 1960 Washington Huskies yearbook | |||||||
| No. 72, 75, 83, 78 | |||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1940-06-14)June 14, 1940 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | July 2, 2012(2012-07-02) (aged 72) San Diego, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | ||||||
| Weight | 275 lb (125 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Woodrow Wilson(Los Angeles) | ||||||
| College |
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| NFL draft | 1961:4th round, 46th overall pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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Benjamin Earl Davidson (June 14, 1940 – July 2, 2012) was an American professionalfootball player who was adefensive end, primarily with theOakland Raiders of theAmerican Football League (AFL). He was a three-timeAFL All-Star with the Raiders. Earlier in his career, Davidson was with theGreen Bay Packers andWashington Redskins of theNational Football League (NFL).[1][2][3] He later worked as anactor.
Born and raised inLos Angeles,California, Davidson was the son of Avis (née Wheat) and Benjamin Earl Franklin, Senior.[4] He attendedWoodrow Wilson High School in theEl Sereno neighborhood of Los Angeles, but did not playfootball in high school; because of his height (6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)),basketball and track were more to his liking.[5] While attending junior college atEast Los Angeles College, he was spotted by the football coach and asked to join the team. He was subsequently recruited to play at theUniversity of Washington inSeattle in1959, where he flourished as a member ofconsecutiveRose Bowl-winning teams under head coachJim Owens and gained entry into professional football.
Davidson was selected in thefourth round of the1961 NFL draft by theNew York Giants, but was traded in training camp to theGreen Bay Packers.[6]
As a rookie, he played mostly special teams for the Packers in1961, who beat the Giants 37–0 in thechampionship game, the first of five NFL titles for head coachVince Lombardi.[7] During training camp in 1962, Davidson was traded to theWashington Redskins for a fifth round draft choice.[8] He played there in1962 and1963, until he was waived in September1964 final cuts after not meeting the team's strict weight guidelines.[6][9]
Davidson is best remembered for his play with theAmerican Football LeagueOakland Raiders.Al Davis signed him as a free agent shortly after his release from the Redskins and he thrived as a pass rusher under head coaches Davis,John Rauch, andJohn Madden. Davidson played in Oakland from1964 through1972, and was part of theleague merger in1970. He was anAFL All-Star in 1966, 1967, and 1968.
The Raiders won theAFL championship in1967 and played inSuper Bowl II, but were overmatched by theGreen Bay Packers. Oakland advanced to the AFL title games the next two seasons but lost to theNew York Jets in1968 and theKansas City Chiefs in1969, the league's last game. A stretchedAchilles tendon in 1972 kept him on the sidelines that entire season.[10]
On November 1,1970, after the AFL-NFL merger, thedefending championKansas City Chiefs led the Raiders 17–14 late in the fourth quarter. A long run for a first-down by Chiefs quarterbackLen Dawson apparently sealed victory for the Chiefs in the final minute when Dawson, as he lay on the ground, was speared by Davidson, who dove into Dawson with his helmet at full running speed, provoking Chiefs' receiverOtis Taylor to attack Davidson. After a bench-clearing brawl, offsetting penalties were called, nullifying the first down under the rules in effect at that time. The Chiefs were obliged to punt, and the Raiders tied the game on aGeorge Blanda field goal with eight seconds to play. Davidson's play not only cost the Chiefs a win, but Oakland won theAFC West with a season record of 8–4–2, while Kansas City finished 7–5–2 and out of the playoffs.[11][12] After the season, the NFL changed its rules regarding personal fouls, separating those called during a play from those called after it. In 1976, the NFL further modified its rules, explicitly calling out a late hit such as Davidson's as illegal.[13]
Davidson's hit on Dawson was not an isolated occurrence;Winston Hill, a Jets player of the era, called Davidson "the No. 1 cheap-shot artist" in the league. A journalist forThe New York Times wrote that Davidson "probably was responsible for more late hits than any other player" of his time, and was known for going after the opposing team's quarterback. Davidson cultivated a persona as a "villain" and embraced this reputation, even wearing a handlebar mustache.[14]
Three years out of football, Davidson signed with thePortland Storm in early September 1974, already midway through theWorld Football League's inaugural1974 season.[15][16] While with the Storm, he lived in his motor home that he drove up from California.[5] A late season knee injury in early November ended his season and playing career.[17]
Davidson appeared in a few films includingThe Black Six,M*A*S*H, andConan the Barbarian. He portrayed Porter the Bouncer inBehind the Green Door in1972 and a convict football player inNecessary Roughness in1991. Davidson played himself inMiller Lite ads featuringJohn Madden andRodney Dangerfield. He also appeared in the short lived 1976 showBall Four as a minor-league baseball player named Rhino Rhinelander, the 1977 pilot forLucan and the 1984 TV movieGoldie and the Bears. Davidson also appeared in theHappy Days episode "Rules to Date By" (1978) as a lumberjack. He also appeared in the series premiere ofBanacek in 1972. In a 1978 first-season episode ofCHiPs, "Hitch-Hiking Hitch", Davidson played a character known as Wrestler who picked up and moved a VW Bug and two CHP motorcycles to clear a parking space for his truck. When confronted by Sgt. Getraer, Davidson sheepishly asks if he could move them back to the street to avoid getting a ticket.
Following his rookie season with Green Bay, Davidson took his winner's check ($5,195) from the 1961 NFL title game and bought rental property in Seattle, beginning a lifelong and successful focus on residential real estate.[6] He began 1961 with aRose Bowl win on January 2 and ended it with an NFL championship on December 31. In between he was wed and celebrated the birth of his first child.[6]
Davidson and fellow Oakland Raider teammateTom Keating were avid motorcycle riders and completed both a ride from California to thePanama Canal and a four-month, 14,000-mile (23,000 km) trip across the United States while with the Raiders.[3]
Davidson died ofprostate cancer at age 72.[1][2] He was retired and living in San Diego and was survived by his wife Kathy, and daughters Janella, Dana, and Vicky. Coincidentally, Davidson's former Raiders teammate and motorcycle buddy, Tom Keating, died two months after him, also as a result of prostate cancer.
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