Maxwell Hairston after being drafted by the Buffalo Bills: “Tell Ray Davis I’m moving in!”
On paper, Maxwell Hairston is a great fit for the Buffalo Bills. The former Kentucky cornerback fills a big need in Buffalo and has a chance to be a starter on a Super Bowl-contending squad. The story gets even better when you consider he’s reuniting with fellow former Cat Ray Davis, one of his best friends.
Davis, who played alongside Hairston at Kentucky in 2023, tipped BBN off to the move late in the first round with an eyeball-emoji tweet. Once the Bills made it official with the No. 30 pick and Hairston made his way to the media room to talk to Bills reporters on a conference call, he had a message for Davis.
“Tell Ray Davis I’m moving in! That’s like my brother, though. He was on a call with Coach [Vince] Marrow when I got picked, and I’m just so happy to be reunited with him. That’s a great teammate, and I know that he’s going to be someone that, hey, I can ask a bunch of questions with, and he’s gonna help me out, and he’s going to guide me. We’re gonna ball together. I can’t wait.”
Davis’ response? “Tell him I need rent money.”
Bills GM Brandon Beane said that when the front office was considering taking Hairston, they reached out to Davis, who gave a glowing recommendation, as did a member of Kentucky’s athletic department.
“Max is a guy that we’ve followed, we’ve had our eye on, and we’ve asked Ray about him. Ray speaks very highly of him. We always try to do that with the players who have played with guys on our team who know the Bills culture and how we do things. I know a guy there that was in Carolina who’s in their athletic office who was with us for a couple of summers, and spoke to him recently, and he raves about the character of Max. Obviously, he loves the player and all that, but the person.”
Davis posted a clip of himself watching Hairston’s big moment from home on his Instagram story (language NSFW) in which he’s crying tears of joy. He posted a picture of the two on Twitter from one of his games last season, where Hairston is holding his No. 22 Bills jersey (fun fact: when Davis graduated from Kentucky, Hairston switched his jersey number to No. 1, Davis’ old number). Hairston mentioned that game during his interviews with the Bills media.
“I feel like we’re just one piece away, and I feel like I’m that missing piece. I feel like this team is a Super Bowl-ready team. I actually got to watch them play when they came to Detroit. Ray Davis had given me some tickets. I saw Josh Allen go out there and put on a master class, and I was like, hey, I wouldn’t mind that being my quarterback. And the fact that it really happened now, I’m super excited and super ready to get to work with him.”
Hopefully, Hairston and Davis can create more memories in Buffalo. Davis is off to a good start, totaling 113 carries for 442 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season, along with 17 catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns. He played in all 17 games and scored a touchdown in the Bills’ win over the Ravens in the playoffs.
The two played starring roles in Kentucky’s win over Vanderbilt in 2023, in which Hairston had two pick-sixes and Davis ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns against his former school. Alyssa Lang’s postgame interview with the two is going viral again today, with Davis joking that he’s “gotta be the hype man again.”
“Man, you see what Max did today?” Davis said during the interview. “Two pick-sixes! Craziest thing about it, me and Max talked about this all week. This game meant so much to him. Coming in last year, being a freshman, getting thrown in the big moment. He made a statement today and it showed, man…Look at the man, he had a good day!”
I can’t wait for more Hairston/Davis content. Those two need a sitcom.
Maxwell Hairston, the NFL Draft Hype Man
Last night, Hairston was the hype man, endearing himself to viewers by congratulating every player who got drafted ahead of him in the green room. When asked about it afterward, Hairston said that’s just who he is.
“Honestly, whatever’s meant to happen is going to happen and I just stayed positive, stayed happy, and just congratulated all of my brothers that got their name called ahead of me and I was just so excited for that and the fact that I got to hear my name called as well, I don’t care how late it is. It could be 3 a.m., I’ll wait to hear my name, and I’m just ecstatic to be a Buffalo Bill. I feel like this is the right fit for me.”
Bills GM Brandon Beane wasn’t surprised to learn that Hairston dapped up all his fellow draftees, telling reporters that the Kentucky star’s “infectious smile” and positive personality left a lasting impression during his visit to Buffalo.
“He’s a fun-loving guy. You felt his personality, really, here on the 30 visit. When you’re meeting these guys [at the NFL Draft Combine] in Indy, it’s like 15, 16 minutes, so it’s speed dating. You got them here all day, you’ve got support staff all around them, and everyone talked about an infectious smile, easy to get along with. A fun guy, enjoyed being at the table, some guys, when we have three or four guys, like to be more themselves. Max was kind of in the middle of it. Like I said, everything that we’ve gotten from the school matches what we saw in person. He’s a team-first guy. Doesn’t surprise me to hear that he was dapping guys up even when his name wasn’t called.”
Congrats to Hairston. What an awesome night.
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