Ashtyn Davis is a beautiful mystery.

He was a mystery in college at Cal-Berkeley, where he walked onto the track team, then onto the football team and became a star safety.

Now he’s a mystery to the Jets, who drafted him in the third round in April and probably don’t have any idea how many critical roles he can play for a team that’s so desperate for difference-makers.

Davis, too, is a mystery to even his own family, with whom he’s extremely close.

Take his left arm for instance: It’s a canvas of body art, adorned with a sleeve of what he described as “eightish’’ tattoos — with the meaning of each image a mystery to even those closest to him.

“They all have meaning, but they’re all personal,’’ Davis told The Post after practice Wednesday. “I get them for me and not for any other reason. That’s just kind of how I’ve been rolling. All for me.’’

Not even for his family.

“To this day, I still don’t know what each and every one of the tattoos’ personal meanings are to him,’’ Ashtyn’s mother, Christine, told The Post. “I know what one or two of them mean, but when I try to get him to tell me, he says, ‘Someday mom, someday I’ll tell you.’ ’’

That day hasn’t yet arrived.

“He has a story and reasons for all of them, but he won’t clue any of us in,’’ Ashtyn’s sister Lexi told The Post.

“I let their minds wander,’’ said Davis, who’s having a standout summer with the Jets in this COVID-truncated training camp. “They all make little assumptions and I tell them ‘yes’ to everything regardless of whether it’s close or not.’’

Lexi said, “I have guesses. There are three skulls on his arm and one of them is smaller than the other two and two of them have roses on them, so I would assume that’s my dad, my mom and me. But that’s just a guess. It could just be three skulls because he wanted three skulls.’’

Christine said, “There’s an eye and I think that is him keeping an eye on himself. That’s all I know. He doesn’t tell me. They’re very personal to him.’’

Davis said the “only [tattoo] I really talk about is the one about my dad,’’ referring to the image on his left wrist commemorating his father Sean’s sobriety anniversary.

That’s where it all started. Ashtyn and Lexi got matching tattoos on their left wrists as a surprise for their father on Oct. 20, 2016, with the art depicting mind, body and spirit, protected by God, and including his sobriety date — Oct. 20, 2008 — in Roman numerals.

“He’s not really into inking his body, but he went in the next day and got the same tattoo on his left wrist,’’ Davis said.

“That one for our dad was his first one, the beginning of it,’’ Lexi said. “Here we are four years later and Ashtyn’s covered in them.’’

Davis said he hasn’t added any new ink since being drafted to commemorate this next phase in his life — perhaps a green Jets logo or a “J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets’’ slogan.

He said something Jets-related is “possible’’ eventually, but added, “I’ve got other things I need to do first.’’

First priority, Davis said, is a tattoo for his former Cal teammate, cornerback Bryce Turner, who died Jan. 6, 2019, after collapsing during a workout near his home over the holidays.

“I want to get something to honor him and remember him by,’’ he said.

In the meantime, Davis’ singular focus is “trying to make an impact in any way I can to help the Jets win.’’

“You can tell the guy is super sharp [and he] makes a ton of plays,’’ coach Adam Gase said Wednesday. “It seems like the ball finds him. The guy is like the Energizer bunny out there. He never stops, and it’s really impressive.’’

With starting safety Marcus Maye sitting out the past couple of practices with an injury, Davis has been running with the starting defense, calling those reps “really valuable’’ to him.

“I just want to make an impact in any way I can,’’ said Davis, who’s going to be special teams coordinator Brant Boyer’s best friend with his ability to do everything from cover kicks and punts to kick return.

Davis drew bemusement from writers on a post-practice Zoom call Wednesday when he revealed that he didn’t even bring a car from his California home to New Jersey, saying that he’s walking 15 minutes to work every day.

“I don’t see the necessity of having a car,’’ he said. “I’m pretty focused. I don’t get too distracted. I’m a pretty driven individual.’’

You have to some kind of special drive to be a walk-on to not just a major college track program but a football program, too.

The beautiful mystery in front of the Jets is figuring out everything this special player can bring to them.

Share this article:

Source: Read Full Article