.

It's sort of what Davis and his fellow University of Washington cornerback Ephesians Prysock -- both a super long 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds -- hope to do when someone throws a football into their coverage zone this season.

Shut down any activity in the vicinity and leave people with their ears ringing.

Davis, in particular, is supposed to be very good at this.

On Monday, the senior from Long Beach, California, and an Arizona transfer was named to the 90-player watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is given to the nation's top defensive player at any position. Twenty of the candidates are from the Big Ten.

Once the Blue Angels had cleared the Husky Stadium air space, Davis said, "I'm sharpening my tools and trying to be the best player I can be."

While he no doubt is grateful for the Bednarik exposure, Davis doesn't necessarily want to be exactly like the notorious Chuck, who was one of the game's most ruthless individuals at center and linebacker on the college level and in the NFL.

Photos have showed the former University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Eagles player and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee without a tooth or two, blood smeared on his face, a glint in his eye and maybe smoking. a cigarette in the locker room.

He was old-school tough, if not a little mean, certainly unforgettable, in leaving others strewn across the field.

Tacario Davis (8) and Ephesians Prysock (7) played together at Arizona and have been reunited as UW corners.
Tacario Davis (8) and Ephesians Prysock (7) played together at Arizona and have been reunited as UW corners. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Davis will go a much more pristine and refined route to establish his greatness, using that tremendous length along with Prysock to offer two of the tallest corners to play together anywhere.

Not only that, he has an intuitiveness to his coverage skills that has made him both a second-team All-Pac-12 selection and a second-team All-Big 12 choice the past two seasons, and looking for an even bigger performance when finishing up his time in the Big Ten.

"I want to be an All-American," Davis said during spring football.

In 30 games, Davis has come up with 76 tackles, 22 pass break-ups and an interception. Last season at Arizona, he finished with 44 tackles and 6 PBUs while being named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the game's top defensive back.

The Bednarik winner will be announced on the ESPN college footbal awards show on December 11 and presented at awards dinner on March 13 in Atlanta.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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