Taylor Davis . Taylor Davis . Taylor Davis . Taylor Davis . Taylor Davis .
one instant, it was gone. Everything feels super dramatic in college. I realized these things never shaped who Taylor was. The letters, the crown didn’t make me. Taylor was always enough without those things.” While Davis also missed her spring probate, she was able to later experience the lifestyle of a beauty queen and leader when she won the title of Miss Texas – and she did it while balancing her NFL career. Davis said she comes from a legacy of HBCU graduates and a legacy of sports. Her mother and father attended and met at Grambling State University, in addition to her grandfather and uncle, the late Willie Davis, who is featured in the NFL Hall of Fame for his career as defensive end with the Green Bay Packers. She grew up attending the Grambling- Southern Classic and was destined for a career with the NFL.
“This was my first job out of college and it’s been a dream come true,” she said. “I find a lot of times that, especially when I’m speaking to men and I say I work for the NFL, they ask, ‘as a cheerleader?’ Obviously, I love the cheerleaders, but that’s always the assumption. Then they guess that I’m on-air talent. I know people don’t mean any harm by it. It’s interesting how people assume that the two can’t co-exist.” Her career experiences make up a large part of her pageant platform which is taking bold chances and not being afraid to achieve opportunities that may seem out of reach. “My best piece of advice I got my freshman year and has followed me ever since: never let anyone count you out,” said Davis. “Sometimes believing in yourself is half of the battle, truly believing you are able to accomplish
what you’re doing. If you can push through it and make a choice to go all in and say, ‘I’m going to do it scared,’ that will open doors for you. You have no idea what’s waiting for you.” While Davis doesn’t know if pageantry is in her immediate future, she is proud of her career thus far and wants to continue to use her platform beyond the crown, she said. “I accomplished what I set out to do,” said Davis. “I’m happy how I represented Texas as the third runner up and only fourth Black woman to be crowned Miss Texas USA. I feel very blessed through things accomplished through pageantry. I am continuing to try to break barriers in a different industry and be a trailblazer inspiring other people to do the same along the way. Football will always be close to my heart.”
HBCU TIMES WINTER ISSUE 2026 | 2 1
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