Ryan McFaddenJul 28, 2025, 06:00 AM ETCloseRyan McFadden covers the Las Vegas Raiders for ESPN’s NFL Nation. Prior to ESPN, McFadden was a Denver Broncos beat reporter for the Denver Post. McFadden also wrote about the Baltimore Ravens and University of Maryland athletics for The Baltimore Sun.Follow on X
Ryan McFaddenJul 28, 2025, 06:00 AM ET
CloseRyan McFadden covers the Las Vegas Raiders for ESPN’s NFL Nation.
Prior to ESPN, McFadden was a Denver Broncos beat reporter for the Denver Post. McFadden also wrote about the Baltimore Ravens and University of Maryland athletics for The Baltimore Sun.Follow on X
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IN 2018, JIM DAVIShad no choice but to go against his beliefs. As the football coach for Naples Middle/High School, a school for military dependents in Gricignano di Aversa, Campania, Italy, he had never started a freshman on offense.
He had had freshmen on the roster; sometimes five to six that rarely saw the field unless the game was out of hand.
But 14-year-oldAshton Jeantyforced Davis to think differently.
Jeanty had been in Italy since he was 12 because his father, Harry, was a commanding officer on the naval support base in Aversa, a small town near Naples.
Even though the school didn’t offer tackle football to middle school students, Davis was enamored by Jeanty’s athletic ability in sports like basketball and track.
He recalled Jeanty beating high school kids in sprints. And one day, Davis watched Jeanty nearly throw down a dunk on the basketball court.
“That took a lot of power for a kid, who was maybe 5-foot-6 [and] 12 or 13 [years old], to explode like that,” Davis, 54, told ESPN. “Most kids don’t even get to do that when they are 18.”
At Naples, the talent varied with kids rotating in and out of the base yearly.
Some players had prior knowledge of football, while others were soccer players seeking a new challenge. As a result, Davis never relied on the same offensive scheme.
But when Jeanty, who was born in Jacksonville, Florida, joined the squad, Davis’ game plan was simple: Give him the ball by any means necessary.
During one of the Wildcats’ early practices, Jeanty displayed his power, flattening a senior linebacker. From that moment, Davis knew Jeanty was the real deal.
Source: Espnnfl
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