Amy Parsons: Hi, I’m Amy Parsons, President of Colorado State University, and host of The Next 150 podcast. We have so many remarkable people in our community, and this is where we’re going to hear their stories, we’re going to get their perspectives on CSU’s next 150 years, and gather their very best advice for today’s CSU students. Let’s get started, Rams.

Hi Rams, and welcome back to another episode of The Next 150. Today we are joined by a Colorado legend, a true champion both on and off the field, none other than Pro Football Hall of Famer, Terrell Davis, somebody who I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the last few years. I think we met a few years ago at the Dancing with the Stars charity event.

Terrell Davis: Yes, we did. Yes, we did.

Amy Parsons: That might be the first place we met.

Terrell Davis: But first of all, you’re one of the few people who start off saying it right, correctly.

Amy Parsons: Oh yeah?

Terrell Davis: It’s the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Amy Parsons: Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Terrell Davis: But most people want to say NFL Hall of Fame.

Amy Parsons: Oh. Okay.

Terrell Davis: Yeah. Most people say-

Amy Parsons: So I got to right. Extra points.

Terrell Davis: You got it right. You got it right. So kudos.

Amy Parsons: Well, I appreciate that.

Terrell Davis: Good job.

Amy Parsons: We’re off to a good start.

Terrell Davis: Yeah. But let’s go back to the Dancing with the Denver Stars.

Amy Parsons: Yeah, you were dancing that year.

Terrell Davis: Lord.

Amy Parsons: You did a great job.

Terrell Davis: Lord have mercy.

Amy Parsons: You did a great job.

Terrell Davis: You know what, they were tracking me down for about 20 years, and I swear, and every time I would see them, I would just tell them, “I have something to do,” like I couldn’t do it.

Amy Parsons: You just pushed them off.

Terrell Davis: Yeah, I was pushing them off. Number one, it was embarrassing. Who wants to?

Amy Parsons: I did it, you know. I did it, I think the year before you did it.

Terrell Davis: Okay, but were you nervous, though?

Amy Parsons: That night I was.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. That night. Leading up to it was fun because Cleo Parker Robinson, the dancers are amazing, and you get to know them and you work with the pro. But then that night, getting on stage, I’m like, “What am I doing?”

Terrell Davis: Yeah, but for me, I felt like I had a lot to lose and nothing to gain. There was just no upside to doing it.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: I finally challenged myself after all those years and I said, “You know what? I’m 50 years old. Let’s just do it. Let’s just go out there and just challenge yourself to get better.” My knee was a problem, and I was like, “Man, hopefully this thing just holds up until it’s over.” And one day during rehearsal, we’re doing one of these crazy moves, and I ended up jamming my knee so hard and I was thinking, “I can’t.” And it swelled up on me. And so I went home and I’m trying to get this thing, get the swelling out, I’m icing it. It felt like I was playing a game again, getting ready for a game. But yeah, I came through. And then we just reduced the sequences. We didn’t do anything very elaborate. Because I was supposed to pick her up and do all kinds of stuff, and it was like we can’t-

Amy Parsons: Everybody loved it. I mean, you did awesome that night.

Terrell Davis: Well, I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

Amy Parsons: And I mean, it’s one of my favorite charities. I never miss the chance to go to Dancing with the Stars and support Cleo.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. I mean, they’re just an amazing asset to Denver.

Terrell Davis: It was. It was fun. So I’m glad I did it.

Amy Parsons: So thanks for doing that.

Terrell Davis: And I’m glad I did it.

Amy Parsons: And it was great. We got to meet.

Terrell Davis: Because I got a chance to meet you. There you go. All right.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. That’s where we met, and then I met you and I was like, “We need to get you up to Fort Collins.”

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: “And see what we’re all about at CSU.” And that’s kind of how all of this started. So we’ll jump into that in a minute.

