Michigan quarterback Davis Warren has a good chance to start games for the Wolverines this fall. To some, he's just another quarterback competing for a starting spot, but his teammates and coaching staff know he had to take an unconventional path to get there in the first place.
Warren had to overcome a lot of adversity during his high school years before enrolling at the University of Michigan. He was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2019, but Warren didn't want to let a cancer diagnosis stop him from playing another season. After his diagnosis, Warren lost 35 pounds, but he had a date marked on his calendar that he would return to the team.
“The first week I got my diagnosis, I had Oct. 4th game circled, that's the game I wanted to get back playing,” Warren said. said “Looking back, given what I know now about childhood cancer, it was naive of me to think I was so fortunate to have been able to get through it and continue to pursue my dreams.”
After Warren finished his first round of chemotherapy, he went to a local playground with his father and threw a football around, hoping to find some sense of normalcy during a rare time in his life.
“The doctors said, 'Why are you doing that? You shouldn't do that. It's not wise,' but I needed to feel the ball leaving my hand. That feeling got me going,” Warren said. said.
Warren overcame adversity to play in four games during his senior year of high school. While undergoing chemotherapy, his tenacity and tireless dedication to football kept his dream alive.
After beating cancer, another challenge hit him hard. His senior season was canceled entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With barely any highlight reel to send to colleges hoping to land a scholarship, he couldn't even make it up the recruiting boards, let alone get ranked. But he got the opportunity to play at Michigan as a preferred walk-on, and the combination of Big Ten football, coach Jim Harbaugh and a strong academic record convinced him to take that path.
Warren didn't play in a game as a freshman, but made a name for himself behind the scenes, being named the 2021 Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year. In 2022, he caught the attention of Michigan fans by throwing for 175 passing yards in the spring game. He was promoted even further in the fall of 2022, becoming the backup quarterback when J.J. McCarthy's backup, Cade McNamara, was sidelined with a season-ending knee injury in September. That season, Warren threw for 89 yards as the backup.
Warren took a slight step back last season, attempting five passes but not completing any as McCarthy's backup, but McCarthy is now in the NFL and Warren is competing with Alex Orji for the starting quarterback spot at Michigan.
“Davis Warren is so good,” Michigan coach Sherron Moore said. Brad Galli, WXYZ “He's always been able to throw the ball, but it's important to handle the ball the right way, and he's done that throughout camp,” he said Monday.
Moore also compared Warren to McCarthy in a very important way.
“Every time we practice he makes a play, he makes a 'wow' play like JJ makes,” Moore said. “I'm like, 'Another great play.'”
Warren believes he has shown his teammates and coaching staff that he has the intangible qualities to be Michigan's No. 1 quarterback.
“I think I've proven to myself and my teammates that I have the ability to be the starting quarterback here,” Warren said in April.
Warren doesn't have Orge's speed, but he's good at reading coverage and is considered a ball-career player — something Michigan looks for in a starting quarterback. In Warren's own words, Warren is a player who “processes information at lightning speed.”
“He doesn't let anything faze him,” Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell said this offseason. “He's been through a lot in his life and in his career, and that's just the way he plays.”
Warren is the kind of guy who doesn't care about the odds, who lets his belief in himself trump mathematical doubt and has overcome those odds every step of the way. He's the kind of guy college football fans across the country root for.
“I'm excited about this opportunity, to prove that I can do this and do it at a high level and consistently over and over again,” Warren said. said “Jake Butt, Big Ten analyst. Make the right reads, make the right decisions and keep the offense moving forward.”
For athletes like Warren, moving forward is the only way forward. Overcoming cancer has changed his perspective on each day. He says there is no such thing as waking up to a bad day. Warren knows life is finite, and he feels that this perspective has made him exponentially stronger. This is the message he tries to convey to kids battling cancer.
“To me, this feels like an X-factor. I tell that all the time to kids that are going through the same thing,” Warren said. “Kids that are missing school or are delayed in life or development because they're going through treatment. This is a catalyst to make them 10 times stronger, 10 times tougher, 10 times more resilient, 10 times happier than anyone else. I don't wake up in the morning and feel like it's a bad day. I'm so blessed and I'm in a position right now to be the starting quarterback at Michigan. It's very special.”
