by Fred J. Demarest
Special to LSUsports.net
In another time he might have been Maximus, Russell Crowe’s classic character in the epic film Gladiator — a leader who inspires those around him to reach for greater heights. In modern times, he is LSU quarterback Rohan Davey, the heart and soul of the Tigers’ locker room.
Look into his eyes and you see the hopes and dreams of his teammates and coaches. Look into his heart and you see a man who will do anything and everything to help someone in need.
By his own admission, his career has been a much different experience than he thought it would be when he committed to LSU in 1997. He has only started four games in his career, now entering its final season.
Yet, he is still one of the most compelling figures to don the purple and gold in recent Tiger history.
Rarely has a player in any LSU sport impacted so many people in such a positive way. When Davey’s teammates look into his eyes, they simply know they’ll find a way to succeed.
“There’s something about Ro,” says teammate Trev Faulk. “When he’s out there, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
That became quite evident on two occasions last year – in the Tigers’ thrilling victories over Tennessee and Georgia Tech.
Against Tennessee, Davey guided the Tigers to a stunning overtime victory, enduring agonizing pain in his left ankle down the stretch.
Afterward, he could barely walk, but he never for a moment considered exiting the game, helping the Tigers to a 38-31 victory while throwing four touchdown passes.
“I never thought about coming out,” says Davey. “I couldn’t have. When I looked at that huddle or down the sideline and saw everyone on our team leaving it all out on the field, there was no way you could have gotten me out of the game. I couldn’t let my teammates down.”
At the 2000 Peach Bowl against Georgia Tech, Davey patiently watched on the sideline as the Tigers fell behind 14-3 at the half, waiting for an opportunity. When head coach Nick Saban replaced starter Josh Booty with Davey to start the second half, the atmosphere seemingly changed in a heartbeat. When Davey emerged from the sideline at the start of the second half, everyone in the huddle, everyone on the sideline had an extra bounce in their step.
“His leadership is something that’s tough to explain unless you’ve been around him,” says free safety Ryan Clark. “It’s just something he was born with, not something you can teach or learn.”
The Tigers took the opening kick in the second half and marched down the field for a touchdown. The game was never the same again. Davey went
on to complete 17 of 25 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Tigers to 25 unanswered points and a 28-14 victory. For his efforts, he was named Offensive MVP of the Peach Bowl.
“I think that my teammates have a certain confidence in me,” says Davey. “They know that no matter what needs to be done — on or off the field — I’ll do anything to help them.”
Quite simply, when Davey entered the game, the team’s psychological disposition changed 180 degrees.
Maybe it’s the way his genuine sincerity affects everyone with whom he comes in contact. Maybe it’s because he refuses to treat a starter any differently than a member of the scout team. For whatever reason, he is the fuel that makes this team run.
After Booty’s departure for the NFL, the Tigers’ quarterback spot finally belongs to Davey as the Tigers enter the 2001 season with their highest expectations in several years.
To understand Davey, however, you must first understand where he came from.
Born in Jamaica, Davey moved to a tough section of Miami at the age of seven. “It was rough growing up around violence and drugs,” recalls Davey. “Some of my friends took that route. I chose athletics. You couldn’t be young where I grew up. You had to grow up very fast.”
Davey’s mother, Dottie Carruthers, kept him away from the distractions and began a bond with her son that makes the two inseparable deep down no matter how far apart they are.
“She’s extraordinary,” says Davey of his mother. “That’s the one word I would use to describe her. She always put our family before anything else and made sure we never went down the wrong path.”
While he saw many of his friends turn to the streets, Davey turned to athletics, basketball in particular.
He quickly became one of the top shooting guards in the Miami area, and eventually, the nation. He was the youngest member selected to play on a national AAU team — alongside such current NBA greats as Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors and Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves — which traveled to Paris, Los Angeles and Las Vegas to play in prestigious tournaments. Not surprisingly, the team went undefeated on each stop.
As a freshman in high school, Davey recalls playing against Carter’s high school team in a tournament game in Daytona Beach. Carter, a junior at the time, lit up Davey’s squad for 67 points while Davey came back with 45.
