May 13, 2018

All in the Family: Davis duo ready to tackle Tigertown

Dave Chidley/CFL.ca

HAMILTON — Football builds strong relationships among players, so much so that they sometimes refer to their teammates as “family”. But for Terrell and Marcus Davis, football is – quite literally – family. The Davis brothers share a unique bond that only they can understand built on years of gracing the same field from the University of British Columbia, and now Tim Hortons Field.

Having a brother is one thing, but getting the chance to share a sporting bond and compete on one of Football’s largest stages is another. This season at Tim Hortons Field, Terrell Davis’s Jersey will now read “T. Davis” as he makes room for his brother, Marcus Davis, who was drafted by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with the 31st overall pick in the 2018 CFL draft.

With Marcus now wearing the black and gold instead of the blue and yellow, the Davis brothers are excited to play together again “I can’t describe how I feel…It’s a dream come true. Now that were on the same team together again, I’m over the moon” noted Terrell after the selection of his brother.

Terrell and Marcus started their collegiate career together in the 2014 season at UBC where they both were stand out players in their respective positions. Terrell was a workhorse in the backfield during his time at running back amounting to 180 yards in the 2014 season before switching over to linebacker in his third year. Marcus added some luster to his own name at the Wide Receiver position adding 159 yards and two touchdowns into the mix. The stand out attributions these two accomplished along with the winning record of the Thunderbirds was the birth of the soon to be sibling stardom that was the must-see show at UBC.

Marcus and Terrell Davis

2014 would be remembered as a tease for UBC as in the following year the Thunderbirds would go on to make their first Vanier Cup appearance in 18 years. The 32-26 nail-biting Vanier Cup victory over the University of Montreal is something that Terrell holds close to his heart “Winning the Vanier Cup together and sharing that experience together was incredible”.

In the early rounds of the 2016 CFL draft, Terrell heard the Davis name called for the first time as with the 21st overall pick by then General Manager Kent Austin. Though Terrell had the experience at Runningback, he was ultimately drafted as a Linebacker as statistics separated himself from other prospects in that position. Fast forward just two years and 10 picks later and the Davis name was called a second time, and again by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

With Marcus now to make his Ticats debut at training camp, Terrell is happy he is playing with him, and not against him. “I don’t want to play against him, he’d scorch anyone on the team. We’ve always been on the same team together and always winning championships”.

Sharing the draft experience is something families go on to remember forever and though Terrell had his moment, Marcus is still letting his sink in. “It’s been a crazy experience so far. I was actually in Hamilton with my brother and his fiance (during the draft)… we were super excited.”

Being a wide receiver in the CFL is no easy task, but Marcus is up for the challenge. “I’m just super excited to get to Hamilton and he (June Jones) wants me to come in and just learn everything I can.” With training camp fast approaching, Marcus is looking to “try and be a sponge and soak everything up from the veterans.” With a team that has veterans in the wide receiver position, learning from the best in Hamilton and getting the opportunity to compete with first overall selection Mark Chapman, is only going to make Davis a better player.

Something Marcus has dreamt about for years is to get the opportunity to play pro ball with his brother, “I have always thought about something like that in a dream or something but for it to actually come true is pretty surreal”. Marcus now follows in the same footsteps Terrell did. First stop the University of British Columbia, last stop the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and come June 1st, “T.Davis” and “M. Davis” will be on display for all of TigerTown to see.