Georgia Bulldog LB Rian Davis Battles on After Considering "Shutting It Down"
ATHENS - There was a time when Georgia Bulldog LB Rian Davis thought about quitting - he admitted that this month.
“I’ve battled through a lot,” Davis said.
That was two years and a slew of injuries ago. But Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart convinced him to stay,
“He was just ready to shut it down, and I’m so glad he did because he’s become a better person,” Kirby said.
All of that led to Davis getting the first start of his career against Auburn during Georgia’s 42-10 win over the Tigers two weeks ago. The torn labrum, a quad injury and ACL he suffered in high was all in the past - Davis was making his mark.
Davis believe it at first when he found out he was starting against Auburn. He said he called his mother right away so that she could make plans to attend the game.
“He comes in and works hard day in and day out whether he’s banged up or not,” Kamari Lassiter said.
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And the term “banged up” has been applied to Davis for some time. He joked that his sophomore year was the only year he couldn’t be described that way. This year, Davis said he feels like he has stepped up more as a leader on and off the field - something he admitted he was scared of.
“I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right before I tried to tell everyone else to do something,” Davis said.
Davis made his second start of the season against Vanderbilt, and said he felt much more confident going into the game. He added that he’s a steady note taker - listening to everything coaches say.
“It might even be just a quote,” he said. “I might try to just lock in and write it down in my notebook.”
Davis wears No. 0 for the Dawgs, along with Darnell Washington. Davis said he chose zero with a purpose.
“If I get zero, I’m going to have zero problems out there,” Davis said of picking that number. “Zero busts, zero missed tackles. That’s my goal to eliminate all mistakes.”