ESPN Feature on Davone Bess "The Best WR You Don't Know"

ESPN Note: "There are several reasons casual observers probably haven't heard about Bess. He played college ball 2,400 miles from the mainland. His gaudy receiving stats were dismissed as the product of a gimmicky system. Nobody drafted him. He made it to the NFL with a run-oriented team. He doesn't make the sort of plays that get spliced into highlight reels. Still, Bess has emerged as one of the NFL's most trustworthy targets, a high-percentage receiver the Dolphins seek when it matters most."

About how Bess is not known by the general public yet, but he's going to earn his recognition, Colt Brennan said:
"Unless you're really watching football, you probably wouldn't know about Davone. When I think about Davone, I think he's the next big receiver you're going to hear about. You haven't heard about him yet, but he's working his way up to somebody who's going to be a big name in your mind for years to come." (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "On an afternoon the Dolphins turned quarterback Chad Henne loose, Bess caught 10 passes for 117 yards -- both personal bests -- and his first touchdown of the year. All the more impressive was the Patriots at times were double-covering Bess, a tactic Dolphins coach Tony Sparano noticed toward the end of their first game against the Patriots in Week 9."

About how New England was double-teaming Bess towards the end of their game on Sunday, Miami head coach Tony Sparano said:
"I think that there was clear emphasis on the Patriots' part to try to take Davone away." (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "That's right. Bess has gone from undrafted to a double-cover danger."

About how he's worked hard to get to this point in his career, Bess said:
"In my eyes, the sky's always the limit. It was devastating not getting drafted, but a year later now I'm actually not surprised how much success has come my way because I've worked hard my whole career to make it to this point. This is only the beginning of it. I still have a long way to go. I still have to learn and get better and better each week." (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "Bess leads the Dolphins with 59 receptions for 548 yards. He has almost twice as many catches as the next-busiest teammate, Greg Camarillo, and more than twice as many as Ted Ginn, the ninth overall pick in the 2007 draft."

About how Bess is hard for defenses to cover, Miami QB Chad Henne said:
"He can separate from any defender, and it's tough to cover him. Last time we played the Patriots, [Bill] Belichick was on the sideline, yelling 'Why aren't we pressing Davone?' He's a tough guy to press because he can beat you lateral, and he can beat you vertical, too." (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "Bess and Patriots slot receiver extraordinaire Wes Welker went into Sunday with the NFL's shortest pass lengths. The ball traveled an average of only 5.2 yards to reach Welker and 5.5 yards to reach Bess. Those long handoffs emphasize their abilities to get yards after the catch."

About the similarity between Bess and Wes Welker, Scouts Inc. analyst Matt Williamson said:
"Bess has great short-area quickness, much like Welker, but not a home-run guy or a bomb threat. Bess has impressive body control and very solid hands. He catches the ball away from his body and is quick to turn upfield after securing the football.He kills linebacker coverage that he sometimes gets in the slot, but he also is put together pretty well and can outmuscle a lot of smaller nickel cornerbacks off the line of scrimmage. In the slot, he is a real handful when given a two-way go and has a very good feel for coverages and how to present himself open to his quarterback." (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "He ranks second in the NFL in third-down receptions. Bess has 29 catches on third down (two behind New York Giants receiver Steve Smith), with 23 of them moving the chains (one behind Smith for the league lead)."

About how Bess doesn't get the recognition that he deserves, Colt said:
"He's never gotten the credit he's deserved, but he's gone out there and done it. He's a true football player and should be an inspiration to a lot of people out there." (ESPN)

About the heart-to-heart talk Bess and he had when they first met in the summer of 2005, Colt said:
"There was a connection of me and him going through a lot and wanting to prove a lot, to defy the odds. We said 'Why not shoot for the stars? Why not shoot for something great?'" (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "Brennan arrived in Hawaii with considerable baggage. He left Colorado under a black cloud. He had been convicted of first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree burglary for entering a female student's room uninvited. He served seven days in jail, was put on four years' probation and kicked off the team. Bess was a reclamation project, too. He had signed with Oregon State, but two weeks before leaving his hometown of Oakland for Corvallis, he was sentenced to 15 months in a juvenile facility as an accessory for receiving stolen goods."

About the incidents that Colt and he had before they entered UH, Bess told ESPN in 2006:
"Our situations were totally two different scenarios, but we both had the finger pointed to us without the proper evidence. We both were pretty much taking life for granted. We couldn't be stopped. Everything was going so good for us. And then all of a sudden, bam! That's a reality check. Now you have no choice but to mature and man up, take it and learn from it, grow from it and tell others your situation." (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "Brennan and Bess lit up the sky in Honolulu. Brennan became a Heisman Trophy candidate in June Jones' prolific run-and-shoot system that threw first and asked questions later. Brennan broke 18 NCAA, 17 Western Athletic Conference and 41 school records. Bess was instrumental. In his three years at Hawaii, heamassed 293 receptions for 3,610 yards and 41 touchdowns."

About how Bess never lobbied for the ball and instead just did his job well, Colt said:
"I've heard stories of receivers grabbing quarterbacks and saying 'Hey, I'm going to be open this play.' When I look back, I never remember Davone in three years telling me to throw him the ball this time. He just ran his route and did his job." (ESPN)

About how the Sugar Bowl hurt Bess and his stock with the NFL, Colt said:
"We all got grouped together and ever since we lost that Georgia game we all got, in some weird way, flagged. 'Maybe they're not as good as they are on paper.' Because of that it totally killed us as far as getting an opportunity. Lucky for Davone, he had been through so much already, going through the bottom up was easy." (ESPN)

ESPN Note: "As a rookie, Bess caught 54 passes -- two behind Ginn for the team lead -- for 554 yards and a touchdown. A year later, he already has more receptions and almost as many yards with four games to play."

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