JUCO DE Rulon Davis

[Terrell Farley]

No surprise. Rulon's not coming to NU.

[Pedro Guerrero]

So what is the deal with this kid? Why the sudden change of heart? This is nothing against this kid personally but if there was a position we could stand lose a recruit over it was DE. We have 6-8 returning next year so we should be alright. If we don't get any DE in teh class for the following year then I will worry. I put this in the same boat as losing Freeman. Does it suck? Sure. But we have enough QB and DE on scholarship right now. Bring in some OL, DB, or WR.

 

 

 

Nameless isn't fans tlaking bad about this kid the same as you talking bad about players(past or present) for playing bad? Just a thought. At least he hasn't had his tires slashed like Everidge.

[BigRedDallasTexan]

Due to the hate mail I’ve been receiving I will be terminating my account with my space. Choosing a college is one of the most important decisions of my life and I would like to make it in peace. I’ve been reading everything that is written about me. People who don’t even know me think they have the right to question my integrity. Who do you think you are? To the writers and reporters saying my word doesn’t count for nothing, I say “shame on you”. Nobody has that right to judge me but God. These past few days have been very upsetting for my family and I. Please allow me my right to make a sound decision. Please stop calling my phone and reposting my personal messages on other websites. A good fan doesn’t impede on peoples right to privacy. Believe me, the things the fans are doing is making the situation worse. Some things have been brought to my attention and that’s the reason for all of the confusion. My word is the same as before and I can choose to call or talk to anyone I please. I want to thank all of the GOOD fans for their support. This all will be cleared up on Wednesday December 21, 2005. Take care and always trust in the Lord.

 

 

 

One Love….   

 

Shame on you Nebraska fans. If the kid wants to go someplace else, don't be sending him hate mail. I am assuming he is referring to some NU fans who put 1 and 1 together and saw the Cal logos on his myspace account and decided to crucify him. Show some class. This is why i don't think posting his myspace profile was such a good idea on message boards.

sounds like a crybaby to me. What does he expect when he has this kind of stuff in his myspace account? Let Cal have him.

[benjibean1]

Rivals has him listed as signing the letter to Cal. It is up on their site as of now. Just in case i missed it and didnt read it here.

[BigWillie]

I'll say this since he has signed now.

 

Rulon had his mind made up since he recruiting trip to Cal. On MySpace, you have a bullentin board system where you can post messages that only your friends on the website can see. It's not open to the public, so Rulon has to have you added before you can see what he posts. On Sunday night/Monday morning, Rulon posted a message that he was going to Cal-Berkely and basically it had alot to do with his family. He said he had been away from them overseas fighting in Iraq and he didn't want to be away from them for another portion of his life.

 

That is the only reason I knew he was gone.

 

I can respect that if that is the true reason Rulon is not coming to Nebraska. Honestly, I cannot blame him either.

 

However, I do hold him accountable for posting Cal logos all over a website that is open to the entire public and not expecting some sort of backlash from fans he did not and has not told he was leaving. Sure, it was private to him and his family and he thought he should keep it that way. But when you make a website everyone can see and you take down the NU logos and put up Cal logos, what will everyone expect? Then to cry foul after the fact as if he did nothing wrong? Rulon, you were the one dodging calls from the NU media, avoiding questions at all costs while stating to everyone else Cal was the place. Why keep it a secret? What exactly is the point?

 

I also hold Rulon accountable for the statements he made about his integrity. In the write Roz did a few months back about Rulon being a man of integrity, he stated that he (Rulon) was appauled at the fact other coaches still called him after he had commited to Nebraska. He said he would stick to his morals though.

 

Rulon, did your morals go out the window or did you just stick your foot in your mouth?

 

Basically, don't say something if you cannot back it up in the end.

 

Good luck to you in the future Rulon, but it's still sad that even after your time in the Marines, you still have ALOT of growing up to do.

