Titus Davis (January 3, 1993 – November 11, 2020) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Central Michigan Chippewas, and holds the school records for both career receiving yards and touchdowns. Davis was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2015. His younger brother, Corey, was a wide receiver for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

Early years

Davis attended Wheaton Warrenville South High School in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a city in and the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It is located in Milton and Winfield Townships, approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, Wheaton's population was 53,970, making it the 27th-mos ...

and starred alongside his brother and eventual Western Michigan Broncos standout, Corey Davis. In 2010, he helped lead the team to a perfect 14–0 record and an Illinois Class 7A state championship, where he caught six passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the state championship game. He finished the season with 58 receptions for 1,239 yards and 18

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

, earning All-state honors from the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

and Champaign Gazette. Davis was also a state qualifier in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

(best of 7.29 meters or 23 feet, 11 inches), 4 × 100m (42.14 seconds) and 4 × 200m (1:27.82 minutes) in

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

as a junior. He also competed in sprints and posted personal-best times of 11.14 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 22.24 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

College career

Davis played at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

from 2011 to 2014. For his career he had 204 receptions and broke school records with 3,700 yards and 37

, both of which were previously held by Antonio Brown. Davis was a 4 time All-MAC selection and a freshman All American. He capped off his career at CMU scoring the ESPY nominated three-lateral TD with no time remaining against Western Kentucky in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl. Davis was the first player in NCAA FBS history with 8 or more receiving touchdowns in four seasons.

Professional career

Pre-draft

San Diego Chargers

Immediately following the draft, Davis signed a free agent deal with the

. On August 30, 2015, Davis was released from the

New York Jets

On September 23, 2015, Davis was signed to the New York Jets practice squad. On October 14, 2015, Davis was released.

Buffalo Bills

On October 20, 2015, Davis was signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad. On November 9, 2015, Davis was released.

New York Jets (second stint)

On November 16, 2015, Davis was signed to the New York Jets practice squad. On November 26, 2015, Davis was released. Davis signed a future/reserve contract on January 28, 2016. Davis informed the team on August 6, 2016 that he no longer wanted to play football and abruptly retired.

Chicago Bears

On May 14, 2017, Davis was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

after a tryout at their rookie minicamp. He was waived by the Bears on September 2, 2017.

Personal life

Davis was a father of two. His brother, Corey, is a former wide receiver who attended Western Michigan University and played for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

and the

. By July 2020, Davis was diagnosed with renal medullary carcinoma, a rare kidney cancer. He died at age 27 on November 11, 2020.

References

External links

Central Michigan Chippewas bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Titus 1993 births 2020 deaths Players of American football from Wheaton, Illinois American football wide receivers Central Michigan Chippewas football players San Diego Chargers players Place of death missing New York Jets players Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bears players Deaths from kidney cancer in the United States