On his visit to the University of Washington, Elinneus Davis stood and looked at some interesting cloud structures on a rather beautiful day.
“It took me a minute to realize that I wasn’t looking at clouds,” he laughed. “It was Mount Rainier. It was gorgeous and it was beautiful. I just stood there and stared at it for 5 minutes.”
Growing up in Moorehead, Minnesota, just outside of Fargo, North Dakota, Elinneus Davis has a vastly different view of football than most.
Davis’ parents grew up in Liberia and came to America in 1999 as the Second Liberian Civil broke out. Having already experienced the Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1997 which killed over 200,000 Liberians, his mother and father decided to leave for America.
“Growing up they only got to eat one meal a day,” Davis told RealDawg.com. “But I’ve been to Liberia and I’ve seen how they live. That experience motivates me to be better every day.”
“There aren’t many pictures of my mom growing up,” Elinneus, whose name means happiness, said. “She grew up on a farm but there wasn’t much to eat.”
What he saw on his visit to Liberia was a nation where 85 percent of the country lives in poverty and a land of mostly dirt roads. It was a moment of clarity–of motivation for him.
“I got a small taste of what she went through,” Davis said. “Growing up my parents only had one meal a day. I see how hard my mom and dad work every day so even on days when I don’t want to, I get out of bed because I want to make it so that my mom doesn’t have to work anymore.”
Along with working, his mom finds time to feed him a family staple from her youth.
“She makes a mixture of vegetables, rice, and meats. I basically eat that 4 times a day,” he said. “She ate the same thing, but once a day.”
What she ate for sustenance he now uses to fuel his 6-3, 296-pound frame, as well as his dream of one day providing for his mom. That vision drew even closer to becoming a reality earlier this year when the University of Washington offered him a scholarship.
On January 2nd of this year, shortly after taking over the Husky’s new defensive line coach, Inoke Breckterfield, offered Davis.
After a great conversation, I am blessed and honored to receive my fourth division one scholarship from the University of Washington!! @MHDspudFootball @CoachNokesDL @UW_Football pic.twitter.com/SN43vWF7fr
— Elinneus Davis (@ElinneusDavis) January 2, 2022
“It’s crazy to think that a team so far away wants me to play for them,” he told RealDawg.com.
Other, more local schools more local to him have offered him as well.
“Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Vanderbilt have offered me,” he said.
Although the Moorehead, Minnesota area is outside of Washington’s typical recruiting footprint, it’s not an area unfamiliar to new head coach Kalen DeBoer.
“He used to live an hour and a half south of here,” Davis said. “So I know that he understands the area here in the Midwest.”
Davis could easily see himself under the tutelage of Breckterfield.
“Oh my gosh, he knows what he’s talking about–he coached Aaron Darnold,” he said. “Aaron still calls him to this day. To have him put that much confidence in me is an honor.”
While Seattle is a far cry from the dirt Liberian roads that his parents once traveled, distance will not be a factor to Davis.
“At first I was scared to go that far West,” he said. “I only knew it was close to the ocean.”
His dad, with whom he shares the same name, running the family store in the African market in Moorehead, Elinneus visited Seattle with his high school football coach and his son. However, he and his dad are working to coordinate an official visit on the weekend of June 24th, with his sights set on a July commitment.
Davis told RealDawg.com there are no specific criteria that he’s looking for from a school, just the one that feels right.
“It’s about a fit,” he said. “As long as I fit the program, distance won’t be a factor.”
