10%

BEHIND THE STRIPES

Davis Cobb

By Atlanta United FC

September 8^th, 2022

Cool, calm, collected. Those three words describe Davis Cobb. Unless you are a celebrity, having your picture taken and being interviewed all in the same day might be overwhelming, but when Davis arrived at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground, he was ready for his close-up.

Davis arrived with his father and brother, who affectionately described themselves as his entourage. Between holding his soda and jersey, to making sure his hair was picture-perfect, you would think the Cobb family had done this before.

Davis, a T-Cell Lymphoma survivor, designed the 2022 Unite & Conquer scarf with the help of two special guests, Atlanta United midfielders Ozzie Alonso and Emerson Hyndman.

“That was really fun,” Davis said. “It was nice meeting them and hanging out with them like they were normal people.”

While Davis did put the players to work, the day was not all business. The trio shared life stories, laughs and in the end brought Davis's vision to life with team effort.

“I had them coloring a lot of my designs,” Davis shared. “We talked about where they were from and their families and then we talked about where I was from, my family, my hobbies and stuff.”

Davis is a freshman in high school. He enjoys playing video games, hanging out with his friends and family, spending time with his dog and of course catching an Atlanta United match when he can.

Not only is Davis the 2022 Unite & Conquer Cancer Scarf designer, but he will also be the Spike Hitter for the club’s Unite & Conquer Cancer match September 10 against Toronto. Hitting the spike is an honored tradition Davis has been looking forward to. For inspiration, he’s even been watching previous spike hitters to prepare.

“It’s really nice to have all that support,” Davis said. “It’s really going to be fun and hopefully I can inspire some other cancer kids to keep going.”

Davis was only nine years old when he was first diagnosed with cancer. What started as feeling out of breath lead to whirlwind 24-hours.

“I think I was nine, June 16th,” Davis said. “Me, Huddy and my dad were playing baseball at a field once or twice a week and we were just playing catch and I was out of breath and my dad was like ‘oh you’re fine just sit down for a second.’ But then we went home, and my mom is a nurse, so she listened to me with a stethoscope. She said, ‘yeah, your lungs sound a little weird’ so I went to urgent care, and they didn’t really know what it was, and they just gave me some breathing treatment and then we went to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta I think the same day and we were getting chemo about 24-hours later.”

After being diagnosed, Davis recalls living in and out of the hospital for almost two years. At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Davis spent time taking part in their daily activities, making friends and fighting cancer.

“Children's Healthcare of Atlanta was great,” Davis said. “I loved playing with the therapy dogs. Every day they had some fun activities to do. I liked going to the library, playing video games, renting a movie, reading some books. A lot of nice people there.”

In October, it will be two years since Davis stopped receiving chemotherapy. Davis is not quite sure what path his future will take but he hopes he can inspire cancer kids to keep going.

“I’m still kind of figuring that out but I hope I can inspire some cancer kids along the way. Make things better.”

During the month of September, Atlanta United is joining in with the league’s campaign Kick Childhood Cancer, this month players will be wearing the KCC pre-match tops to raise awareness on pediatric cancer. Atlanta United’s Unite & Conquer Cancer match is Saturday Sept. 10, where Davis will be hitting the spike.

Footnotes

Story by Samantha Garcia / Photos by Dakota Williams

Button Label

FootNotes

Story by Samantha Garcia / Photos by Dakota Williams

Story Told With

Start publishing stories like this