User:FranDoe16/sandbox Mike Davis

Michael Quincy Davis (born October 13, 1978) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round (52nd overall) in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Nebraska. Davis was also a member of the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts.

Early life and college
Davis was the USA Today Nebraska Player of the Year, and a Parade All-American athlete at Millard South High School, where he was a two-time All-State selection at quarterback. He committed to the  University of Nebraska–Lincoln on a football scholarship. Ankle surgery forced Davis to redshirt for the 1997 co-national championship-winning season. In 1998, Bobby Newcombe began the season as the starting quarterback, but he was sidelined by a knee injury after the first game and Davis took over the starting duties. Against UAB, Davis passed for three touchdowns and completed 17-of-22 passes in his first career start. Davis made another start before being replaced by a healthy Bobby Newcombe. Newcombe started the next five games, but was pulled in the middle of a game because of a PCL strain. Senior walk-on, Monte Christo, took over for Newcombe, and started the following week against Texas. With Texas leading 10-0 in the middle of the second quarter, Christo was pulled and replaced by Davis. Davis remained the starter for the rest of the season, which ended with a 23-20 loss to Arizona in the Holiday Bowl. The next fall Newcombe moved to wingback and Davis was named the starting quarterback. The Cornhuskers finished the season with a 12-1 record and ranked No. 3 after defeating Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl. Davis started every game in the 2000 season, which ended with a 66-17 trouncing of Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl. Nebraska's only losses during the 10-2 season were to eventual national champion, Oklahoma Sooners, and the Kansas State Wildcats. While running Nebraska's option offense, Davis finished the season with 2,927 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions, while also rushing for 872 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

2001 season: Rookie year
The Chicago Bears selected Davis during the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, and he played for the Bears from 2001 to 2005. Under the leadership of coach Dick Jauron, Davis became established as the starter for the Bears' brief playoff run in 2001, their first playoff berth since 1994. With the second-best record in the NFC and tied for the second-best record in the NFL along with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 13–3, the Chicago Bears were awarded a first-round bye. This was due in large part to the Bears top-ranked defense as well as the ball control offense led by Davis. On January 19, 2002, the Chicago Bears met the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Playoffs with Davis as quarterback. Davis would pass for only 179 yards (18-for-31, with one interception) in what was his lone career playoff appearance, as the Bears lost to the Eagles, 33–19.

Davis finished the season with 2,795 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, only five interceptions and a 61.5 completion percentage, which were the best among rookie quarterbacks in 2001 except for passing yards (led by Panthers rookie quarterback Chris Weinke with 2,931 yards). He led all NFL quarterbacks with the lowest interception percentage (1.2). Additionally, he was the only rookie quarterback to lead a team to a winning record and playoff appearance that season. Davis became the first Bears rookie quarterback in franchise history to start a playoff game.

For his performance in his first season, Davis was named to the 2001 PFWA All-Rookie Team and finished fourth in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.

2002 season
In the Bears' season opener, Davis had 294 passing yards and three touchdowns in the 27–23 win over the Minnesota Vikings, and earned his first NFC Offensive Player of the Week title. On September 29, 2002, Davis threw for 476 yards against the Buffalo Bills, a career-high. Less than two months later, November 10, Davis threw a career-high four touchdown passes against the New England Patriots. Though Davis posted a career-high of 18 interceptions, he threw for a career-best 3,316 yards and 22 touchdown passes that year. The Bears finished the season with a disappointing 4–12 record, missing the playoffs. Coach Dick Jauron was pleased with Davis’ performance and believed he would be the team's franchise starting quarterback. However, Jerry Angelo, the team's general manager, stated he wished to further solidify the quarterback position in the long run.

2003 season
Davis was again named the Bears starting quarterback for 2003. He signed a two-year contract extension (through the 2005 season), on March 19, 2003.

Later in the season, with the Bears eliminated from playoff contention, Davis played poorly against the Green Bay Packers on December 7, 2003. Rookie first round draft pick Rex Grossman was named the starter the following week by head coach Dick Jauron and played the last three games of the season. Davis finished the season with 2,547 yards, 15 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

2004 season
Prior to the start of the 2004 NFL season, the Bears fired Jauron and hired Lovie Smith, who declared Grossman the team's starting quarterback. Grossman was criticized when he threw a game-ending interception against the Detroit Lions on opening day. Criticism of his durability intensified when he damaged his knee ligaments while scrambling for a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. The injury forced Grossman to spend the remainder of the season recuperating. In his absence, Davis regained the team's starting quarterback duties. He compiled a 4–7 record in 11 starts, completing 221-of-372 passes for 1,905 yards, 8 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

2005 season
Grossman was the projected starter entering the 2005 season, until suffering a broken ankle in preseason. Although Davis was initially named the starter, he was eventually replaced in favor of rookie Kyle Orton, after he had poor preseason performances and the decision to sign Jeff Blake to be the primary backup. Following his demotion, he was waived on September 28, officially ending his tenure with the Chicago Bears. He had a record of 24–28–0 as a starter during his time with the Bears, throwing for 10,605 yards, 59 touchdowns, and 38 interceptions.