[iahuskerfan]

So he had pictures of Cal on his website. He also had pictuers and information about Nebraska on it also. As we all know nothing is certain until the paper is signed and after more thought about family maybe he truly began having doubts. Who are we to judge that or not? Can we but upset that we lost a good recruit, sure. Should we begin saying he has no integrity, and if true by his accounts sending "hate mail"? I would say absolutely not. If we want to pride ourselves as having the best fans then we must ALWAYS act with integrity. Some of the things said aren't above something we would rip a Buff fan apart for. If I was a recruit and heard of these types of things happening to other recruits, I'm not sure I would be interested.

 

As fans I think we can have an influence on the exprerience of recruits, both positive and negative. Chanting their names at games makes them feel welcomed, calling out a recruit that is upset by hate mail, and we are upset because he has a Cal logo on his website is going to leave a bad taste in their mouth. I do know that kind words may take awhile to leave an impression and can be forgotten quickly, but any harsh unkind words are rarely relinquished.

 

P.S. I do think Freeman's decommittment speaks for itself in the lack of integrity.

 

GBR!!!

[Redman]

I wonder, how many of these young people grow up being fans of one team and end up playing for another? For instance, a high school player from Omaha may grow up being a huge Nebraska Cornhusker fan, but may end up playing for Kansas, Iowa State, or some other school for one reason or another. Even though he may play for one of these schools does he not have the right to say that he is still a Husker fan? Rulon may have had Cal on his website because he was a fan, but that did not mean that he did not want to play for NU. Do not condemn someone simply for liking one team or another. I were being recruited by a D1 school and fans gave me a hard time for liking Nebraska, I might think twice about attended that school.

[BigWillie]

So he had pictures of Cal on his website. He also had pictuers and information about Nebraska on it also. As we all know nothing is certain until the paper is signed and after more thought about family maybe he truly began having doubts. Who are we to judge that or not? Can we but upset that we lost a good recruit, sure. Should we begin saying he has no integrity, and if true by his accounts sending "hate mail"? I would say absolutely not. If we want to pride ourselves as having the best fans then we must ALWAYS act with integrity. Some of the things said aren't above something we would rip a Buff fan apart for. If I was a recruit and heard of these types of things happening to other recruits, I'm not sure I would be interested.

 

As fans I think we can have an influence on the exprerience of recruits, both positive and negative. Chanting their names at games makes them feel welcomed, calling out a recruit that is upset by hate mail, and we are upset because he has a Cal logo on his website is going to leave a bad taste in their mouth. I do know that kind words may take awhile to leave an impression and can be forgotten quickly, but any harsh unkind words are rarely relinquished.

 

P.S. I do think Freeman's decommittment speaks for itself in the lack of integrity.

 

GBR!!!

Thats the one thing the whole 'holier than thou' group do not understand.

 

No one questions the integrity of a recruit if he is open about what is going on. Case in point is someone like Kenny Wilson. He commited, but from day 1 he has said it isn't a done deal and he was taking other visits to be sure. Why can another recruit not be open and honest like that? Why do they have to shove their foot in their mouth consistently saying they are 100% commited, then HIDE their true intentions to boot? That's the simple thing that pisses ALOT of people off.

 

That's pretty much the reason no one rips Kenny Wilson apart even though he could easily de-commit.

 

Same thing for Maurice Purify. He isn't fully commited. Their is an offer he is looking for and has said as much. If he were to de-commit, ALOT of people would be disappointed, but I'm 99.9% sure most of the fanbase wouldn't rip him to shreds because of him being honest about it. If he gets the offer from the Pac-10 school he is looking at, he is likely gone. Their is no way around it, but he has been upfront about that from day 1.

 

I for one would rather someone come and be brutally honest with me no matter what they said than to sugar coat things and lie.

[HSKRNOKC]

Agreed Willie. Shoot from the hip and be honest about your intentions.

