A secret tribute: Duck honors young man he's never met

Story Published: Jan 8, 2011 at 7:09 PM PST Story Updated: Jan 8, 2011 at 11:18 PM PST (KATU.com)

GLENDALE, Ariz. – One University of Oregon Duck is playing Monday's BCS Championship game in honor of a young man whose life ended too soon.


For more than a month it was D.J. Davis' secret. But after the Ducks' Civil War win, Davis was splashed on the front page of The Oregonian's sports section, leaving some to wonder whose picture was hanging from his uniform.

"Just knowing that somebody can have an impact on you, without even meeting them, is just an awesome experience," University of Oregon Wide Receiver D.J. Davis tells us.

It turns out that the photo tucked into Davis' waistband is of someone Davis has never met.

It's Declan Sullivan, a 20-year-old Notre Dame student whose death made national news. Sullivan died while taping a Fighting Irish football practice, when a wind storm toppled the tower where he stood.

"It just stayed with me," Davis tells us. "It's hard to shake something like that when it just stays in you ... I have a little brother who's 20 years old. He'll be 21 come Jan. 24, so I just kept thinking about my little brother being in that situation. I don't know what I'd be able to do if I lost him."

That's why, a few days after the accident, Davis searched for Sullivan's name on a computer at the team's hotel where they were staying before the U.S.C. game, printed a picture of Sullivan and turned a quarterback wristband into a tribute. He has worn that wristband on game days ever since.

"He's been a real help to me, just as far as wearing it and letting other people know the tragic event that happened," Davis said. "...[T]o let them know about his story is one of the things that I want to do."

After The Oregonian's picture took Davis' secret-tribute public, the wide receiver ended up making a connection with Sullivan's family.

"I've actually e-mailed back and forth a little bit with his brother, Max Sullivan," Davis said. "We've had a couple conversations, just about the situation, and ... that he'd be rooting for me come Jan. 10."