Leading the field

Former pro footballer Noor Davis enrolled in Loyola’s Weekend JD to become a more effective sports executive

Former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Noor Davis knows how to multitask. At Stanford University, he earned BA and MA degrees in a little over four years while playing football. Now as associate director for sports administration for the Big Ten Conference, Davis is bringing his long-perfected time-management and organizational skills to his studies in Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Weekend JD program.

HIGH-PROFILE MENTOR: When Davis was a Stanford undergrad, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, by then in her role directing Stanford’s Hoover Institution, selected Davis as an assistant. Rice—who recently joined the Denver Broncos’ ownership group—became Davis’s academic advisor “and, like my parents, is a mentor to this day,” he says.

FONDEST FOOTBALL MEMORIES: Davis has stacked up accolades for his achievements on the field. Among his favorite moments: playing in three Rose Bowls and winning two, and receiving the Butkus Award naming him the nation’s best high-school linebacker. He comes by his talent naturally: his uncle, Andre Tippett, is a Pro Football Hall of Famer, and his father, Christopher Davis, played for the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

LEADERSHIP ASPIRATIONS: After graduating from Stanford in 2017, Davis signed with the Minnesota Vikings but was waived a few months later. In 2019, he accepted a scouting and operations position with the Detroit Lions. “I’ve always dreamed of ultimately becoming a sports executive: a league commissioner or team president,” he says of his return to the sports world, this time on the business side. “I believe in servant leadership, and those roles are where you can have the biggest impact on your teams and the communities you serve.”