Jarrad Davis: Detroit Is the Place That Raised Me
Jarrad Davis is returning to the first city he called home as a professional football player.
After playing the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Detroit Lions, the team that drafted him No. 21 overall in the 2017 draft, he signed with the New York Jets during the 2021 offseason.
Just one year later, he is back in Detroit, after signing a free-agent deal to return to the Lions.
“There’s a lot of things that go into (returning),” Davis said during his first press conference. “But, I mean one, definitely the familiarity. Knowing that this is the place that pretty much raised me and knowing how much I enjoyed it, especially getting the chance to, like, see and really realize how much I missed it when I was gone, too. Every time wasn’t always a good time, but I’ll tell you, ball here is fun.
“I love playing. I love playing in the stadium, I love being able to ride around the city. I love being able to see the Michigan summers.”
Davis, a Georgia native, has admittedly not gotten used to the snowy winters Michigan offers. Despite this, it was clear that the five-year veteran was excited to be back in Detroit.
“I enjoy this place, man, I really do,” Davis said. “I really do, and it just feels right. Even thinking about being here again, it just feels right.”
In four years with the Lions, he started 45 of the 55 games he played. His production started strong, with 196 total tackles in his first season. However, it tailed off toward the end of his first tenure, and by 2020, he started just four games.
Expectations are different for him in his second go-round as a member of the Lions. When he entered the league, he was a fresh-faced rookie who, as a first-round pick, was expected to be a key piece in a defensive turnaround.
Those expectations were not met. However, as he returns, he won’t bear the same weighted expectations. This has led to a mentality change, as Davis prepares to begin his second tenure in Detroit.
“Honestly, my job is to go out there every day and as an individual, just work as hard as I can every single day,” Davis said. “It doesn’t matter who sees me. It doesn’t matter what they think about me. It doesn’t matter what they say. My job is to go out and put my best foot forward and just continue to take any and every step I can to get better. Any baby step. I'll take it. I love those.
“That's how I came up, go back and look at my history. I wasn't a four-year starter in high school. I wasn't a four-year starter in college. It was my junior year before I got a chance to really play and show what I was made of at Florida. Like there's so many things I've had to overcome. And, this is just one more thing in my life.”
© Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
After his contract expired with the Lions, he began to re-evaluate his priorities. Football was becoming taxing. So, he decided to change his mindset. This decision, he believes, has helped reinvigorate his love for the game.
“I think the biggest thing for me is finding a new number one, you know?” Davis said. “Like, football has been my number one for so long. I started playing this game when I was six years old, and I’ve loved it ever since I stepped on the field. And, finding something, I understood, like finding something to challenge me just as much as football does, if not even a little bit more. That honestly is a little bit more fulfilling. Makes football a lot easier, you know? And, that’s my spirituality, that’s my friendships, my relationships, my life, and my wife and my child. Like, different things like that to really just help me understand, has more things in it than football.”
Davis is rejoining a Lions team under new leadership, as his last season was the final year of the Matt Patricia era. Now, Dan Campbell sits in the head coach chair, and Aaron Glenn is the defensive coordinator.
Though the former Florida Gator hasn’t played for Campbell and company, he had brief conversations with the staff last offseason. He expressed his willingness to hit the ground running with the new staff.
Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
One of his new teammates is fellow linebacker Alex Anzalone, who shared the field with Davis in Gainesville. The duo is excited to reunite, after having conversations about Detroit when the former entered and the latter departed.
“I’m excited to get that connection going again, be able to be in the meeting room again and be able to be in the locker room with (Anzalone),” Davis said. “Being able to hang out with him. Outside of college kids that had no money, you know, now we got a little bit of coins, and you can go have a little bit of fun, hang out and experience the joys of this world. Just being able to really cultivate that relationship and take it off from where I left off, when we were at Florida together.”
Though Anzalone is a familiar face, many of the members of the Lions organization are different from the ones Davis was used to. So many contributors are new to the team. So, the veteran will be suiting up next to unfamiliar names.
“I mean, this was brand new, honestly,” Davis said. “And, it's amazing how life works. You know, when you step away from something or you step away from a thing, you don't know what's gonna happen after that, after you turn your back and you walk out the door. Like, you don't know if that door's gonna ever open again. You don't know what the reunion looks like, you don't know if there is even going to be a reunion. But, it's just amazing to be able to have an opportunity to come back in this building, and to be able to go to work. I love it. Like, this place is just so familiar. Like I know it. There's people I know in the city that can help me be a better person, a better player. There's so many things that excite me about coming back to Detroit, and (it's) just a matter of staying focused and getting the job done.”
Davis knows the weight that expectations can carry. Yet, as he begins a second stint with the Lions, he’s embracing all that comes with a new opportunity in a place he loves.
“It excites me, because I've told people plenty of times, like it's not always easy to be on the top of the mountain,” Davis said. “It's not always easy. But, for me, my whole entire life. I loved the hunt. I love the climb. Like I appreciate that. I appreciate how much it brings the best out of me. I appreciate how much it pushes me to really grow and develop. I'm excited for any opportunity. Any shot I can get.”