New York Jets
Davis was claimed off waivers by the New York Jets on September 30, 2005, after first and second-string quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler were both injured in a game against Jacksonville. After the incident, Jets head coach Herman Edwards tried to bring experience at the quarterback position to the team by signing veteran Vinny Testaverde. The 41-year-old Testaverde failed to perform up to expectations and was benched for Davis. Davis finished the season with 9 starts, passing for 1,558 yards, 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. At the conclusion of the season, new Jets head coach Eric Mangini said that Davis was not in the team’s plans for the 2006 season. He became a free agent on March 1, 2006.

2006 season
On April 27, 2006, Mike Davis signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Buffalo Bills, reuniting with his former head coach Dick Jauron. Davis competed for the starting quarterback position until an ankle injury suffered on the second day of practice ended his involvement in the competition. On December 18, 2006, Davis returned to the field, kneeling for a one-yard loss at the end of a 21-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

2007 season
In 2007, Davis appeared in five games (four starts) compiling 1,009 passing yards, five touchdowns, three interceptions and a 91.7 quarterback rating. In week 13, Davis threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns during an emergency start for the injured J.P. Losman in the Bills 27–23 victory over the Washington Redskins. He started the next week against the Miami Dolphins and was 25-of-38 for 266 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the 38–17 victory. He started and was replaced by Trent Edwards in a disappointing shutout loss to the Cleveland Browns in week 15. Davis came in relief in the second half of week 16 and threw for 185 yards and one interception. With the Bills out of playoff contention, Davis started the season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles, completing 16-of-30 passes for 133 yards and a rushing touchdown.

2008 season
Davis continued playing for the Bills in 2008, filling in for an injured Trent Edwards intermittently throughout the season with limited success. In week 12, against the Kansas City Chiefs, Davis entered the game in the third quarter for an injured Edwards. Davis would go on to rush for two touchdowns to secure the Bills 54–31 victory. He started the remaining five games of the season, including the season finale against the New England Patriots on December 28, 2008, in which he completed a season best 22-of-27 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns.

2009 season
Davis agreed to terms on a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on April 12, 2009.

On August 29, Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris named Davis the team's starter for the 2009 regular season. On October 12, the Buccaneers benched Davis after a disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and an 0–5 record to start the season. Josh Johnson was named the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' new starting QB, while Davis moved down to third string behind rookie Josh Freeman. Davis finished the season completing 106-of-183 passes for 1,150 yards, 5 touchdowns and 8 interceptions while also posting a career-low 67.4 quarterback rating.

2010 season
During week 3 of the 2010 preseason against Jacksonville, Davis suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon after landing awkwardly while running with the ball. On September 2, he was placed on the Injured Reserve list, causing him to miss the entire season.

2011 season
He later re-signed with the Buccaneers in April 2011. On December 4, 2011, Davis started in place of the injured Josh Freeman against the Carolina Panthers. Davis completed 16-of-27 passing attempts with 229 passing yards, one touchdown pass, and no interceptions. Tampa Bay lost the game 38–19. He also made a brief appearance the following week, but attempted only two passes, one for three yards, and the other was intercepted.

Indianapolis Colts
On March 23, 2012, Davis signed with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts chose first overall draft pick Andrew Luck over him for the starting position. He completed 6-of-8 passing attempts for 94 yards in his lone appearance of the season against the Houston Texans.

Chicago Bears franchise records
As of the 2021 NFL off-season, Mike Davis held several Bears franchise records, including:


 * Pass completions, rookie season (254)
 * Passing yards, rookie season (2,795)
 * Times sacked, season (52; with Jay Cutler), rookie season (37), rookie game (eight, 2001-12-09 @GNB)
 * 300+ yard passing games: season (4 in 2002; with Jay Cutler and Brian Hoyer)
 * Most 4th Quarter Comeback Wins in a Single Season: 4 (2001) (tied with Jay Cutler)
 * Most Game Winning Drives in a Single Season: 4 (2001) (tied with Jay Cutler, Bill Wade and Bob Avellini)

Post-playing career
Although Davis did not officially announce his retirement from the NFL, he took a job in 2013 with WFLA-TV in Tampa as a pre-game analyst for the Buccaneers as well as a color commentator for their preseason games. He continued this role through the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In 2016, Davis became the main studio analyst for the Buccaneers pre-game coverage prior to the national airing of The NFL Today. WFLA-TV dismissed Davis in a cost-cutting move in April 2017.

Since 2018, Davis has worked as a color commentator for college football games on the CBS Sports Network. In 2022, Davis joined Sports Illustrated, writing on the NFL for SI's website.

Personal life
In June 2004, Davis married Natalie Johnson, daughter of retired radio executive Terry Johnson. During the 2008 offseason, Davis, Natalie, and their four children moved from Omaha, Nebraska to Tampa, Florida.