I’m just going to say just a little bit more about you, not that you need any introduction to our listeners, but you’re one of the greatest running backs in NFL history and sixth round draft pick who defied all the odds and obviously led the Denver Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl Championships and earned the league MVP and Super Bowl MVP honors and one of the eight players to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single NFL season, Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And our athletic director, John Weber, likes to say, “Grit recognizes grit. Greatness recognizes greatness.” And just your path, your journey, to what you achieved, I think is just the exact role model in the values that we want our students at CSU to learn, whether they’re playing on the field, whether they’re D1 athletes or they’re just students at CSU. It’s such a great example. And so we’re grateful that you’ve served in this role as a Rambassador, being around our program all year, and you’ve done everything from going to football games to talking to our student athletes. And I remember the first basketball game that you came to with us, and you were just so generous with your time, of everybody just loving to see you and take pictures with you, and it’s just been really special. So, I just want to thank you for being part of our community this last year.

Terrell Davis: You’re welcome.

Amy Parsons: It’s been really special.

Terrell Davis: No, it has been fun. It’s been great. And I told you coming up here before that basketball game, and I felt bad too because you guys were on a streak.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And I felt like when I came there, the basketball team lost, I was like, “Oh, Lord. What did I bring? Did I bring the wrong juice and mojo here?”

But after that, I just felt like I was adopted into a family again and I missed the college environment. I missed being on campus. I missed the pomp and circumstance of the band and just student athletes and the faculty and just the whole campus environment to me, it was fun to be reunited in that atmosphere.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And then I couldn’t have asked for a better college and partnership with CSU and coming up here, just thinking to myself, “The people here, they were just different.” You can tell there was a tightness, there was a strong community here. There was a loyalty to this campus. And it just felt right. And I just felt like it was the right decision and I didn’t want to force anything. And we’ve had our conversations over and just every time we’ve talked or I made that visit, it just checked the box.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: Checked the box. And then your vision for what you shared with me and how you saw CSU moving forward, it just aligned with things that I was thinking about. You talk about grit and toughness.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And it was like, this community is that.

Amy Parsons: That’s what it’s all about.

Terrell Davis: That’s what it’s all about.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. The community embraced you, too.

Terrell Davis: Yeah. Yeah. So it’s been fun.

Amy Parsons: And really see that alignment for values and your history. And by the way, I think you were actually good luck for the basketball team. Because you know they went on to win the championship.

Terrell Davis: Yes, yes.

Amy Parsons: They won the league and went on to March Madness.

Terrell Davis: It started off a little slow.

Amy Parsons: It started off a little slow, but that was just maybe the boost that they needed to go on their great season.

Terrell Davis: Almost got to that Sweet-

Amy Parsons: Yeah, exactly.

Terrell Davis: That would’ve been great, but whatever.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. Well, let’s rewind a bit and talk about your journey and your love for football and sports and where that came from coming into your college career.

Terrell Davis: It’s funny, because I just gave a talk to my daughter’s elementary school.

Amy Parsons: Oh, yeah?

Terrell Davis: And I had went back and I told them the story about a little guy, a little kid named Little T, and he was six years old. And I had to go back and recall how football became, like, how I fell in love with football. Now, here’s the deal. I’m the youngest of six boys, so keep that in mind.

Amy Parsons: That’s a tough set of circumstances to start.

Terrell Davis: Yes, it is.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And so, my older brothers, they all played football. And I was five or six at the time when I started picking up on football. And we would play in a backyard and all that stuff. And, of course, they would beat me down. And I think they used me as a tackling dummy, because I’m the smallest and everybody would just run through me.

Amy Parsons: You were the smallest? Well, I guess being the youngest.

Terrell Davis: I was the youngest, yeah. So I was smallest. They would just beat me up.

Amy Parsons: They were toughening you up.

Terrell Davis: Yeah, they toughened me up. And I just remember, I don’t know, maybe my brain was sick, but I just remember loving that feeling. I just loved that sort of the contact and I loved just trying to run from them and having them tackle me.

But yeah, I started loving it and then I couldn’t wait until I could play because I was only six years old. At seven is when you can sign up. So I would bug my mom and dad like, “I can’t wait to play.” And I remember the night before our first practice, got my pads the day before, and I remember going to sleep. I put on my shoulder pads, I put my helmet on, I put my mouthpiece in my mouth.

Amy Parsons: No.

Terrell Davis: Oh, I swear to God. I slept in my uniform because I was so excited to go to practice the next day. In my mind, I already knew I wanted to be a running back. That’s exactly what I was, I was going to be a running back, straight up. But it didn’t start off well, because what they did was when I got to practice, all the kids got there. The first thing they did was line all the kids up and they made all the kids run these little 40 yard sprints.

