San Diego is home to numerous Heisman Trophy Winners and No. 1 draft picks in different sports.
La Mesa (Calif.) Helix has had both – a No. 1 NFL Draft Pick in Alex Smith in 2005 and a Heisman Trophy Winner in Reggie Bush eight months later, the one-time Highlander backfield both reaching football glory in the same calendar year.
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When the summer peaks in San Diego, its unlike any other place in the country.
The sun beams, the ocean air breeze cools and high school football players start anticipating their seasons, and beyond.
In July of 2023, after just finishing his freshman year of high school, linebacker Jeremy Davis was getting ready for his sophomore year of high school, his sophomore season on varsity with the Highlanders.
He wasn’t feeling well, throwing up, thinking it was just adjusting to the heat, a mid-summer flu bug.
“I thought I was just sick,” said Davis. “I was throwing up a lot. My mom took me to the hospital and in the emergency room, they took some blood.”
The news Davis and his family got jarred them, and his own anticipation of his sophomore season was quickly erased on how much time he might have to live.
“I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia,” said Davis. “I was admitted into the Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and put on 24/7 dialysis. I’d be in for a week for a round of chemo, then out, then back in. I did that three times.”
For six months, he fought and battled, all while his best friends and teammates were having the time of their lives on the football field, as he battled for his own life.
“My kidneys were shut down, I was going down in weight and I was down to 150 pounds,” said Davis. “My white blood cell count should have been like 9,000, but it was like 500,000. That’s a lot.”
Finally, in December of 2023, he was out of the hospital entirely, having missed his entire sophomore season.
Three months later, in March 2024, he was cleared to return to football.
For his football career, the CIF-San Diego Section allowed him to play that fall as a sophomore as he had missed almost his entire sophomore year of school.
“When I was cleared in March 2024, I was about 170 pounds,” said Davis. “But I was given the clear to play football. I tried to get to 180 and get back up there.”
“I definitely appreciated it more, but there were struggles,” said Davis. “I had some really bad back problems early on from all the hitting, because I had spent so much time lying down. But I loved it and loved being back out there. I got back relatively quick and when I got the clear, I was a little weaker than I thought I was going to be. But I just appreciated being back so I worked hard.”
“We’d have a few seniors before who’d get a little ankle injury or a wrist injury and I’m trying to tell them you’ve got to play through it and appreciate what you have,” said Davis.
His health is completely clean and his checks have lessened.
“I’ve been in remission for two years now,” said Davis. “My checks used to be every month for six months, then every three months, then every six months, then every year. Now it’s just yearly.”