Davone Bess is Centurians #17

About how Bess was a recruit who went to their road game at Fresno State when they lost 70-14, Ron Lee said:
"We shook hands and I remember getting into the bus and thinking, 'I don't know if I'm going to see Davone again.' " (HSB)

About how he wasn't going to go back on his word to the UH coaches, Bess said:
"I gave them my verbal already and I'm a man of my word." (HSB)

About the twists that his life took that led him to go to UH, and the impact going to UH had on his life, Bess said:
"I think about that all the time. I'm a true believer that everything happens for a reason. They gave me an opportunity to come here and play and I took advantage of it and it put me on a plateau to be successful and work as hard as I can to maintain that success." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Ask Lee about Bess and "work ethic" is liberally peppered into the conversation. Blessed with hands that clung to just about everything thrown to him, Bess worked diligently to improve them, snaring ball after ball fired out of the Jugs machine before and after practices. When he left after his junior year, those hands had secured a school-record 293 passes, including 41 touchdowns, covering 3,610 yards."

About how Bess has great instincts and quickness, Lee said:
"He has a tremendous feel for where to be. He made it look easy. He's not a 4.4 (40-yard dash) guy, but he has the quickness to make guys miss and he has that savvy." (HSB)

About how his mother Chinell Carpenter (who had him when she was a teen) had to work hard to raise him and his brother in Oakland, Bess said:
"She had to work hard to keep the lights on and put food on the table and make sure we were OK, and she made it happen. That's my inspiration and motivation." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Bess appeared on the verge of converting his efforts into a college scholarship after a standout career at Skyline High. But shortly after graduation, Bess let some friends put stolen goods into his car. When they were caught, he shared in the punishment, 15 months in a juvenile detention center.

About how Oregon State pulled his scholarship opportunity then and we viewed his opportunity in Hawaii as a chance to:
"start a whole new life, a new chapter. My big thing is (then-UH head coach June Jones) took a big chance in giving me a second opportunity and I just didn't want to let him down. I didn't want to let Hawaii down." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Once he got onto the field, Bess was both steady and spectacular in averaging over 92 yards per game while developing a bond with Colt Brennan, who also joined the program in 2005 searching for redemption."

About the connection between Colt and him, Bess said it:
"was all feel, all instinct. It's all about repetition and staying on the same page with the quarterback and watching film." (HSB)

About not being drafted, Bess said:
"I got right over it, I had to, I had no other choice. If I was going to be bitter, I probably wouldn't have had a shot at making the team. It was basically a reality check for me and brought me down to earth and kept me humble." (HSB)

About the guy that was impersonating him on Twitter, Bess said:
"That's crazy. I just don't understand why somebody would want to go out and try to mess up another man's reputation. But I'm over it. I'm going to be the bigger man about it and put it behind me. I talked to Chris Johnson and let him know it wasn't me. He understood and was cool about it, so it's all good." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Nearly two years after they last parted ways in Fresno, Lee and Bess returned to Bulldog Stadium. This time they left together on the other end of a blowout with Bess catching two touchdown passes in a 68-37 UH victory."

About the second chance he got at UH, Bess said:
"It changed my life. It was a blessing." (HSB)

http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/sportsnews/20090714_Bess_loyalty_to_UH_led_to_NFL.html