And after the sprints, they took the fastest kids and they told them to go to the left. And that group of kids were all the receivers, running backs, quarterbacks, all the ball carriers. Group to the right, were all the linemen. And that’s where I were. I was over there with the linemen. And I didn’t understand. At first, I was like, “Why am I over here with all these guys?” And then they finally came over and put us in lineman formation and all that stuff. And I was like, “Oh, man.” So, I was a little disappointed in that. I wanted to be a running back. And that happened the entire year. Told the coach I wanted to be a running back. He told me I was too slow. I remember that. He said, “Son, you’re too slow to be a running back.” And I was like-

Amy Parsons: Oh my gosh.

Terrell Davis: Yeah, that’s what my coach said. So, the first year I ended up staying on the offensive line. Year two, came back and I was, in my mind thinking, “Okay, I’m faster. I’m older. And now I can play running back.” Same thing happened year two. They split the teams up and I didn’t play running back. Until the third year, is when I finally came back. And I wasn’t fast enough that year, so I didn’t make running back again. So, it was almost like the same cycle. But, the first game of the season, two of our running backs got hurt. And they were our two best running backs. Yeah, they got hurt. And we had four or five running backs. But the other guys came in, they were fast, but they weren’t good.

And so the coach, you could tell, we ended up losing that game and guys were bad. So I was like, “Hey man, coach, I can play running back.” I took my shot. And you could tell he was a little reluctant, because he’s thinking, “Man, you’re not fast. You can’t play”. But, he really didn’t have a choice.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And so he put me in at running back. And that day was the day that my nickname, after that, they called me Boss Hog.

Amy Parsons: No way.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: I didn’t know that.

Terrell Davis: Yeah, that was my nickname after my first game, because I was running through kids, running over kids. I mean, they just couldn’t stop me. And so, I ended up becoming a starting running back from that point on. That was it. That was the day.

Amy Parsons: That was the path.

Terrell Davis: That was it.

Amy Parsons: Right up to when you went to college. You followed your brother, I think, right? To college?

Terrell Davis: No, no. So Amy, when I’m telling you, you talk about adversity and we talking about a path, my path was not a straight-line path. It’s probably the most improbable journey to becoming an NFL running back. Because, number one, at the end of that year, I started suffering from blindness. I’ve had nausea, vomiting, headaches. And I didn’t know what was going on. This was when I was, the same year I just completed and my parents didn’t know what was happening. But every time I would practice, I would get these headaches and I would get sick. And that would happen a couple of weeks. And my mom finally took me to a doctor.

And then when we went to the doctor, we finally was told that I was experiencing migraine headaches. And the doctor said, “I can’t do anything for you.” They had nothing that they could do to stop them. But he was like, “Only thing I can do is recommend you not play football anymore.” So think about that. I got a choice to make. I’m either: play football with all these headaches or quit football. And in my mind, I did not envision myself without football.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And I was like, “All right, I have to make a decision.” And I chose to go through the pain of battling the migraines. And I’ve had that since I was nine years old.

Amy Parsons: Wow.

Terrell Davis: Really to this day.

Amy Parsons: All the way through.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: College.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: Pro ball.

Terrell Davis: And when I went to Georgia, when I finally got to college and finally got to Georgia, they had better doctors, neurologists, and so they were able to identify not only that I had migraines, but what kind of migraines and they had medication that could help. It was nothing that got rid of them. But they could help. Like, if they come, maybe shorten the process. They put me on some medication that, in some cases, if I take it in the right amount of time, I could stop it. But, you have to be really precise in when you took it and that wasn’t practical.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: You talk about being at Georgia, that’s not where you started, though.

Terrell Davis: No.

Amy Parsons: Right?

Terrell Davis: No. I started at, so when I got to high school, most people don’t know this. Again, I didn’t play running back in high school. So I quit high school. When I got to high school, my dad died, which was the biggest event in my life that just wrecked my world. I didn’t understand my dad dying. And the biggest thing was I thought the world would stop. I thought everybody would stop and say, “Hey, your dad died. We’re going to make sure you’re okay.”

