By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
For thousands of kids across the country, the dream of taking the field on an NFL Sunday feels every bit as distant as it does captivating.
For former Ellsworth standout Kaden Davis, that dream may very well be just one catch away.
The road to the NFL has been anything but smooth for the former Bearcat. But if you ask Davis, that suits him just fine.
“It’s taken a lot of hard work, and I’ve had to overcome a lot of obstacles throughout my journey,” he said. “One thing we talked about not too long ago is the idea that hard work without faith can’t get you where you want to be, and belief in myself has been huge.”
According to the National Football Foundation, over a million high school football players suit up to play every year.
The NFL has just 1,536 spots to award on gameday rosters each season, and only about 300 of those go to incoming talents like Davis, who is currently battling it out at receiver in Detroit Lions training camp.
Grueling schedules, light pay, and long odds have ended the dreams of thousands of NFL hopefuls. But for Davis, every step forward only serves to add fuel to his competitive fire.
“It was always a dream of mine to play in the NFL,” Davis said. “That dream only gets bigger and bigger the closer you get. You can’t take any opportunities in this league for granted, and just being here in this position competing for a spot means everything.”
From a young age, the values of hard work and sticking to your dreams were impressed upon Kaden by his grandfather, Don Lock, who took his talents on the baseball diamond from Kingman Kansas, to the MLB.
Lock put together an impressive eight-year career with the Washington Senators, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox in the 1960s. The Wichita State standout racked up over 600 hits and 100 career homers, even playing alongside Yankee greats like Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle.
Despite posting monstrous numbers during his time in Ellsworth, Davis has had to fight for everything he’s had from the very beginning.
His lone college offer out of high school took him to Butler College in El Dorado, Kansas. That stop earned him a small handful of offers that allowed him to take his game to Division II Northwest Missouri State.
A 714-yard, 10-touchdown senior season earned him a spot in Broncos training camp in 2022, and while he didn’t advance beyond the practice squad, his time in Denver helped forge him into a faster, stronger athlete, even hungrier for his next opportunity.
“Competing in Denver against guys like Patrick Surtain, Justin Simmons, and Kareem Jackson really helped me take my game to the next level, and now, I feel like I can play with anybody,” Davis said.
After being released from the Broncos in January 2023, Davis found himself without any NFL offers, but once again took it upon himself to get back up and hunt down his next opportunity.
That chance would come with the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL), where Davis shone brightly enough to draw the eye of the Arizona Cardinals, who signed him to compete for a spot at the end of that summer.
“I felt like if I could touch the field in the USFL, I’d be able to get my tape and work my way back to the NFL. Fortunately, that’s how it worked out,” he said.
That drive and determination are defining characteristics of Davis’ story, and factors that have driven him from a young age.
“Some people would describe it as stubborn, but I’ve always defined him as determined,” Kaden’s father and Ellsworth athletic director Ron Davis said. “You couldn’t tell him that he couldn’t do anything when it came to athletics. He has that built-in confidence and the desire to do whatever he sets his mind to, that’s just who he is.”
Even those not familiar with Davis’ story, may very well be familiar with the image of him streaking past the Chief's secondary on his way to score a 61-yard touchdown at Arrowhead last week, an image now seen by more than 400,000 people on the NFL’s official Twitter account.
Not bad for a kid from central Kansas.
Despite putting himself in a position most small town football players can only dream of, Davis has remained humble through it all and has kept his ties to the Ellsworth community strong.
“For a lot of people here, I think Kade has taken the big stage and made it real for them,” Ron Davis said. “This idea that you can be anything you want, whether that’s a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. He’s come back and talked to grade school kids, and they see him as the same guy they watched run up and down the field in high school. I think that makes those dreams feel more attainable.”
That sentiment is shared by Kaden, who can still be found running his own drills, lifting weights and practicing footwork on Ellsworth’s field during his visits home.
“Ellsworth is where I grew up,” he said. “It’s where I learned to love the game, and it’s where I competed with a lot of my friends. It means a lot to be able to represent this place, but it also means a lot to show people that if you put in the work and the faith in that anything is attainable.”
Davis will take the field for one final preseason game this Saturday when the Lions host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Noon.