[Eric the Red]

Visit Date: Oct. 8, 2005 (TTech)

Scholarships offered: Nebraska, Marshall, and California

Favorites: Committed to California

Rankings/Stars:

Rivals: #19/

Bid Red Report: N/R

 

Assessing the Talent: This is a guy i had listed on Husker Tunnel Walk (for those who were members of that board) a long time ago and did a complete bio on him. I mentioned back then that he was one of the top JUCO's i hoped Nebraska could get to visit. Well Rulon popped up last night in Lincoln Nebraska with other JUCO's visiting this weekend. He is a typical DE with enormous power. He has already took an official visit to Marshall last weekend and will be taking in the sight and sounds of the game this weekend at Nebraska. In addition to his 2 offers, he also is getting interest from several PAC-10 schools such as Oregon, Arizona, USC, Washington St and a few other teams like Utah St and Michigan St. He is from Mt San Antonio College and will be a December graduate with 2 years of eligbility left. Rulon has had one bumpy life. From the trenches of fighting in Iraq, to being hit by a semi truck and spending a couple of weeks in the hospital, this guy has been to hell and back. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Marines and played 1 year (2003) of football at Mt San Antonio College before heading over to Iraq.

 

Odds of becoming a Cornhusker: 0%

[formerfan]

Really, if people are sending this guy hate mail, that is weak, get a life people.

 

If he wants to go to Cal, good luck to him. I dont think that NU will miss his services much, unless they wanted to play him at DT. NU is deep at DE, and this guy isnt as athletic as quite a few of the guys NU already has.

 

As for Freeman, from what I have heard, he isnt all that he is cracked up to be. I wasnt wild about either one of the guys from the get-go. If Freeman is calling all of the other NU recruits, guys who he pushed to go to NU, that just shows how messed up the kid is. Too bad Tebow isnt still available.

[Red November]

Davis reneges on commitment to NU

 

BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star

Scratch another football player from Nebraska’s list of 2006 verbal commitments. One day after Nebraska lost quarterback Josh Freeman to Kansas State, junior college defensive end Rulon Davis on Wednesday officially reneged on his verbal commitment to NU and decided to attend California.

 

The 6-foot-6, 275-pound Davis, rated as a four-star player (out of five possible) by Rivals.com, made an official recruiting visit to Cal last weekend and signed a national letter of intent Wednesday. He attends Mount San Antonio (Calif.) Junior College but sat out this season with an injury.

 

The junior college signing period began Wednesday, and Nebraska reportedly received signatures from offensive tackle Victory Haines of Snow (Utah) Junior College and safety Ashlee Palmer of Compton (Calif.) Community College. Both players plan to attend second-semester classes at NU starting in January and participate in spring drills.

 

The 6-foot-7, 285-pound Haines, a three-star player by Rivals.com, has two years to play two at Nebraska.

 

Nebraska loses to graduation its starting safeties, Blake Tiedtke and Daniel Bullocks, leaving Palmer with an opportunity for immediate playing time. Palmer, a three-star player, has three seasons of playing eligibility remaining.

 

The Huskers’ other six junior-college recruits are expected to join the team when preseason camp begins in August.

 

Meanwhile, wideout Tyrell Spain — who was expected to be part of Nebraska’s class of 2005 but ran into academic problems — has been cleared to join the squad in the spring.

 

Spain will be counted as part of Nebraska’s current recruiting class, which now stands at 19.

[Eric the Red]

The rarest of recruits

 

The incredible story of Rulon Davis

By Richard Cirminiello

 

A little over six years ago, Rulon Davis played his very first down of organized football. Almost two years ago, he was on foreign soil, waging a daily battle to return home alive. Last summer, he had both of his legs run over by a semi on I-10 in Los Angeles. Today, he’s one of the prized recruits of Cal’s 2006 recruiting haul, an incredible, almost storybook, transformation that has Bear coaches and fans wondering if they landed an up-and-coming edge rusher or a superhero.

 

Rulon Davis is a 6-6, 275-pound defensive end with long arms, good feet and NFL potential, but by every measure, he’s the antithesis of the garden variety, four-star recruit that graces web sites and wish lists during each recruiting cycle. For starters, he’s spent more time in the last 24 months on the battlefield than on the football field. Oh, and it wasn’t until his junior year at Charter Oak (CA) High School that he was smitten by the pigskin, and even then, he was an offensive lineman without much of a future in athletics beyond high school. The only recruiting of Davis was done by the United States Marine Corps, which landed him as a reservist without any competition.

