Gabe Davis doesn't just go the extra mile; he goes the extra marathon.
They all want to be like Gabe.
All of the youth athletes and high school athletes and college athletes who come in here to train want to be just like Gabe.
The question is: Do they know just how much work, dedication, commitment and perseverance it takes to be like Gabe Davis — the former Sanford Seminole High and UCF wide receiver who recently signed a three-year $40 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars?
This was my first thought as I walked into the Draft Academy earlier this week and saw some local high school athletes working out at this cutting-edge state-of-the-art training facility Davis and his longtime performance coach — NFL speed and conditioning guru Bert Whigham — recently opened in Winter Park.
This place has all the bells and whistles — neuro-strength and brain-mapping technology, hyperbaric chambers, infrared saunas, compression therapy, electromagnetic therapy and massage therapy. And you never know who you might see when you walk through the doors. Maybe you’ll see a high school baseball pitcher training alongside NFL running back Leonard Fournette.
“We wanted to open up a place where the kids in this community have a chance to train like the pros and with the pros,” Davis says.
Says Whigham: “With NIL now coming to high schools, everybody’s a pro these days. So you better train like one.”
It’s one thing to have the physical facilities to train like a pro, but do you have the mental faculties to transform yourself into a pro? To me, that would be the most valuable aspect of training in the same facility as a Gabe Davis. Throughout my sports-writing career, it’s always amazed me how guys like Davis — athletes who aren’t always the most physically gifted — somehow some way turn themselves into stars.
Listening to Gabe talk about where his famous work ethic came from reminds me of something I read in one of the obituaries after NBA legend Jerry West passed away earlier this week. West was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — in 2019, and during his acceptance speech he talked about how driven he was to reach his NBA dream.
“It never ceases to amaze me the places you can go in this world chasing a bouncing ball,” West said. “My chase began in Chelyan, West Virginia, where I strung a wire basket with no net to the side of a bridge. If your shot didn’t go in, the ball rolled down a long bank and you would be chasing it forever. So you better make it.
“I was a dreamer. My family didn’t have much, but we had a clear view of the Appalachian Mountains, and I’d sit alone on our front porch and wonder, ‘If I ever make it to the top of that mountain, what will I see on the other side?’ Well, I did make it to the other side, and my dreams have come true. I’ve been able to see the other side, thanks to that bouncing ball.”
Gabe Davis has also used hard work to achieve his big dreams. He told his mother when he was 9 years old that he was going to start working right then to get to the NFL. Can you imagine — an elementary school kid realizing that it takes perspiration to achieve your aspirations?
Davis was a late bloomer at Seminole High and didn’t get any offers from Power 5 colleges, so he gladly signed with coach Scott Frost and the hometown UCF Knights. He became a freshman captain and a starter who helped the Knights go 13-0 in 2017. By the time he was a junior, he was one of the best receivers in the country with 72 catches for 1,241 yards and 12 TDs — stats that ranked him ahead of college contemporaries such as Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aiyuk.
But because he didn’t have blazing speed, 16 receivers were taken ahead of Davis in the 2020 NFL Draft. Most of those receivers have come and gone, but Gabe just keeps coming.
Keeps working.
Keeps driving.
Keeps pushing.
“I heard Tom Brady say once, ‘You don’t have to be special; you just have to be consistent; you have to consistently be willing to do what everybody else doesn’t want to do,’ ” Davis says. “I can’t tell you how many athletes throughout my life — even in my high school — who were more talented than me but weren’t willing to sacrifice. In high school, when it came to the end-of-practice conditioning drills, I made damn sure I won every rep. I’m still that way to this day.”
Davis doesn’t just go the extra mile; he goes the extra marathon. This is why I think the Jaguars and their fans are going to be shocked at the impact Davis makes on and off the field in Jacksonville.
When he was with the Buffalo Bills, he was voted a team captain, and coaches consistently named him the team’s “hardest worker” during offseason conditioning drills. On the field, he became the ultimate clutch receiver.
Who will ever forget the historic playoff game against Kansas City two years ago when he caught eight passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns — the most TD receptions in a game in NFL playoff history? In his four years in Buffalo, he averaged more touchdowns per reception, first downs per reception and yards per reception than any regular starting receiver in the league. And he did it as the Bills’ No. 2 receiver behind Stefon Diggs and with far fewer targets than some of the league’s other top receivers.
“I don’t feel like I need to prove I can be a No. 1 receiver because I’ve already proven it,” Gabe says. “Every time I’ve had the opportunity to get the targets of a No. 1, I’ve excelled. If I only get three targets, what am I supposed to do with that? You give me 10 targets and you’re going to get at least 1 touchdown and over 100 yards most every single time.”
There was one game in Buffalo last year in which Davis was targeted zero times — and he still got a game ball for his relentless downfield blocking. That’s another example of Gabe embracing the grind and showing why he is one of most respected players in the NFL.
As motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
And so this is my message to all of you kids before you step through the doors of the Draft Academy with the high hopes of being like Gabe.
Are you willing to do what others don’t want to do?
Do you have what it takes to separate the dreamers from the doers?
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen
