Buffalo Bills’ Ray Davis Finds Light in the Darkness

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Ray Davis won’t forget where he came from.

“I remember every day that I was once that kid in that shelter,” Davis said.

Both parents are in and out of prison.

Homeless shelter at 12 years old.

“Being here and understanding what I’ve been through, it’s hard not to look back,” Davis said. “It’s hard not to look back on the moments where I’m like, ‘Oh my, how did I get here? Why am I here?’ Every day I still ask myself that question. Not in a negative way, but in a way, I’m like, ‘Oh my, I made it. I shouldn’t be here. Everybody knows I shouldn’t be here because of what I’ve been through in my life. But here I am.”

Meet the Buffalo Bills.

Davis used football as a way out of his situation. He started by moving across the country to another high school. Then he played at three Division I universities, rushing for more than 1,000 yards at Temple, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

All the while hiding his story from everyone he could.

“What I went through is normal,” Davis said. “The situation I faced is normal. But at the end of the day, am I going to mope and cry about it or am I going to advocate for others who were in the same situation as me? To prove that it is possible. You can come out the other side. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. But for many years, I was told there was never a light. There was no light bulb. There was no lamp. There was no streetlight. There was just total darkness. When I realized I had found that silver lining, I kept walking toward it and I started seeing doors opening for me. I knew I had to talk about it so those doors would get bigger and more open.”

Davis is already talking about his past right here in his new home, working with the Buffalo Fostering Greatness organization.

He sees himself in those he speaks with.

He connects with them because he was them.

And as difficult as that time was, he wouldn’t change it even if he could.

“I’m 1,000 percent grateful,” Davis said. “Again, if none of this had happened to me, I wouldn’t be sitting here in front of you. I wouldn’t be an NFL player. I don’t know what I would do in life, to be honest with you. I had two paths to go. I could have gone left. I could have gone right. I chose to go straight.”

Just ahead of Davis is the Bills’ fourth-round pick preparing for his first training camp.

Football will obviously be in the spotlight.

It was his lifeline to a better place.

And Davis will use this platform to continue telling his story.

“I think my purpose in life is just to understand that I’m not just here to be a football player,” Davis said. “I’m here to be a man who can bring a spark into other people’s lives so they can achieve whatever they want to achieve, regardless of the circumstances or whatever’s thrown at them.”

Ray Davis: Fleeing the darkness into the light and the NFL.