 

”In high school, the coaches didn’t put me out there or promote me (to colleges), but that was fine with me,” Davis admitted. “I figured I was done playing football and the next step in my life would be with the Marines.”

 

Davis was born in San Diego, raised in LA County and profoundly influenced by a two-year stay at Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Tex. Like most of the kids in his neighborhood, he grew up loving sports, but until a six-inch growth spurt ushered in an awkward gawky stage, he’d always dreamt of being the next Charles Barkley, not the next Charles Haley. Spending 8th and 9th grade at MMA left a lasting impression that would affect the course of his life and lay the foundation for the focused, mature student athlete he is today. Harlingen would up being a harbinger of things to come and the inspiration for the most important decision of Davis’ young life.

 

”My own ignorance,” Davis described his initial inspiration for becoming a Marine. “I thought it would be like MMA, which were two of the most fun years of my life. Man, was I dead wrong. I knew the moment I got to San Diego that it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. It wound up being the most challenging thing I’d ever done up to that point. It set me apart from everyone else. I became even more mature and learned some core values I’d wind up incorporating in my everyday life.”

 

Davis fulfilled his obligation, becoming an Avionics Technician because he wanted to tackle one of the toughest careers available, and earned a release from active duty in September 2002. The next leg of his odyssey would take him to Mt. San Antonio College, tucked away in the San Gabriel Valley and recognized for having one of the best athletic programs of California’s 109 community colleges. Davis enrolled at Mt. SAC in 2003 with an eye toward a degree and a return to the gridiron for some unfinished business.

 

”Deep down, I still felt like I had something to prove on the field,” he admitted. “I just wasn’t done with football, so I wound up trying out for the team my freshman year. Honestly, when I first showed up, I figured I would just get cut from the team.”

 

He didn’t. In fact, he blossomed into a dominant pass-rusher, playing as if he was channeling a 20-something Bruce Smith and generating interest from major I-A programs like Washington State that didn’t even know his name just two years earlier. Davis was excelling in the classroom and on the field, and laying the foundation for a bright future. The kid that couldn’t get a sniff of interest at Charter Oak was creating a mild stir after just one season at Mt. SAC. Life was good. Good, that is, until an unexpected phone call early in 2004 would forever change his life. College football may have wanted Rulon Davis, but Uncle Sam still owned his rights. The road to Pullman had a detour…Fallujah, Iraq.

 

”My whole world was crushed,” Davis said with a hint of anguish still in his voice. “My family was devastated. I had just begun to hit all of my personal goals. My heart just stopped. I couldn’t believe what was happening. No one wants to go to war, but that’s what I was prepared to do, and when the time came, I felt I was ready to take on the challenge.”

 

After two months of training at Camp Pendleton (CA), Rulon Davis the student-athlete had become Rulon Davis the soldier, and was headed to Iraq as part of HMLA 775 Helicopter Squadron. In reality, two years of training could not have prepared him for what awaited on the other side of the world.

 

”As soon as the door of the plane opened, there was this intense heat that made you feel as if you’d melt on the spot,” Davis said. “You knew you were in a totally different world. The air smelt different. Everything tasted different. All of my senses were attacked, and then shortly thereafter, we were getting attacked. I remember scrambling to find a bunker so I wouldn’t get shot. I had never been shot at in my life. There’s no training to mentally prepare you for that kind of experience.”

 

Those six months in the Middle East felt like an eternity, and moved with all the swiftness of a life sentence without parole. When Davis returned home to California in September 2004, he was a different person—a little somber, a little less care-free and a lot more focused on seizing the most that life has to offer. Having witnessed unspeakable horrors during a mission that he openly questioned, Davis took more than his belongings back to Covina. His duffel bag included a fair amount of cynicism and skepticism as well.

