Davis Warren’s unlikely journey from child with cancer to Michigan’s starting quarterback

It was the spring of 2019 and then-17-year-old Davis Warren, a high school quarterback from Los Angeles, sat down at the bench press to begin a 6 a.m. weightlifting session.

He couldn’t complete a single warm-up rep with the 135-pound bar.

“I felt dizzy and lightheaded,” Warren said on the LAB podcast with Jake Butt last month. “I knew something was wrong.”

Soon after, Warren and his parents were at a local hospital when doctors told them Warren had acute myeloid leukemia. The five-year survival rate for children is only 66 percent (and only 29.5 percent for adults). Warren was dizzy. The conversations revolved around treatments, challenges, side effects, and so on. His first thought was that he was going to die soon.

“You never expect it to happen to you,” Warren said this week.

However, he did manage to ask a question.

“How soon can I play football again?”

The disease and the chances of survival are scary, but the treatment is relatively short – five to eight months. So theoretically he could play next fall … at least if everything, really everything, goes well and he still wants to, the doctor said.

More than five years later, Warren is expected to start Saturday for the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines, who host third-ranked Texas. On the other side, the Longhorns’ star quarterback Quinn Ewers will be joined by Arch Manning. Both are former No. 1 recruits and potential first-round picks in the NFL Draft.

Warren’s journey from the pediatric cancer ward to the 110,000-seat Big House in Ann Arbor won’t earn him an extra yard or Michigan an extra point, but it’s the kind of improbable, inspirational story – even in the professionalized era of the NIL – that makes college sports so special.

Warren beat leukemia and played high school football at be schedule — albeit after losing his hair and at least 40 pounds. He did it by never losing faith during a four-and-a-half-month hospital stay that included running laps around the facility and even playing catch with his father on a grassy area.

“The best medicine, of course doctors have their own thing … but a little sweat, a little smile to get the heart rate up safely? That’s priceless,” Warren said.

Warren said he weighed about 150 to 160 pounds when he returned to play in the middle of his junior season. Understandably, he was just OK, far from a college prospect. He had to pass weekly blood tests to even play. One week, his platelet count was too low and he was held back. Frustrated, he had heard that papaya juice could help, so he ordered an extract online and drank it throughout the week.

“It tasted disgusting,” he told MLive.com.

It worked – maybe – and he reached his platelet count for the next game. He completed five of six passes.

Warren was undoubtedly a successful man, inspiring other children with leukemia and trying to connect with patients everywhere who needed hope that better days, normal days, were possible.

Still, he wanted to play college football and transferred to the powerful Suffield Academy in Connecticut for his senior year in 2020 to better expose himself to talent scouts. Instead, the entire season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Opportunities were limited.

However, the coaches at Suffield had already produced enough Division I prospects in the few practices they had to see Warren’s potential. They began reaching out to colleges they knew of, which led to then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh calling Warren and offering him the chance to play in Ann Arbor as a walk-on.

Warren took a chance and never looked back. There was no scholarship, but there was a chance. He may have been last on the list, but at least he was on the list. He’ll never forget that survival rate.

“How many children are not allowed to tell the story I am telling?” he said.

As a freshman, he became known in the program for his hours of film study, often alongside then-starter Cade McNamara, despite knowing he had little chance to play. Instead, he focused on setting up the defense and was named Scout Team Player of the Year. He spent seemingly every free minute at Mott Children’s Hospital, located on Michigan’s campus, visiting children with cancer, as he once did.

“(He said), ‘Hey coach, there’s a kid from Mott Children’s Hospital who wants to come to practice,'” said Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s current head coach and then-offensive coordinator. “(I said), ‘Yeah, don’t ask me again, just bring her.'”

In his sophomore year at Michigan, Warren appeared in five games and completed 5 of 9 passes. It was cleanup work, but so what? Just his presence on the field was an epic, emotional performance. Last year, in 2023, he played in three games. He threw five passes. Only one was caught – by the other team, which meant an interception.

Michigan entered the 2024 season with a battle at quarterback, and although Warren’s name was mentioned often, he was hardly expected to emerge as the starter. Most thought it would go to Alex Orji, a strong runner, or perhaps Jack Tuttle, a veteran transferred from Indiana.

However, do not underestimate a cancer survivor.

“Alex and I talk about just knowing the ‘why.’ Why do you do this?” Warren said of Orji. “My journey, what I’ve been through, how I got to Michigan, I know my ‘why’ – kids in children’s hospitals battling cancer every day…

“That’s my X-factor,” he continued. “Fuck tiredness. Fuck everything. There are people who go through much worse; I’ve been through much worse. And when I was in that hospital room at that moment, having to deal with it, all I wanted to do was get back out there, be healthy and do the things I love to do.”

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When the Wolverines opened the season against Fresno State last Saturday, Warren was the starter and completed 15 of 25 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown.

“Now that’s a fighter,” Moore said. “Had cancer. Senior year was canceled because of COVID. Came here as a walk-on. Been a reserve player since he got here. Every week the coaches test him, he always had 100 points. Always took notes. Always did the right thing.”

Orji also played nine games at quarterback against Fresno. Both are expected to play against Texas. Moore noted that perhaps the best illustration of Warren’s personality came after Orji’s touchdown pass. Warren sprinted off and was one of the first to congratulate his rival for playing time.

“Selfless,” Moore said. “A phenomenal teammate.”

Texas is a 7.5-point favorite this weekend despite playing on the road, and the disparity at the quarterback position is a big reason why. For Davis Warren, that doesn’t matter. From hospital beds to papaya juice to the scout team, he overcame bigger obstacles a long time ago.

“I constantly tell the kids who are going through this, who are missing school or feeling like they’re falling behind in their lives, ‘Hey, this is going to make you ten times stronger, ten times more resilient, ten times more resilient and ten times happier,'” Warren said.

“I don’t wake up feeling like I’m having a bad day.”

Especially on Saturday.