Kalia Davis enjoys gaming on top of football
UCF's Kalia Davis is one of the best defensive tackles in the American Athletic Conference, but you may not know he's also a talented gamer. He's hoping to leverage his video game passion into NIL opportunities.
"Football always comes first," Davis said. "In my free time I game. I might as well stream and make a little cash off it."
Davis is active on Twitch, a popular streaming platform for gamers which has several options for monetization.
"I couldn't make money before on Twitch streaming, but I can today," Davis said. "I'm also going to start a Youtube (channel)."
Davis, whose Twitch username is KDesius, says his favorite games right now are Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone and League of Legends.
He's also partnered with Yoke Gaming, which provides fans an opportunity to game with college athletes.
Davis isn't the only gamer on the team, but believes he's the best. He also named linebacker Eriq Gilyard, defensive tackle Anthony Montalvo and offensive lineman Samuel Jackson as being worthy competitors.
The NCAA had fought NIL legislation for years. One of the modern athletes who shined light on the cause was former UCF kicker Donald De La Haye, who was hoping to keep playing football while growing his monetized Youtube channel. That was a no-go at the time, so he ultimately chose Youtube. Davis was a freshman at UCF during De La Haye's battle.
"Yeah, a big inspiration," Davis said when asked about De La Haye's contribution to the cause. "I was watching his Youtube when I was a recruit. He crawled so we could walk. Shout out to him. We're gonna take the torch from him."
Shifting to football, Davis said he and his teammates have been getting after it in summer workouts.
"It's been great," Davis said. "Coach (Gus) Malzahn pointed out he's seeing people getting bigger and stronger. Y'all interviewed me in the spring and I know I got bigger. Coach (Chris) Dawson has been doing a great job working us."
The biggest difference in a Chris Dawson strength program? Every day is leg day.
"I definitely got my legs stronger," Davis said. "We squat every day... I was a squat guy (before), but we squat every day. Every day. It does nothing but help us."
Squat is considered to be the ultimate lifting exercise. Davis name-dropped a few players dominating in that area.
"Matt Lee, I think he's the king right now," Davis said. "Then you've got Cole Schneider. I think Sam Jackson is up there. I think me and Sam are together."
Davis is one of the few players left who were around for UCF's 2017 and 2018 conference championship teams.
"I want another ring," he said. "Most definitely. That's the No. 1 goal. I got two. Three is better."
He's also sensing a renewed energy on his defensive side.
"We've most definitely got a chip on our shoulder coming from last year when we were ranked 120-something," Davis said. "The past few years UCF has been known as an offensive school. We really want to change the narrative and be mentioned up there with the offense."