 

”It was a case of the first to go, last to know,” he said. “We were often poorly informed. We’d watch CNN sometimes to get updates on what was going on around us. We weren’t always getting three squares a day. Helicopters were going down. From my perspective, we weren’t doing anything positive in Iraq. What was our mission? I didn’t know. I’d ask my superiors, and they had no answers. I wanted to leave as fast as possible. I remained focused and did my job as I was trained, so I could get home in one piece.”

 

With the toughest year of his life in the rear view mirror, Davis was intent upon getting back to Mt. SAC and that place when all things in his academic, athletic and personal life were harmoniously aligned. It all seemed simple enough until he had yet another brush with drama to endure last July. Another obstacle to strengthen his resolve. Another chapter for when the book about his life gets written.

 

”I don’t know what I was thinking,” Davis confessed. “Me and a friend thought it would be cool to buy motorcycles. One day last summer, I was riding on I-10 and got tapped from behind. I had no time to react, my lane was cut off and I got thrown from my bike. I was on the highway, trying to crawl away, but a semi wound up rolling over both my legs.”

 

Davis was rushed to USC Medical Center, where he learned he’d neither broken any bones, nor suffered any ligament damage in either leg. It’s no wonder the Fantastic Four showed considerable interest before falling out of contention for his services. Davis did suffer an infection in the hospital, and when the swelling in his leg didn’t subside, surgery was necessary. Following some physical therapy, he was cleared to get back on the field in mid-October, but rather than burn a year of eligibility, he sat out the rest of the season and concentrated on the intense recruiting process that beginning to percolate. That’s good news for the Cal program, which will watch Davis develop for the next three years.

 

For Davis, selecting a college to attend was almost as distasteful as that half-year stint in Iraq. No, his life wasn’t in jeopardy, but his privacy was, and after giving the nod to Cal, he received a spate of threatening hate mail from fans of Nebraska, a school he’d given a verbal commitment to last fall. At the end of the day, Berkeley felt like home for so many reasons, so Davis went with his hunch.

 

”It’s just such a great campus,” he gushed. “The library is awesome. The first time I walked in, there wasn’t a sound. There were tables and tables everywhere. I need to have no distractions. I was actually skeptical of how tenacious Nebraska was during the process. I kind of like staying under the radar. Cal was like, you can come or not. I really liked that. I wanted to go to a great academic institution, plus Cal’s defensive schemes are similar to what we had at Mt. SAC. From the coaches and the players to the campus, it just felt like the right decision.”

 

So here he is, a veteran of only three years of organized football, and none in the last 26 months, with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a future in football that was non-existent not long ago. Davis knows he has plenty to prove and a few layers of rust to shed, but the potential is evident and the player expects to make an immediate impact on a Bear D that’s jonesing for kids that can make plays in the opposition’s backfield.

 

”Rulon has all the physical tools to be a dominant rush-end in the Pac-10,” offered Brad Hoiseth, National JUCO Analyst for Rivals.com. “A lot of his success will depend on how his body reacts to not playing competitive football for two years. He is very tough mentally. Nothing that happens on the field could possibly compare to what he went through off the field the last couple of years.”

 

For many years, The United States Army has reminded us that they do more by 9 AM than most people do all day. Well, in that same vain, Rulon Davis, an ex-Marine, has done more in the past four years than most people do in a lifetime. And beginning this fall, when he’s matriculated at Cal and fighting for a starting job, he’ll have a chance to add a new twist to a journey that’s already one of the most compelling of the 2006 recruiting season.

 

 

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[BigWillie]

When no one is left to pat you on the back, just do it yourslef. Case in point -- Rulon Davis.

 

He keeps talking about how he is such a man of integrity and how he matured so quickly. How he would never go back on his word because he was a man of his word. Then suddenly, he stops talking ot the NU media, changing his blog to fit everything he wasn't telling us and he didn't expect backlash?

 

Rulon needs to learn that when you talk so much crap, you better learn to back it up. YOU (not anyone in Nebraska) kept saying you were such a man of high quality and we took it at face value. When you decommited, we took your actions at face value as well -- classless.

[HuskersGJ]

he received a spate of threatening hate mail from fans of Nebraska

 

morons.