Keith Davis took his first college course in the fall of 1997, made it to the NFL, was shot multiple times, and on Friday, just a few weeks shy of his 40th birthday, earned his diploma.
"It's an amazing story isn't it?" Davis said on Monday. "When I think about it, it brings a tear to my eyes what I had to go through. I wouldn't change anything.
These stories never grow old, so enjoy this one: The former Dallas Cowboys safety, who made it on the roster as an undrafted rookie free agent in '02 and played six NFL seasons and survived multiple gunshot wounds during his career, is finally a college graduate.
On Friday night in Hunstville, Texas, Davis wore the gap and gown, flashed that unforgettable gold front tooth, and walked across the stage at the fall graduation ceremony at Sam Houston State. Davis earned his Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology.
Since playing his last game at SHSU in 2001, he needed but three more hours to complete his degree. He took the remaining class this fall online to finish.
"Every time I would see him I would remind him," said Chris Thompson, SHSU's associate athletics director who has known Davis since he was recruited there. "He really did come here as a student-athlete and he trusted me.
"He promised his mom he would graduate, and if you knew his mom, he was going to have to keep that promise."