It didn’t. I woke up the next day and the sun came up, the school bus was going to school. Nobody cared. And I remember that, that still is in my mind, that nobody, at least I felt that way. And it was kind of a lesson in life. Unfortunately, when things happen, no matter who you are, life goes on. Life will not stop for you.

And so thinking about that and using that, it kind of helped me to be a little bit more resilient. When things went bad, I didn’t spend a lot of time looking for compassion. I wasn’t looking for anybody to come and feel sorry for me. And I couldn’t, because the world taught me a lesson. They’re not waiting for you. And so I took that. And so after I quit high school, in my freshman year, I didn’t play my freshman year or my sophomore year. I didn’t play football at all.

Amy Parsons: Wow.

Terrell Davis: Yeah. And I had just given up on sports. I gave up on life. And then I had one incident where I was going down the wrong path because I didn’t care about life anymore. And I was hanging out with the wrong people and ended up having a gun pointed directly to my head. That was a moment where I had to really think about…

Amy Parsons: In high school.

Terrell Davis: This is in high school, yeah. And this was 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning in a neighborhood that I shouldn’t have been in. And I put myself in that situation and that was my holy you-know-what moment, my come to Jesus. I’m like, “All right.” That was my scared straight moment.

Almost immediately after that, think about this, I was flunking out of high school. Grades were terrible. I wasn’t playing football.

Amy Parsons: Not playing football.

Terrell Davis: I was going down a path that I was like, “Wait a minute, how did I get here?” And so, it felt like a week after that happened, I reunited with Pop Warner, the guy who called me Boss Hog, the guy who gave me the nickname, we had disconnected. He had moved to LA, but he was back in San Diego. And we just ran into each other and it was like God sent him into my life and he said, “Man, what are you doing?” I was like, “Nothing.” He said, “You’re not playing football?” “No, I’m not playing football.” And I was flunking in school. So being with him kind of reignited, or at least got my mind thinking, “All right, you got to get back on the right path.”

My mom was working two jobs. She wasn’t around. My brothers, they were all over the place. It was just a moment to finally get back on that path, at least get back to playing sports.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: To have that continuity in my life and to get back to something that I loved doing. So I was at Morris High School at the time, and I didn’t play for Morris, but the first thing I had to do was get my grades back, at least try to get them back up to where they were. I flunked out freshman year so I was redoing those courses.

And I felt like, “You know what? I just need a new start.” Because once people know who you are, it’s kind of hard for them to get that person out of their mind. And I said, “I need to kind of start off, start over.” So I ended up transferring after my — yea, I guess it would be my sophomore year. I went to summer school, made up for my classes, and I went to Lincoln High School. And from there it was a different world. I went to summer school, made up my classes. Got on the track team. Got on the football team, as well. And then it just felt like I was back on track, doing something that I loved. I loved playing football. I felt I was making my mom proud because my grades were back up. But I wasn’t playing running back. I was playing defensive line and I played a little bit of fullback. And that’s what I did in high school. And I didn’t even get recruited by, you name a school, CSU didn’t even recruit me. I mean, nobody recruited me.

Amy Parsons: Sorry.

Terrell Davis: And we’ve got a lot of people out of San Diego that was coming to CSU.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: No, but that’s what I’m saying. I was a no-star athlete coming out of San Diego. And then I go to Long Beach State. I walk onto Long Beach State. And the reason I chose Long Beach State was because my brother was at Long Beach State. And it was close distance to home. They had just announced they were getting George Allen, who was a Pro Football Hall of Fame coach. He was coming in that year. And I tried to see if I can get a scholarship because I was playing fullback and I sent them some tape. But most of my tape were as a defensive lineman. I’m only 195 pounds. Nobody’s going to bring me in for that. So I remember them saying, “Hey, if you come here, we can’t give you a scholarship right now, but if you work hard, then we can possibly give you a scholarship.” And that was good enough for me. I just feel like, “You know what? I get a chance to play.”

Amy Parsons: You’re in the door.

Terrell Davis: I’m close to home. My brother’s there. Let’s go see what happens.

Amy Parsons: And then they close the program.

Terrell Davis: Yes, indeed. So here’s another haymaker. It’s like every turn you get hit with one. Bam.

