“The craziest decision I ever made… but the best thing I ever did.“ How Davey Sayles left behind football to pursue skating
by Matthew Becerra
Photo via Alyssa Davis
Long before Davey Sayles was riding for Deathwish, before trips overseas and before modeling he was just a kid skating the streets of Southern California.
His hometown was saturated with skate culture. For Sayles, it wasn’t a phase, it was a family. “My first real friends were skateboarders,” he said. “These were the people that gave me the shirt, the shoes, the extra board, the food. Their parents always took care of me when I needed it.”
But in the Sayles family, football wasn’t just a sport — it was a lineage. His uncle coached at Syracuse University, and relatives had played at the college level.
In high school, when his mom looked at him talking about football, he decided to give it a shot. “Maybe I should try it, see if I’m good at it,” he said. Turns out, he was. By sophomore year, he was starting varsity.
“Right when we’d get done in practice, I’d go to the skate park,” he said. Skating slowed but never stopped. By the end of high school, he was a nationally ranked running back.
Division I offers came in, San Diego State, Eastern Illinois, where his uncle was head coach. Then came the injury: a torn knee, full reconstruction, senior season over. Most offers disappeared. Only Eastern Illinois remained.
After surgery and rehab, he went to Illinois. His uncle left for Bowling Green soon after, leaving Sayles feeling isolated.
He stuck it out until a coaching change brought in a staff that didn’t see him the same way. “I already knew… when I came home, my plan was to skate. And go to art school.” That plan didn’t last. At Palomar College — one of the best JUCO football programs in California — a coach found him coming out of art class.
After the season Sayles was the team’s leading touchdown scorer as a freshman. By sophomore year, he was an All-American.
University of West Florida called next. As a junior, he had a good season but deep down, he knew the NFL wasn’t in the cards.
He started hanging with teammates who knew some skaters. Meanwhile, his best friend Rowan Zorilla went pro for Baker.
“As kids that's what we were watching Baker 3 and Baker has a deathwish, that was our vibe.” he said
The feeling was celebratory, but it also hit Sayles hard. “All my homies is traveling the world, they skating… I could be doing that shit too.”
One night, he had a dream: Barcelona, on the beach, skating with Tanner and other close friends. The next morning, he walked into his coach’s office and quit. Bought a Greyhound ticket without telling his parents. “Worst decision I ever made, but the best thing I ever did.”
Back in his hometown, he faced reality, got kicked out and started living with his friend Dom worked a job but eventually got fired.
He filmed constantly with his friends from his hometown Brandon Cortez and Mike Brick.
Davey Sayles FP3 part
Riding $lave boards, one of his favorite brands growing up, eventually caught the company’s attention. His first sponsor since college came via a text from $lave while he was still dazed from a dentist visit.
Sayles was in $laves video “Radio Silence”
Radio Silence by $lave Skateboards
The rest was momentum. Trips, parts, a clothing brand with friends. A move to L.A., funded by a homie who believed in him, and soon Baker and Deathwish heads started taking notice. Ellington took him under his wing. After a year he left $lave for Deathwish.
Sayles’ move to Deathwish brought new pressure. “It’s a lot more eyes on me,” he said. “You want to show up for those types of dudes, and you want to do good.”
Baker Has A Deathwish 2
“What really made me happy is seeing Antwuan Dixon talk to my mom, and my mom was starstruck. She was like, ‘This is the dude that you’ve been watching since you were a little kid?’
“That made my mom a huge fan. And she was, like, wow, like, you made it. Like, you’re really doing it, and she finally understood.
Sayles explained that being part of Baker and Deathwish isn’t something that’s just handed to you — “it’s like the mafia,” he said. You have to go through it, put in the work, and sometimes shed blood for it. If you’re on Baker or Deathwish, it’s all the same energy to rep each other’s gear, and carry that bond even off the board. He brought up Dixon as an example, saying how despite no longer being officially on Baker, he still pulls up to the park and is always welcomed like family because Andrew, Ellington, and everyone else will forever hold space for him.
Around the same time he got on Deathwish he started skating for the Chinese shoe company Li-Ning.
For Li-Ning, he also walked in fashion week in Italy, an experience that not only gave him valuable modeling practice but also opened the door to more opportunities in front of the camera. “The rate went up after that,” he said, explaining how the runway show led to more modeling gigs and solidified his comfort with being in that kind of spotlight.
Another modeling gig that came after was for Off White, during the shoot he was connected with somebody higher up on the Asics skate team and was put on shortly after.
“Skating for ASICS is major, they’re a juggernaut” he said. “I wanted to be part of something new where more eyes could be on me, it gives me a new chapter.”
For Sayles, every twist in his path, from leaving football behind to traveling the world with his friends—feels like it’s led him exactly where he’s supposed to be.
He’s grateful to share space with legends he grew up watching, and proud of what he’s built alongside the people closest to him. Still, he’s hungry to push further, to keep proving himself and chasing the dreams that first pulled him to a board as a kid in Southern California.
