Nick Davila

Nick Davila (born May 22, 1985) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the Arena Football League (AFL). A four-time ArenaBowl champion, and three-time AFL MVP, he played for the Arizona Rattlers from 2010 to 2016 and the Washington Valor in 2018. He also played for the Spokane Shock of the af2 from 2008 to 2009. Davila is of Mexican American descent, and is nicknamed the "Latin Laser".

He played college football at the University of Cincinnati, after playing two seasons at Chaffey College. While at Chaffey, Davila set multiple school records for passing. When he chose Cincinnati to continue his football career, Davila found himself backing up Dustin Grutza. It was not until his senior season that Davila made his first start playing against the #7 ranked, and undefeated, Rutgers team. Davila led the Bearcats to a 30–11 upset win over the Scarlet Knights, ending Rutgers hopes at a national championship. After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft, Davila had a tryout with the Cleveland Browns, but was not signed. He was later signed by the Shock as a street free agent in 2008. Davila led the Shock to a 15–1 regular season record in 2009, and a 74–27 rout of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers in the ArenaCup. With the af2 becoming Arena Football 1 in 2010, Davila left Spokane and signed with the Rattlers. Davila led them to five West Division championships, five National Conference championships, and three ArenaBowl championships.

In 2017, he was the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for the Rattlers, who had moved to the Indoor Football League (IFL). They went on to win the 2017 United Bowl. He returned to the AFL as a player in 2018, and signed with the Valor. However, he missed the majority of the season after suffering a career-ending neck injury, and the Valor won the ArenaBowl in his absence.

Early life Born the son of Fernando and Marsha Davila, Nick Davila attended Damien High School in La Verne, California. While at Damien, Davila was a standout quarterback on the football team, as well as a first baseman on the baseball team. His junior year, Davila put up what was at the time, the fifth best season in Damien history, throwing for 1,880 yards and 11 touchdowns. This set Davila up with an opportunity to play at an NCAA Division I college. His senior year, he accepted a scholarship to play for Oregon State. However, in the second game of Davila's senior season of football, he broke his clavicle, and Oregon State head coach, Dennis Erickson reduced the size of scholarship he was offering. In his final game, Davila took a 14–21 loss to the El Camino College Warriors in the Verizon Southern California Bowl. After two impressive All-American seasons,

Cincinnati Davila committed to Cincinnati on December 15, 2004. Davila was not heavily recruited, as he only received a FBS scholarship from Cincinnati.

Davila joined the Cincinnati Bearcats in 2005, and played in five games as the backup quarterback to Dustin Grutza. He completed 58 percent of his passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Davila saw the most playing time, of his junior year, against Louisville. Davila came in to replace a struggling Grutza, and completed 9-of-15 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bearcats fell 22–46 to the Cardinals. In 2006, Davila was once again the backup quarterback behind Grutza, despite the chance to win the starting job throughout the summer and fall practices. After seeing some playing time in a few games, Davila made his first start playing against the #7 ranked, and undefeated, Rutgers team. Davila led the Bearcats to a 30–11 upset win over the Scarlet Knights, ending Rutgers hopes at a national championship in 2006. Davila led the Bearcats to another victory over Connecticut, as they finished with a 7–5 regular season record, making the team bowl eligible. After the team finished strong, head coach Mark Dantonio left the program to become the head coach at Michigan State. Cincinnati named Brian Kelly the team's new head coach. The Bearcats were then extended an offer to the International Bowl against Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference. Kelly made the choice to start Davila in the bowl game, and Davila led the Bearcats to a 27–24 victory.

Professional career Pre-draft Prior to the 2007 NFL draft, Davila was projected to be undrafted by NFLDraftScout.com. He was rated as the 60th-best quarterback in the draft. Davila was not invited to the 2007 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

nfl predraft height ft = 6 height in = 3 weight = 208 dash = 4.83 ten split = 1.73 twenty split = 2.82 shuttle = 4.34 cone drill = 6.60 vertical = 30 broad ft = 9 broad in = 2 bench = wonderlic = arm span = 33 hand span = 10 note = All values from 2007 Cincinnati Bearcats Pro Day He participated in the All American Football League combine in September 2007.

Spokane Shock After sitting out the 2007 season, Davila signed with the Spokane Shock of af2 for their 2008 season. Davila had a terrific first season of arena football, as he threw for a franchise-record 2,935 yards and 66 touchdowns, while leading the Shock to a 15–1 regular season record, and a berth in ArenaCup IX. The Shock lost the ArenaCup to the Tennessee Valley Vipers 55–56. With Davila's stellar season, he received multiple Arena Football League (AFL) offers, but re-signed with the Shock for 2009 after the AFL folded.