Because when I get there, it’s the first time in my life that there’s a possible chance that there’s a connection between what I’m doing and the pros. I got a Pro Football Hall of Fame coach. And all of our coaches all played in the NFL. We had Willie Brown, we had Mike Davis, we had a guy named Cedrick Hardman. They all played in the NFL.

And the way we practiced, and then they would have scouts come up to our practice every day. I started to see, “Wow, this is the closest I’ve ever been to it.” And I remember one day at practice, we had just finished practice up, and I was on scout team, I had red shirted so I was scout team running back. And then my running back coach is named Mike Davis. He brings me aside. He said, “Hey, one of the scouts, NFL scouts, he was asking about you. And we just told him, ‘No, you was just a red-shirt freshman.’” But that, hearing that a scout, NFL scout, asked about me? I mean, just in my mind, that told me that-

Amy Parsons: Stay on path.

Terrell Davis: I don’t know anybody else, but I just looked at it like, “Why would they ask about me?” So there was something I was doing.

Amy Parsons: Because they’re smart, because they saw something in it. They saw it.

Terrell Davis: Yeah, so that was like, “Wow, that’s interesting.”

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: But then I ended up starting the next year. I came into camp. I beat out a couple of seniors and juniors and I became the starting running back as a red-shirt freshman, but I got hurt in training camp. Then I came back five games after that, played in five games, got hurt again. And then that was the year after the season was over, we all got phone calls or, we didn’t have email back then, no, there was no email. I don’t know how, how did we find out? I don’t know how we found out but we had a team meeting and that’s when they announced that they were closing the program down. And it was like, “You got to be kidding me.”

Amy Parsons: But looking back, that’s what got you to Georgia, right?

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: I mean, that’s what set the path for where you ended up.

Terrell Davis: It was. And I do wonder if I had stayed there, whether I would’ve gone to the NFL. I believe I would have, just because I just told you about the coaching staff we had. We had pro scouts there. So I was on their radar. And I’m a firm believer that the NFL will find you. If you’re good enough, they will find you.

Amy Parsons: They’ll find it.

Terrell Davis: They’ll find you.

Amy Parsons: They’ll find you anywhere in the country.

Terrell Davis: Anywhere.

Amy Parsons: Right?

Terrell Davis: Anywhere.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. As long as you’re playing.

Terrell Davis: As long as you’re playing.

Amy Parsons: As long as you’re out there playing.

Terrell Davis: 100%. Yeah. You got to play though.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. Talk about that last season for you before you got drafted to the NFL and that kind of mind shift for you of how you were playing.

Terrell Davis: Yeah. I’ve told people this story before that you go from Long Beach State, you go from a kid that wasn’t highly recruited. I’ve never had the spotlight on me. I’ve never functioned where there were expectations on my performance on the field. I’ve never had that. As a kid, nobody cares about me playing for VP. I was Boss Hog, but nobody cared. Go to college, didn’t know pressure. High school, no pressure.

But when I go to Georgia, it’s Georgia. It is Georgia. It is a big, big stage, a big, big deal. And when I got there, I was a sophomore backing up Garrison Hearst, who was a top five pick in the draft, running back. And so it was easier for me to transition into that spot because I’m the backup. They’re not expecting me to have big games. Garrison goes in there and he does all the dirty work. And when we’re blowing a team out, I come in there and I’ll give you some yards and look good. And that was it. That was a perfect world.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: But I felt like I’ve worked really hard and I thought I was ready for it. But then Garrison went to the NFL and then the next year it was my turn. And I remember walking around campus and I would see magazines, those little preseason magazines, and I’m on the cover of these magazines, and it’s like, “The next big thing.”

I mean, I guess it’s cool, but to me, it wasn’t. I didn’t want that. I wanted to go play and let my play do the talking. But it was already put out there that I’m the next big thing. And that was in not only the magazines, but that would be on whether it was a radio show, TV show, no matter what they were talking about, they were talking Georgia football, my name came up. And it was like most people were like, “Yeah, he’s going to be better than Garrison Hearst.” I averaged almost like eight yards a carry when Garrison was there, but that don’t mean anything because I had a fraction of the carries he had. And so they were doing the math trying to extrapolate how great I was going to be and to me, I thought that was just a mistake. I didn’t want to have that. So I never felt comfortable. So my play sort of mirrored that. I was afraid-

Amy Parsons: Afraid of the greatness.

