ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — At its core — even at the highest level — professional football is still just a game. 

It’s a lesson Ray Davis has had to remember through his first weeks and months as a rookie running back with the Buffalo Bills, keeping in mind all he's overcome to be here. 

"You’ve got to go out there and have fun," Davis said following a practice during the team's three-day mandatory minicamp. "If you try to do too much or try to put too much on your plate, you forget why you’re here. You forget that this is a dream that you’re living out."

What You Need To Know

  •  Bills rookie running back Ray Davis spent eight years in the foster care system and was homeless at times in his youth

  •  Davis's childhood was filled with situations that made him grow up quickly

  • He now shares his story to support and advocate for children in foster care

It’s a dream that took time for Davis to realize growing up in San Francisco, where his father was a local Pop Warner and high school football standout.

"I played for my Pop Warner team, the SF Power Seahawks. My dad was like a living legend in the city. A lot of people knew him," Davis said. "At the age of 9, I had to live up to his expectations, his standards in terms of being the guy for so many years from his Pop Warner days to his high school days. For me, I had the weight of the world on my shoulders at 9 when it came to football."

Weight of the world is good way to describe Ray Davis’ childhood.

His mother was 15 when Ray was born. Both of his parents spent time in and out of prison. Davis and his siblings found themselves in difficult situations.

"I didn’t really have a true relationship with my family members and my parents growing up in my earlier days, which led to me having to become a man at an early age, at 12," Davis said.

As a kid, he bounced from place to place, ending up in the foster care system for eight years. For a time, a homeless shelter was home for he and two of his siblings. When a foster family had enough room for only two of them, he made the decision to go on his own so his younger sister and brother could stay together as a family. 

"I had to put their needs first before I put mine," Davis said. "I feel like that’s when I became a parent in a way. That’s when I feel like I became an adult where what I want in life at that time didn’t matter."

How does a 12-year-old boy face that reality, caring for his family when he’s still just a kid himself?

"Every day I ask that question. I always ask how am I here.  How was I able to make it?" Davis said. "But I think it all just goes back to understanding again that I no longer thought like a kid at 12. I thought like an adult."

By high school, Davis was living with his teachers, pushing himself on the field of sport while finally finding some stability in his life. 

There was boarding school, followed by college where he starred at three different schools: Temple, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

The Buffalo Bills selected him in the 4th round of the 2024 NFL Draft. 

"It still doesn’t feel real, but each and every day I step on that field I try to just take in the moment and go, 'I’m here, I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, so just embrace it now and just have fun,'" he said. 

Davis has also embraced the foster care community in hopes of becoming a beacon of light for kids facing dark times like he did.

Almost immediately after the Bills drafted him, he connected with the Fostering Greatness organization in Buffalo, which recently held a drive to collect luggage, clothing and other items for kids in foster care.

Davis was there to lend support and share his story, with plans to continue working to help people like himself. 

"I want to be able to inspire the youth who went through the things that I went through," he said. "Being a foster care alumni and going through the things that I went through and knowing the voice that I have and being able to go out there and just be an advocate for the kids that don’t have voices, to be able to be in inspiration but to let them know this is a reality that you can make it."

Ray Davis did make it.  

"You’ve got to bet on yourself. I think for me I had to bet on myself when it came to going to three different colleges. I had to bet on myself with understanding that the road wasn’t going to be easy," Davis said of offering advice to those in similar situations to his. "Being able to live up to your own expectations rather than everybody else’s.

"That’s when you have the clear mind. That’s when you know right from wrong. That’s when you understand that you’re having fun doing the things you just enjoy."

A man playing a kid's game — and a man since he was a kid.