Danville Native To Play In NFL East-West Shrine Bowl

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Danville native and 2016 San Ramon Valley High School quarterback Kevin Davidson, 22, is set to play in the National Football League East-West Shrine Bowl on Saturday.

But long before Davidson stepped into the spotlight as Princeton University Tigers starting quarterback, he launched his football career with two years as an offensive lineman for the San Ramon Valley Thunderbirds. He also spent a year as quarterback for the San Ramon Bears before enrolling at San Ramon Valley High.

"It's (Danville) just been a great spot for my family and it's had a big impact on my life," he said.

Princeton, he said, is like a "mini-Danville," in New Jersey.

Davidson, who is studying history of war and entrepreneurship, plans to pursue football professionally after he graduates in June, but he decided in high school that he wanted to go to a school where he could grow and challenge himself — not just a school with the biggest football program.

"I wanted to go to a place where regardless if football worked out," he said, "it's a tremendous degree."

So Princeton it was.

There, Davidson set an Ivy League record with seven touchdown passes in a game against Bucknell University, according to his bio. He's the only Princeton player to have made two games with at least five touchdown passes.

Last year he passed for nearly 3,000 yards, threw for 20 touchdowns and he completed 67 percent of his passes.

Davidson took a break this week from his senior thesis on David Petraeus to join 100 students in heading to Florida for the East-West Shrine Bowl.

As soon as he arrived on Saturday, he said he interviewed with three NFL teams. Then came paperwork, a slew of IQ tests to assess his response time and intelligence patterns, practice sessions and meetings with scouts.

The experience has been a great opportunity to learn more about the NFL and get face time with scouts, he said. And game day is coming up soon on Saturday.

"It's just a very hectic process, but it's really fun," Davidson said.

Watch Davidson on the NFL Channel at noon Saturday and visit the East-West Shrine Bowl site here.