Terrell Davis: Yeah, exactly. It felt like, yeah, I’ve said this after looking back, people always say they have a fear of failing. I had a fear of being great, of succeeding. I had a fear of success. Because I knew the expectations that came with that. I knew that the responsibility, obligations, the pressure that position held. And so I didn’t want to be too good. I wanted to be just good enough to where I can play.

Amy Parsons: But without the pressure.

Terrell Davis: Without the pressure.

Amy Parsons: Expectations.

Terrell Davis: And you just can’t do that.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And that ultimately, in my opinion, led to me not being as good as I can be. And it was a rocky road. I got benched. I had injuries. And it was just a terrible time. Terrible stretch in my career.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. So what shifted in your brain that really turned it on at the end of your career that the NFL saw you?

Terrell Davis: Well, there was a pivotal moment that I always go back to. And I was hurt. And we had a home game. And this particular game, for some reason, I had to sit in the bleachers.

Amy Parsons: For your own game.

Terrell Davis: Well, here’s the deal. The head coach and I, we didn’t see eye to eye. We didn’t have a great relationship.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: And he did not want me on the sideline watching our team. And I’m about four weeks in a five-week recovery. So I’m coming back soon. I tore my hamstring. So I’m coming back soon. I decide to go to the game. I go to the game, I’m sitting in the bleachers. And I’m watching Georgia football. And it’s just weird what my mind is thinking. I’m sitting way up there, so I can see everything. And I just like, “Man, God put me up here to give me perspective.” And I think I really believe that.

And I just started going through my head about all kinds of things. I’m like, “Wow.” I’m looking at the field and you can’t feel what the players are feeling. You can’t. You just think everybody’s healthy and you don’t know if they’re tired, like you don’t know. And that gave me sort of an interesting perspective, like people don’t care whether you’re hurt or not. They came in to watch a game and you have to perform at a certain level. Like again, back to my dad, no one cares about your ankle sprain. No one cares that you got a thigh contusion. No one cares your hamstring hurt. You have to play to a certain level.

So I thought about that, and then it kind of led me to asking myself, “Have I really been pushing myself since I’ve been there?” Because what dawned on me is that I only have four games left. If everything goes right, I have four games left until…that’s it. There’s no more football in my future. I wasn’t highly recruited. I mean, at that point, that was my senior year. There was no publications that had me being projected to be drafted high or even drafted at all. So I was like, “Man, I love football, but this is it.”

And so I kind of asked myself if I gave it everything I had and the answer was no. And so I made this comment. I was like, “You know what? I don’t want to have regrets when I leave college. I want to be able to walk off the field the last game and say, ‘I gave this game everything I had,’” because I wasn’t giving it everything I had. So that became my purpose and my mission. I said, “When I come back, I’m going to play this game like I did when I was a kid. I’m going to give it everything I got. Because the only thing I don’t want to live with is that regret of saying, ‘Man, I could have did this. Man, I should have done that.’” And I see people like that all the time. It feels like it’s daily. I meet people who tell me they should have played in the NFL, but if this or but that. So I say, “I just want to walk off the field last game, senior day, with my mom and say, ‘You know what? I’m good. I’m at peace. If I don’t play another down, I’m at peace.’” And that was my mission.

So the next four weeks, when I got to practice the next week and I was cleared, that’s what I did. I just had fun. I found joy in playing again. And they put me at fullback. And so I’m blocking for, you know, Hines Ward was a freshman. He became the starting running back. So I’m blocking for him. Amy, I don’t care. I don’t care how big you are. I’m just having fun doing it. And I found my joy again in playing. And I did that for two weeks. And then they finally came to me, my running backs coach came to me, and he’s like, “Man, we’ve been watching you and we’re really impressed with what we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. We’re going to move you back to halfback. You’re going to be our starting halfback.”

And I was like, “Oh, good.” And this time, instead of feeling like, oh, shoot, here we go. I was like, “Okay.” And it was the first time I had really played with swagger, where I played with the confidence that I know I had. And then the night before we played Auburn, they’re on a 20-something-game winning streak. They’re the number one team in the country. We’re going to play them in Auburn. And the night before we play them, we have our team dinner and we have our meeting, and typically the coaches speak and that’s it. We leave. Well, this time the coach spoke and the meeting was about to end. I stood up and I asked the coach if I can talk to the team. And he said, “Sure.” So I went up there and I talked to the team.

