Looking back at the history of the Texans, there have been more bright spots than people give them credit for.  After season records of 4-12, 5-11, 7-9, 2-14, and 6-10, they quickly got a bad rep in the NFL as one of the worst teams.  I think that title has formally been reclaimed by the Detroit Lions, and how quickly people want to jump on the bandwagon now that they have finished two straight seasons at 8-8.  The 2009 regular season looks to be another season of promise for the Texans, in which they could finish with 9 or more wins for the first time in team history.  But back before the success that they are experiencing now, there were many players that were very good in the time they were with the Texans. 

Domanick (Davis) Williams was just one such player.  He is currently the Houston Texans' leading rusher in team history with 3,195 yards . He changed his name during the 2006 season from Davis to Williams for some strange reason.

"I just changed Davis to Williams. I wasn’t really a (Davis). It was my older brother’s Dad’s last name and whatever happened I ended up with Davis. So now that I have kids of my own, a little boy and a little girl, ‘Spike’ (Domanick, Jr.) and Liana, I have to change my name to what it really is, and it’s Williams."

Whatever that means.  Anywho, I will refer to him as Davis throughout the rest of this article because it's shorter and that's the only name I heard him being referred to in the NFL.

via z.about.com

Davis was drafted in the 4th round (Number 101 overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans out of Louisiana State University.  He was an instant success on a team that desperately needed playmakers.  His rookie season, he won the Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Year honors after finishing with 1031 rushing yards (4.3 YPC), 47 receptions for 351 yards and 8 touchdowns.  In 2004, his success continued, finishing with 1,188 rushing yards (3.9 YPC), 68 receptions for 588 yards, and 14 total touchdowns.  Prior to the 2005 season, he received a contract extension worth $22 million ($8 million guaranteed). His success continued in 2005 but his season was cut short by a knee injury, and he was placed on injured reserve.  He finished the 2005 season with 976 rushing yards, 39 receptions for 337 yards, and 6 total touchdowns.  

I don't think anyone expected that this would be the last time that he would see the football field. Before the 2006 season, Davis told the Texans that he would be 100% before the season started, yet shockingly, Davis then decided not to play anymore after the doctors told him he was fully healed.  The Texans didn't give up for a while, but eventually released him in 2007. Now I don't know what he was thinking, but it pretty much sounds like he took his $8 million in guaranteed money and ran.

So it got me to thinking, what did he do with this money?  For all intensive purposes, it seems he has dropped off the face of the Earth.   There have been rumors that he tried to make a comeback in 2008, but I think those are all just rumors.  I know that Texans' fans pretty much all unite when it comes to whether or not they could have kept this guy on their team.  When he was with the Texans, he was nothing but professional.

Anyone else heard anything about him recently?  Domanick if you're out there, respond to this post and let us know what you're up to!