Arizona Rattlers 2010 With the Shock moving into the newly reformed AFL in 2010, and Davila a free agent, Arizona Rattlers head coach, Kevin Guy, convinced Davila to sign with the Rattlers, rather than re-signing with the Shock, by telling Davila that the Rattlers would "win a lot of football games." He led the Rattlers to their 3rd consecutive ArenaBowl appearance. During ArenaBowl XXVI, Davila threw 6 touchdown passes, hitting game MVP, Rod Windsor, 10 times (50% of Davila's completions). The Rattlers defeated the Philadelphia Soul again 48–39, and became the first squad since the 1995 and 96 Tampa Bay Storm, to repeat as back-to-back Arenabowl Champions. The Rattlers also became the first team in AFL history to repeat as champions the following year against the same opponent.

2014 In 2014, Davila led the Rattlers to a 15–3 regular season record. He threw for 4,778 yards and 127 touchdowns, completing 66.5% of his passes, and throwing only 11 interceptions, en route to a fourth consecutive appearance in the ArenaBowl. Davila is the only quarterback in AFL history to start four straight ArenaBowls.

2015 In 2015, the Rattlers finished at 14–4 with two of their losses coming at the hands of the San Jose SaberCats. Davila suffered a lower body injury in week 5 against the Los Angeles Kiss and missed the next four games. Back-ups B. J. Coleman and Shane Boyd filled the void at quarterback by splitting the starts and carrying the Snakes to a 3–1 record until Davila's return. Despite this setback, Arizona managed to win their fifth consecutive division title. In the playoffs the Rattlers defeated the visiting Spokane Shock 72–41 in the opening round. It set the stage for a postseason match-up with the SaberCats for the fourth straight season. It was also the 2nd straight season the two teams met in the Western Conference Championship game. Only this time, San Jose hosted the Rattlers due to a better regular season record of 17–1. The game was a back and forth affair until the last minute. Davila made a touchdown pass with 40 seconds left in the game to put the Rattlers up 67–63, but the SaberCats managed a late touchdown with 8 seconds remaining to pull off the 70–67 victory. As the new Western Conference champions, San Jose advanced to ArenaBowl XXVIII eliminating Davila and the Rattlers from contending for a fourth straight championship or appearing in a fifth straight championship game.

2016 In 2016, the Rattlers finished with a 13–3 record as Davila threw for 4,198 yards and 110 touchdowns. Entering the postseason as the AFL's top ranked seed, the Rattlers faced the Portland Steel in their opening round of the playoffs. Arizona defeated the Steel 84–40 and set a record for most points scored in franchise history. The win advanced Davila and company to their 6th consecutive National Conference championship game. Together, they faced off with the Cleveland Gladiators, who had managed to upset the Los Angeles Kiss on the road 56–52, the previous week. In the game, Davila completed 20 of his 27 passes for 222 yards and seven touchdowns. Arizona's defense forced Cleveland to commit five turnovers, only allowing 41 points. Cleveland's quarterback Arvell Nelson threw several errant passes and two costly interceptions. The Rattlers beat the Gladiators 82–41, en route to their 5th National Conference Championship and a spot in ArenaBowl XXIX. Davila was named the AFL MVP for the third time in his career in 2016. Arizona lost ArenaBowl XXIX to the Philadelphia Soul by a score of 56–42. The Rattlers moved to the Indoor Football League after the 2016 season.

Washington Valor On March 19, 2018, Davila was assigned to the Washington Valor of the AFL. He suffered a career-ending neck injury on April 28 in a game against the Philadelphia Soul. He dislocated his neck and broke his cervical spine, causing him to spend 18 hours in traction. On July 28, 2018, the Valor defeated the Baltimore Brigade by a score of 69–55 to win ArenaBowl XXXI in Davila's absence.

On March 30, 2025, Davila was inducted into the Arizona Rattlers Ring of Honor before their season opener.

Career statistics Legend AFL MVP Won the ArenaBowl Led the league Bold Career high AFL Year Team Passing Rushing 2010 Arizona 415 617 67.3 4,858 102 18 119.17 22 33 52011 Arizona 427 604 70.7 4,916 117 10 127.74 18 33 2 2012 Arizona 391 589 66.4 5,500 113 16 124.58 30 45 7 2013 Arizona 353 541 65.2 4,847 110 15 121.63 23 44 62014 Arizona 362 544 66.5 4,778 127 11 125.29 18 16 1 2015 Arizona 313 474 66.0 3,519 87 10 118.84 8 10 12016 Arizona 353 507 69.6 4,198 110 11 125.15 14 1 1 2018 Washington 33 53 62.3 353 10 0 121.31 3 21 2 Career 2,614 3,876 67.4 32,616 766 91 123.15 133 182 23

College Season Team Passing Rushing 2003 Chaffey n/a n/a n/a 2,787 24 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2004 Chaffey 182 298 61.1 2,892 23 13 n/a n/a n/a n/a 2005 Cincinnati 26 45 57.8 344 4 2 4 12 3.0 0 2006 Cincinnati 70 118 59.3 1,057 8 3 28 -26 -0.9 1 Career n/a n/a n/a 7,080 59 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

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Coaching career In December 2016, Davila was announced as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach of the Rattlers, who had recently left the AFL for the Indoor Football League (IFL). On July 8, 2017, the Rattlers defeated the Sioux Falls Storm in the United Bowl by a score of 50–41. He left after one season.