FROM A HUMBLE DEBUT TO CFL STARDOM
League’s reigning most outstanding rookie has lofty amibitions and a football pedigree
As the son of a former NFL quarterback hunter, nine-year-old DaVaris Daniels expected magic from himself during his first game of organized football.
Let’s chalk up that maiden outing as one to forget.
“I was playing safety,” the Calgary Stampeders wideout says. “It was one-on-one and I had to make the tackle. I closed my eyes and missed, and the guy ran in for a touchdown.
“It was embarrassing. I just remember opening my eyes after I missed. I was just completely embarrassed.”
Messing up in such epic fashion was especially mortifying given that his father Phillip was watching.
“I looked at him and he was just shaking his head,” Daniels says. “It was just a bad moment. Thank God I’ve gotten better since then.”
Better? That’s a minor understatement coming from the CFL’s most outstanding rookie for 2016. In just 11 appearances — after waiting half the season for his chance — Daniels hauled in 51 catches for 885 yards and nine touchdowns. He soundly beat Ottawa Redblacks offensive lineman Jason Lauzon-Seguin in the rookie-of-the-year voting.
But drawing on a lesson preached by quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell — to never, ever be satisfied — Daniels moved to Philadelphia this offseason to train under the watchful eye of his father, now the defensive quality control and assistant defensive line coach for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
Call it a lineman boot camp for a wiry receiver.
“It’s different because it’s something I’ve never done before. Just trying to get more power in my legs and get stronger all the way around,” DaVaris Daniels says.
The six-foot-five, 302-pound Phillip Daniels logged 15 seasons in the NFL trenches with Seattle, Chicago and Washington.
“He’s a big guy and I was this little frail thing,” says DaVaris, who was listed last year at six foot one and 207 pounds. “So it’s definitely been different, but I definitely see the benefits of what he’s been teaching me.
“We’ve done a lot of squats, a lot of deadlifts — a lot of everything. We do these pullover presses that I’ve never done before, burnouts. It’s tough, but it’s definitely good.”
Daniels is already good. The overriding question is whether the 24-year-old has what it takes to be great and realize his dream of playing in the NFL just like his dad.
But he is not about to get ahead of himself.
“Last year was definitely a big year for me,” he says. “I just want to build off it. I just want to get better and better. I have to brace myself for a complete 18 games this year as opposed to the 10 or 12 games I played last year.
“I’m excited. I feel like there’s added pressure on me now.”
Some of that pressure comes from being a known commodity. Defensive co-ordinators around the league have studied film on the Notre Dame product for the last six months. The athletic specimen is a marked man, and defensive backs are no doubt determined to shut him down.
“I honestly don’t think of it as me being a target, because we have so many playmakers that it makes my job easy,” Daniels says. “Marquay McDaniel, Kamar Jorden, all those guys made plays and are capable of making a lot of plays.
“So especially in our offence, I don’t think you can key on any one guy specifically. You kind of have to pick your poison — and it’s all poison.”
Mitchell saw that poison in Daniels early last season when the newcomer was on a scout team during practice. Explosive with top-end speed, Daniels approached every series as a chance to prove he belonged in the starting lineup.
“To me, it was the same feeling I had with Eric Rogers walking in,” Mitchell said of the former Stampeders wideout who is now on the roster of the San Francisco 49ers. “DaVaris is a special player. He’s going to do a lot of great things in this league.
“I think he’s a guy who has an NFL chance. Obviously I want him to stay here and help me break records, but obviously I want him to do what’s best for him. And while I have him, I’m going to take advantage of him.”
I have to brace myself for a complete 18 games this year as opposed to the 10 or 12 games I played last year. I’m excited. I feel like there’s added pressure on me now.