“Vince’s team won by six, but we gave them a run for their money,” says Davey.
Davey was heavily recruited to play basketball on the collegiate level as well, receiving interest from ACC powers such as North Carolina and Maryland. But as he got older, he turned more and more to football.
He never actually played the game until his sophomore year. His team made the state playoffs that season and suffered an embarrassing loss.
Asked by his coach if he would quit afterwards and stick with basketball, he delivered a resounding “no.”
In his junior and senior seasons he went on to throw for a combined 52 touchdown passes and over 4,100 yards, becoming one of the most sought-after quarterbacks in the nation.
After deciding to concentrate on football as his avenue to college, Davey narrowed his decision down to LSU and West Virginia. The bond he quickly established with former LSU assistant David Kelly, and the prospect of joining an up-and-coming program where he could potentially play quickly turned the tide in favor of LSU, and he agreed to come to Baton Rouge.
He figured he would be starting by his second year. Things don’t always work out the way you plan.
Davey redshirted his true freshman season in 1997 and was the team’s third-string quarterback in 1998. The following year he was in a tight battle for the starting job with Craig Nall and Booty, a battle Nall eventually won to open the 1999 season.
Davey was impressive in limited action in the first two games of the 1999 season and after a strong showing against North Texas, he was named the starter for the Tigers’ third game of the season, a nationally-televised tilt with Auburn.
What started out as Davey’s dream quickly turned into a nightmare. He went 4 of 11 with two costly interceptions and was pulled in favor of Booty in the first half, as the Tigers lost 41-7. Davey wouldn’t see the playing field again until the final game of the 1999 season after the dismissal of then-head coach Gerry DiNardo.
With the Tigers trailing Arkansas 3-0 in the second quarter of the 1999 finale, interim head coach Hal Hunter inserted Davey into the lineup. He responded with a 21-point second quarter outburst and ended up tossing three touchdown passes while guiding the Tigers to a 35-10 thrashing of the Cotton Bowl-bound Razorbacks.
Four days later Saban was hired as the new LSU head coach and Davey’s career was revitalized. He began to prepare for the 2000 season ready to battle for the starting position — until a fateful night in February.
While playing a charity basketball game in Carencro, Davey tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.
He began his rehabilitation immediately and, miraculously, was ready to compete with Booty for the starting job as two-a-days began in August, only six months after surgery to repair his knee.
Booty, however, was named the No. 1 quarterback after a highly competitive battle, while Davey was named Saban’s “1-A” quarterback.
This time, after all he had been through, the news stung a little more than 1999. He called his mother in tears of frustration and began to ponder his future. Dottie wouldn’t let him quit and told him to keep his head up.
He saw action against Western Carolina and went 11 for 11 with three touchdown passes to open the season. He only played one series over the next three games, however, as Booty began to cement himself as the firm No. 1 quarterback.
When Booty suffered an injury in the Tigers’ loss to UAB, Davey was called upon the following week against Tennessee and delivered a heroic effort. He got the nod against Florida the following week, but could not finish the game due to a severely injured ankle from the Tennessee contest. As Davey recuperated, Booty heated up and led the Tigers to four straight SEC wins and became a first-team All-SEC quarterback. Davey never saw the field again until the Peach Bowl.
“It’s definitely been a tougher road than I thought it would be,” says Davey. “But I still wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It’s made me a stronger person and I’ve found ways to because successful despite the adversity that I’ve faced.”
Now there are no distractions, this is finally his team. He has a chance to shine, and that’s all he’s ever asked for. Now he has the opportunity to write his own chapter in LSU history. He and his teammates understand the unique opportunity that stares at them as they enter the 2001 season.
Win or lose, with Davey at the helm, this team will never quit. He certainly never has. Never will, either.
“I want to be remembered at LSU as someone who left everything on the field and never gave up, no matter how tough the odds were,” says Davey. “Most of all, I want to be remembered as a good person and a leader for my teammates.”
That much he’s already done.