Elinneus Davis' Career Takes Off After First Plane Ride

Elinneus Davis had never been on an airplane before until he flew to Seattle for a University of Washington football recruiting visit.

It was unnerving for this big kid from Moorhead, Minnesota, which sits on the North Dakota state line as a neighboring suburb to Fargo and had shielded him from the rest of the world as this self-described mama's boy.

"Obviously the plane, that was actually scary because of the winds back home," Davis said. "Coming out was for sure terrifying and being in a place I'd never been before."

Nearly four years later, the 6-foot-3, 312-pound Davis is the scary one, pegged as a starting defensive tackle for the second consecutive year, continually raising havoc in spring football as a playmaker coming out of a stance.

For five practices, he's made a Husky offensive line mostly composed of veteran players greatly uncomfortable by smothering running backs and touching down quarterbacks who can be stopped but not tackled.

Getting to Seattle was one thing, but making it a place of comfort for him was another.

When Davis first arrived to play for Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff, he shyly stood off by himself in a Husky Stadium end zone, dealing with a high school injury, unable to participate right away. He looked a little lost. Yet things would gradually feel like home.

However, at the Sugar Bowl months later he admitted his game needed a lot of work. Strength, fitness, confidence. He seemed like a kid who was one airplane trip from going home.

Instead, Davis went to work following the run to the national championship game, stayed put while a lot of guys left following the coaching change from DeBoer to Jedd Fisch and made himself into a completely different player.

Elinneus Davis gets in a stance against Northwestern in 2024. | Skylar Lin Visuals

He showed looking far more muscular and sure of himself. He was somewhat unrecognizable, so different was his makeover. It was all his doing.

He's played in 25 games and started 10 times last season. He has 43 career tackls, a sack and a half and 3 pass break-ups.

Davis has made himself into game-changing player and an honors candidate -- and he still has two seasons left to play for the Huskies.

The Sugar Bowl was even more pivotal than stepping onto to a jet for the first time bound for Denver and then another on to Seattle.

"Obviously during that time, it was good to soak up the moment," Davis said of Sugar Bowl and CFP playoff game against Texas, "but I was the one who wanted to be playing in those moments, and I wanted to help out in any way that I can. It was all just a mindset."

Elinneus Davis fights his way to an Illinois ball carrier in 2025. | Dave Sizer photo

Now he's one of the leaders of a UW team getting closer to returning to prominence. He wears No. 90, which once belonged to Steve Emtman, another defensive tackle who came 30 years before him and led the Huskies to a national championship and then became the NFL's 1992 No. 1 draft pick.

Davis felt homesick early on. No doubt he felt abandoned after the roster imploded following the coaching change. He's even made himself into a highly marketable player. But he never once thought about leaving.

"I always knew I was going to be here because of the people we had in coach Fisch, coach [Jason] Kaufusi and coach [Ryan] Walters," he said. "There was no reason for me to leave."

And Davis is far more than comfortable getting on an airplane these days, too.