Chaz Davis looked as though he had just finished playing four quarters and two overtime sessions of football, but he had merely watched. Many in the aftermath of Monday’s Rose Bowl game had a similar appearance, so draining was the contest for players and fans alike.
Though raised in Southern California, Davis – a 2016 graduate of San Marino High School and member of the 15-1 Titan football team that won the 2015 CIF championship before advancing to the State tile game – has been a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs for a full decade. He is so enamored with the place that he applied, was accepted, and is now a sophomore, enrolled in the Grady Sports Media program. Monday’s Rose Bowl, a national championship semifinal contest that was won by the Bulldogs over Oklahoma by a final score of 54-48, was the culmination of a dream for the affable Davis.
“It was like my two worlds collided,” he said. “But in a good way.”
Davis is also a member of the Bulldogs’ football video staff, part of a team of ten who are responsible for videotaping practices, assembling video packages for scouting of future opponents and handling the growing social media requirements.
“We also help the equipment managers,” Davis said. “They are always scrambling around and have a lot to do.”
During the past ten days, Davis attended Georgia’s practices, which were held at the StubHub Center in Carson, and a battery of meetings, which took place at the team’s command center at the Hotel Intercontinental.
Sprinkled in were official visits to Disneyland, The Grove, Universal Studios and the annual Lawry’s “Beef Bowl,” where Rose Bowl teams traditionally chow down on prime rib at the iconic Beverly Hills eatery.
Chaz was able to spend New Year’s Eve with his family and was able to watch the actual game in a section reserved for students and family members of the players, just behind the marching band in the lower southeast corner of the stadium.
“I was so nervous, as if I was playing the game myself,” said the young man know to many as Senator Davis for his outgoing manner. “We were so busy with practices and meetings and all of a sudden, the game was here and I was able to just sit back and be a fan. It was great.”
The Bulldogs rallied from a 31-14 deficit in the second quarter to tie things up at 45-45, before outscoring the Sooners 9-3 in the two overtime sessions.
Chaz fell in love with the University of Georgia in 2008 when he and his older brother, Jay, accompanied their father, Kris Davis, to Atlanta on a business trip.
“I was 10 years old and we wanted to attend a big college football game,” Chaz explained. “We went to Athens and then on to Auburn to see the Georgia-Auburn game. I fell in love with the city and the game and the game day environment. We adopted Georgia as our team and I just fell in love. Then, I heard that Georgia has a top-5 journalism school. So between that and it being my favorite team, I was hooked.”
Chaz is majoring in Journalism and minoring in Public Policy and Sport Management. In November, he was accepted to the Grady Sports Media Program, which takes in just 20 students a year. His work in the program starts the minute he returns to campus.
“I will stay with that group of 20 and we will take one or two classes together each semester for the rest of our college life,” he said.
Davis worked as an intern in sports broadcasting while at SMHS and hopes to become a color commentator.
“But the more I think about it, maybe it would be nice to go to a smaller school and announce one or two sports there. Just to be around sports a little longer. That’s the dream.”
Chaz has attended 12 of Georgia’s 14 football games this season and will be in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday evening when the Bulldogs face Alabama, their Southeastern Conference rival, for the national championship.
“I am already nervous for Monday,” he said with a chuckle.
By the time this goes to press, Davis will be lugging white boards and film equipment back at the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs were assigned Georgia Tech for its practice site, but head Coach Kirby Smart refused, saying he didn’t want to practice in the stadium of a rival for such a big game.
“So we will bus from Atlanta to Athens and back every day,” Davis said.
Chaz said he admires Smart for his coaching ability and “his morals.”
But Davis refused to jinx his beloved ‘Dawgs with a prediction.
“Of course I hope we win,” he said after a long pause. “I don’t want to have to deal with another loss to Alabama. It’s no fun to watch them win so much. They broke my heart in 2012 at the Southeastern Conference championship game, when we came up just four yards short. I sure don’t want that to happen again.”
Chaz is the son of Beth and Kris Davis. Aside from Jay, Chaz has a younger sister, Grace, who is a sophomore at San Marino High School.