Now, I have never done that in my life, and I don’t know what compelled me to get up and say something, but I did. I felt compelled to do it. I did that. And we didn’t win the game, but we tied Auburn, and I had arguably the best game of my college career that game. And then subsequently, we played Georgia Tech the week after, had probably the second-best game of my career. And that was it, Amy. In that short period of time, I had accomplished what I wanted to set out to do. And I said I was satisfied if that was the last time I played ball, I was good. And so I felt good about that.

Amy Parsons: It’s such a good lesson to reconnect with that joy. I think about that first story that you told as a kid going to bed at night with your pads on.

Terrell Davis: Oh man, with the mouthpiece in the house.

Amy Parsons: With the mouthpiece in. I’ve heard our coaches say that there are guys who like it, who love it, and who live it. And you’re a “live it” guy.

Terrell Davis: I live it.

Amy Parsons: I mean, that’s that story, and it’s always been part of that love of your life.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: But through all of these different setbacks and all these times that you had to be resilient. And we all know how the story ended. I mean, going on to be the MVP.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: And Hall of Famer, it’s just an incredible journey. And I think there’s so many valuable lessons in there for today’s students and today’s players.

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: So when you think back over that journey and you talk to today’s players, what are a couple of those lessons that you pull out that you want them to know right now, as they’re 20 years old and just now in it?

Terrell Davis: I think number one is recognize that greatness can come from anywhere and anyone. It’s not a preconceived, it’s not this thing that, people look at great players and I believe there’s a thought sometimes that you were born to be great. Like you were already chosen. I’m like, “No.” I refer to, you ever see that cartoon, it’s that movie Ratatouille, where the rat can cook? It’s like, “Anyone can cook.”

Yeah, it’s like greatness can come from anywhere. And I remember looking back, like in our locker room, if you would’ve said, “Hey, Terrell, at 20 years old, you’re in the locker or meeting room and identify five guys that you think that’s going to be pros. Like really good in the NFL.” I could have named you five or six guys that I thought would’ve been really, really good, like locks. But I was the one.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: I was the one. It was me. And there was probably two other guys that went to the NFL and had pretty good careers, but most of those guys didn’t.

Amy Parsons: Yeah.

Terrell Davis: They went, but they didn’t last. And so it’s like the reminder is that there’s greatness amongst all of us. And any one of us could be great, but if you have a vision for being great, if you build up, you got to have resilience, you got to get gritty, you got to do all these things. A lot of things have to go your way. But you should know if someone says there’s greatness in this room, you should be like, “Okay, it’s coming.”

Amy Parsons: That’s a great lesson.

Terrell Davis: Greatness is here. Even if you don’t see it at the time. Because it’s hard to see it when you’re going through all your struggles. You are like, “Ah.” Doubt creeps in. You start to doubt your abilities and all that stuff. But just know that greatness can come from anywhere.

Amy Parsons: Yeah. And looking back, you had to be resilient so many times and build that muscle, right?

Terrell Davis: Yeah.

Amy Parsons: That served you all the way until the end. Well, thanks for being part of the Ram community and sharing that lesson. I mean, that’s the lesson we want our students to know and they look up to you as the role model in that and I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who’s faced as much as you have over and over again and risen above it and set the example for everybody behind you. So thanks for being part of the CSU family.

Terrell Davis: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Amy Parsons: Thanks for spending the time with me today.

Terrell Davis: That’s right.

Amy Parsons: And we’re just happy that you’re here.

Terrell Davis: Well, thank you very much. Go Rams.

Amy Parsons: Go Rams, yep.

Terrell Davis: Go Rams.

Amy Parsons: Thank you for listening. I’m Amy Parsons, President of Colorado State University, and you’re listening to CSU’s The Next 150, where we explore what comes next for CSU by chatting with change makers who are already leading the charge and shaping our next 150 years. I’m gathering their very best advice for today’s CSU students. Stay tuned to wherever you get podcasts for our next outstanding conversation. Go Rams.