Few know the intricate and difficult dance that comes with being a fringe roster player in the NFL quite like Cowboys running back Malik Davis, who has been with the team since he landed on the roster as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He has never made the team’s roster out of training camp, and has been signed to the team’s practice squad nine times. He has been repeatedly raised to the 53-man roster, waived, and signed back again.
This season, the team drafted Jaydon Blue in the fifth round and signed Miles Sanders to back up Javonte Williams, pushing Davis further down the depth chart once again. But on Thursday, in a national Thanksgiving game, it was Davis who came up with one of the big plays of the day when he busted through the Chiefs defensive front and looked up with one safety to beat (Jaden Hicks) to get into the end zone.
At that moment, he told the Cowboys postgame show, he had one thought: “Make him miss and go score. Just keep going.”
Malik Davis: ‘It Means Everything’
Davis did, of course, go score, deking Hicks so hard that Hicks fell to the ground. That gave him a key 43-yard touchdown that put Dallas up, 17-14, its first lead of a game it went on to win, 31-24. And for Davis, it has been the result of a lot of perseverance through this season and his career. Davis bumped up the depth chart when Sanders was injured and ruled out for the year, and moved up past Blue by simply putting forth better effort in all aspects of practice.
Davis was emotional after the game and said that the running touchdown was huge for him. “It means everything. I have been working my whole life for opportunities like this and this moment. It means everything,” he said.
“It feels great. I just kept trusting in God, kept praying every day for what I wanted. I prayed every day when I was back at home for this moment. And this is the outcome.”
Chipping In on Cowboys Run
Now, with the Cowboys rolling on a three-game winning streak, Davis is proud to be part of a run that could land Dallas with an improbable playoff spot.
“It’s a great feeling,” Davis told reporters. “I told [my teammates] when I was coming off the field, I was like, ‘It’s no better feeling, you know?’ I prayed so hard for these moments, and my teammates, they watched me, and they know what I’ve been going through — my family, they watched me come in and work every day, and it feels great.
“Now that the world can see, I’m just scratching the surface. They just saw a little peek of what I could do.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Cowboys’ Malik Davis Sends Emotional Message After Big Day appeared first on Heavy Sports.