A cancer-stricken boy is overwhelmed by the sensitivity of USC's No. 1 team, and the Trojans are equally inspired by Ryan Davidson.
by Steve Bisheff
Register columnist
Take a break from the ugliness for a while. Escape the incessant television replays of that infamous basketbrawl and the sexual innuendoes of the Terrell Owens Monday night incident. Slip away from the steady stream of DUIs and spousal battery stories involving athletes.
Come with me to USC, where the hunger and intensity to repeat as the nation’s No.1 football team was briefly interrupted by the tender presence of an 11-year-old boy with brown hair, blue eyes and a smile as wide as an end zone.
Ryan Davidson, a straight-A student with a passion for sports, arrived from a small town in Wisconsin to remind Pete Carroll’s Trojans the true meaning of thanks. And of giving.
“Ryan brought us a great light,” Carroll said. “He touched a lot of us.”
They touched him, too. Maybe more than they ever will know.
The story begins in Sun Prairie, Wis., a suburb of Madison, where young Davidson, who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 6, had spent five years cancer free.
“In April of this year,” said Kirby Davidson, Ryan’s father, “the cancer came back. Now he has to have chemotherapy and take 10 pills every day, although he’s handling it well and still going to school full time.
“The doctors are optimistic, but any time cancer comes back, it’s not good. Three weeks ago, his blood-level performance checked out and his MRI exam was clear. We will cling to that news for now.”
Kirby has been a longtime USC football fan, so naturally, Ryan became interested in the Trojans. By the time Carson Palmer won the Heisman Trophy and USC beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl, Ryan was hooked.
After hearing about Ryan’s condition, a family friend, Jim Phillips, decided to take action. Phillips, a La Canada resident who is on the Trojans Board of Directors, the support group for the football program, also had a personal reason for helping Ryan.
“I’d lost my first wife from breast cancer when she was 39 years old,” Phillips said. “So it kind of really hit home. When I heard about Ryan, it got me motivated.”
So Phillips arranged to have Ryan and his dad fly to California and have choice seats for the USC-Cal game Oct.9. Through Mark Jackson, the Trojans director of football operations, he also quietly arranged a few other things.
“We got there, and the first thing we did was go to Heritage Hall,” said Ryan’s dad. “Ryan wanted to pose by the Heisman trophies.
“Next thing I know, someone says let’s go up to the athletic offices. So we do. And Pete Carroll walks out, looks over and says, ‘You must be Ryan. We’ve been expecting you.’
“Well, Ryan is grinning from ear to ear by now. So we take a picture of him with the coach. Then Carroll says, ‘Ryan come into my room.’ He takes him into his office and spends a few minutes before we go in. When we get there, Ryan is looking at game film with the coach and has the clicker in his hand, and they’re talking like they’re best of friends.
“Then Carroll asks him if there’s anyone on the team he wants to meet. Ryan says Matt Leinart, his favorite player. So we goto the quarterback meetings, and Ryan is invited to sit at the table with Matt and all the quarterbacks. From there, we go to all the players meetings.
“At one point, line coach Tom Davis sees us, and says, ‘You must be Ryan.’ He tells all his players to come down and meet him. I’m telling you. Ryan, he was smiling for like two hours straight.”
From there, the Davidsons were escorted to practice. And before anyone knew it, Ryan was high-fiving members of the team and playing catch with them.
“The kids just all took him under their wing. They went out of their way to make him feel like one of the team,” said his dad.
When practice was over, the Davidsons were startled to find the best was yet to come.
“The players all got into a group,” he said, “and they started whooping and calling Ryan’s name. They packed him into the center, and then they raised him on their shoulders and they’re all chanting, ‘Ryan! Ryan! Ryan!’
“At that point, I have tell you, Dad was forced to wipe a few tears from his eyes.”
From there, Carroll invited the Davidsons to the Friday night pep rally and later they gave him a duffel bag full of USC shirts and merchandise. Driving home that night, Ryan said: “Dad, this has been great. And we haven’t even been to the game yet.”
The Davidsons attended a pregame tailgate with Phillips at the Coliseum on Saturday, then settled into their 45-yard line seats. The Trojans held on for an emotional 23-17 victory against Cal that has proved to be the pivotal game in their unbeaten season so far.
“Hey, Ryan how would you like to go to the locker room?” Phillips asked afterward.
He didn’t have to wait for an answer.
“When we walked into the locker room,” Kirby said, “Coach Carroll saw us, and shouted, ‘There he is.’ And he came over and gave Ryan a big hug. Lots of players came over and gave him gloves and wrist bands. Honestly, by the end of the weekend, Ryan was feeling like the MVP of the team.
“I’ve never seen a group of people go out of their way to make a weekend so special for a child dealing with a serious illness.”
The best part is that Ryan made it special for the Trojans, too.
“What he did for this team is that he brought us together,” linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “He made us realize there are other things going on besides football.”
LenDale White, the starting tailback, stood up at the players meeting Friday night and made an emotional speech about Ryan.
“We all felt it,” Tatupu said. “When we put him up on our shoulders after practice, it was great to see the smile on his face.”
Weeks later, Ryan’s mom, Amy, said the smile still hasn’t disappeared.
“It’s incredible,” she said. “I think the trip did a lot for his morale. Mention USC and Ryan’s face lights up. It’s amazing the way the guys treated him. Coach Carroll was incredible. I’m terribly impressed.”
Ryan, who regularly wears a No.11 Leinart jersey, took the time to e-mail his favorite quarterback.
“Hi Matt,” it read. “I wanted to let you know that I had a great time meeting you and the rest of the USC football players and coaches during my visit. Best of all, you beat Cal! You guys were really nice to me and made me feel like part of the team. I wished I lived in California, so I could go to all of the USC games. At least for a few days, I could forget about doctors, nurses, chemo, medicine and my cancer and enjoy my favorite team playing in the Coliseum. You guys are the best. Your friend, Ryan Davidson.”
Weeks later, Carroll still comes close to choking up talking about it.
“He is such a sweet, little kid. We really embraced him. He made us all feel grateful and emotional.
“Best of all,” he said, on the week of this fitting holiday, “He made us realize that giving goes in both directions.”