University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
From the Huddle - Junior Linebacker Rod Davis
10/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
From the Huddle - Junior Linebacker Rod Davis
Rod Davis, one of the team defensive leaders, has been a three-year starter for the Golden Eagles at the middle linebacker position. He was a Sporting News All-American last season as well as first-team All-Conference USA. He was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award yesterday.
Davis leads Southern Miss in tackles (78), tackles for loss (12.0) and sacks (6). He leads Conference USA in tackles and sacks and is third in tackles for loss. He has had double-figure tackles in every game this season, including a career-high 19 at South Florida.
SouthernMiss.com: How has the season gone so far for you?
Davis: It?s been going pretty well. We started off 3-0, and that was a good thing. But in these last three games, we have been in a slump. We just have to be prepared and get ready for the next game. I am a leader on this team, so I have to get everybody motivated and ready to play, so we can win out the rest of the conference games.
SouthernMiss.com: What will it take for the team to do that?
Davis: It starts with the individual person. He has to go home and want to do it. He has to want to learn. He has to want to watch film on his own. It starts at home, and it takes pride and effort from each individual player. Then we come out here as a team, and we play the whole game as a team. It will just take an individual effort by the person on his off time. And just like the sign (over the entrance to the practice field) says, ?What?s Important Now.? They have to go home and watch film and be ready to practice hard and give a great effort every time we come out here.
SouthernMiss.com: What is your mindset when you step on to the field?
Davis: When I step on the field, I take it play by play. I try to dominate each and every play. I want to have the type of dominating game that I can talk about for ages. Every time I step on the field, I am thinking about domination. I feel that if I do everything I can, I know that I can dominate. I just have to get better and better each and every day.
SouthernMiss.com: In what area do you feel you have improved the most from the time you first set foot on campus to where you are now?
Davis: I believe I know the game a lot better now. I knew the game when I first came here, because I have been playing it since the second grade. But since I have been here, I have learned a lot about the game. Things like what a team likes to do in a certain formation. I have watched a lot of film and learned more about the game. I feel like I know formations. I know tendencies now. I believe the number one thing I have done is to learn football.
SouthernMiss.com: What is the toughest thing about playing college football?
Davis: The toughest part of college football is all that is involved. You have to go to class and do all the school things, but then you also have to study film and watch tape and do well on and off the field. As far as playing, the speed of the game is the biggest difference between high school and college. It is not necessarily just speed, but it is quickness, too. Things happen fast, fast, fast. So, I believe that is the biggest difference between high school and college football.
SouthernMiss.com: What would you be doing if you weren?t playing college football?
Davis: I would be working on my degree. But I am an athlete, so I have to be in some kind of sport. In my younger days, I thought I would be a basketball player. But then my high school coach broke my dream and told me that I was a football player. So, my 12th grade year, I turned all my attention to football.
SouthernMiss.com: So, do you think you still have game?
Davis: I know I have game. Basketball helps me out so much on the football field. Most of the time, football players are football players, but I feel like I am an athlete, before I am a football player. My athleticism makes my feet better and my movement so much swifter than most other guys. I feel like basketball has helped me out a lot with my lateral movement.
SouthernMiss.com: What gives you the biggest joy on the football field?
Davis: Winning is the first thing that I enjoy. But making a big play is great. I feel like I am a game breaker. If it is a sack, it is a sack. If it is an interception, it is an interception. If it is a hit, it is a hit. I just feel that I am a game breaker and a momentum changer. That is what I try to do each and every play. So it really is not just one thing, I just want to change the momentum of a game.
SouthernMiss.com: What do you do with your time off?
Davis: We sit around and play cards a lot. Etric Pruitt, Michael Boley, Chris Langston and I, along with some other players, just sit around and play Spades all night and talk about football. I am not really into the video games, but a lot of other players play video games. I hate losing; so, I don?t play that. I stopped playing games since elementary school, because I stopped winning. And I am a winner. So, if I can?t win, I just say that it isn?t for me.
SouthernMiss.com: But when you look at those video games, do you ever try to look at yourself on the game?
Davis: Yeah, that is what got me into it at first. I didn?t play video games too much, but then someone told me ?Man, Rod. You are on the NCAA Football.? So then I was playing as me. It didn?t matter how well I play the game, it is slower, and makes me look bad.
SouthernMiss.com: So, it is not a good representation of you?
Davis: It is not a great representation of me. They don?t have me busting any heads. But it was fun when it first came out. Now, I don?t really mess with video games too much.
SouthernMiss.com: Do you have any favorite movies?
Davis: I don?t have favorite movies. But if Samuel L. Jackson is in any movie, then I will watch it. Every one of his movies that comes out, I will go see it because I just like his acting.
SouthernMiss.com: What is one of the biggest things about you that would surprise people who didn?t know you too well?
Davis: Most people who do know me won?t even think this: I feel like I am a loner. Most people think that I play around, and I am outgoing, but I am also a loner. A lot of times, I just ride around by myself, especially on my off days. On Sunday, I will just ride up and down the highway. When I was at home, I used to go to the waterfront and just get some time off. I feel that that would be the biggest thing that people don?t know about me. Most people who do know me think that I am just crazy.
SouthernMiss.com: At the same time, do you think that being alone helps you focus on what is ahead?
Davis: It helps me focus and learn about what is important to me. Football. Class. School. Being alone helps me focus on that. After a big game, I have to refocus all of my attention on the next week. I set my priorities and my goals on a Sunday, and that leads up into the following week.
SouthernMiss.com: So far, what has been the most memorable experience from Southern Miss?
Davis: Playing in the Tennessee game in my first season stands out in my mind over any game. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the worst game of my life. That changed how I approach the game, because it brought me back to the drawing board. Since I was starting as a freshman, my head got big. It pulled me down and showed me what college football is really like. I played the worst game by a linebacker in the history of Southern Miss. So, it tore me down, but it also helped me build and get better. Now, I feel like I have to work each and every day on fundamentals and the small things.
SouthernMiss.com: What type of injury will it take to get you off the field?
Davis: I am counted on for leadership on this team, so I feel like I can?t get hurt. I have never been a person to get injured a lot, so I don?t really know what an injury is. I feel like I have to go out and play hard. You will get bumps and bruises, but after the Alabama game, it got real bad. I feel that if you are hurt you can play, but if you are injured you might not. But most of the time it is all mental. Because when you get injured in a game, you don?t feel it as bad until the next day. During the game, your adrenaline is pumping, and it pushes away all that. So, I feel like I just have to go out and lead my team. If I want to lead by example and push the players to the max, I have to push myself over the max. I just have to play and be ready to perform on Saturday.
