Rulon Davis' father, Chargers' fan, named Rulon after a Bronco
Denver Broncos rookie free agent defensive end Rulon Davis is not like the typical rookie.
In fact, Davis was named after a Bronco (Rulon Jones) even though his father was a Chargers' fan.
"He's always told me ever since I was a little kid that he wanted a name that people can chant from the stands," Davis said.
After high school, Davis enlisted into the Marine Corps and was in boot camp on September 11th.
"While in boot camp, 9/11 occurred, and that was a scary moment for me," he said. "All the Marines thought we were going to war."
After being released from active duty to the Marine Forces Reserve, Davis played football at the JuCo level and had 16.5 sacks as a freshman. However, after that season, he was called to active duty and spent six months in Iraq.
"I pulled from football while over in Iraq," he said. "That kept my motivation, because that's what I wanted to do as soon as I got back -- gotta play football, gotta play football. So that kept my spirits up while over there."
Davis, who decided to attend and play football for California, applied the lessons learned in the military to football and life.
"The Marines teach a spirited core -- always faithful, honor, courage, commitment, leadership traits, discipline -- all that stuff carries over into life, not just football," he explained. "Mental toughness, overcoming adversity, that's everything I've been taught and everything I've been put through. So when it comes to football, that stuff is secondary. I don't even think about having to push myself or worry about a little nagging injury. It's second nature."
In his three seasons at Cal, Davis played 21 games (started in 10) and recorded 40 tackles, 5.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.
Despite being undrafted out of Cal, Davis has set an ambitious personal goal for himself: to "be an All-Rookie selection." If he achieves his goal, his father just might get his wish and hear Bronco fans chanting "Ru-lon, Ru-lon, Ru-lon ..."
In fact, Davis was named after a Bronco (Rulon Jones) even though his father was a Chargers' fan.
"He's always told me ever since I was a little kid that he wanted a name that people can chant from the stands," Davis said.
After high school, Davis enlisted into the Marine Corps and was in boot camp on September 11th.
"While in boot camp, 9/11 occurred, and that was a scary moment for me," he said. "All the Marines thought we were going to war."
After being released from active duty to the Marine Forces Reserve, Davis played football at the JuCo level and had 16.5 sacks as a freshman. However, after that season, he was called to active duty and spent six months in Iraq.
"I pulled from football while over in Iraq," he said. "That kept my motivation, because that's what I wanted to do as soon as I got back -- gotta play football, gotta play football. So that kept my spirits up while over there."
Davis, who decided to attend and play football for California, applied the lessons learned in the military to football and life.
"The Marines teach a spirited core -- always faithful, honor, courage, commitment, leadership traits, discipline -- all that stuff carries over into life, not just football," he explained. "Mental toughness, overcoming adversity, that's everything I've been taught and everything I've been put through. So when it comes to football, that stuff is secondary. I don't even think about having to push myself or worry about a little nagging injury. It's second nature."
In his three seasons at Cal, Davis played 21 games (started in 10) and recorded 40 tackles, 5.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.
Despite being undrafted out of Cal, Davis has set an ambitious personal goal for himself: to "be an All-Rookie selection." If he achieves his goal, his father just might get his wish and hear Bronco fans chanting "Ru-lon, Ru-lon, Ru-lon ..."
