 Davis on the 1947 West Point yearbook | |||||||||||||||
| No. 41 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1924-12-26)December 26, 1924 Claremont, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | March 9, 2005(2005-03-09) (aged 80) La Quinta, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Bonita(La Verne, California) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Army (1943–1946)[a] | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1947: 1st round,2nd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Glenn Woodward Davis (December 26, 1924 – March 9, 2005) was an Americanfootball player who was ahalfback. He won theHeisman Trophy in 1946 while playingcollege football for theArmy Cadets. Known as "Mr. Outside", he played for Army from 1943 to 1946, receiving theMaxwell Award in 1944 andAll-America honors three consecutive years from 1944 to 1946. The Cadets compiled a 27–0–1 record during Davis's three years as a varsity player and won the national championship each year. After completing his military service, Davis also played professionally for theLos Angeles Rams of theNational Football League (NFL) in 1950 and 1951.
Davis was born and raised inSouthern California, the son of a bank manager. Glenn and his twin brother Ralph played high school football atBonita High School inLa Verne, California.[1][2] In 1942, Davis led the Bearcats to an 11–0 record and the school's first-ever football championship, earning theSouthern Section Player of the Year award.[3] In 1987, Bonita High's stadium was dedicated in his name. The brothers were close and had originally planned to attendUSC inLos Angeles, but when theirU.S. Representative agreed to sponsor them with appointments to West Point, they decided to go there.
At West Point, under coachEarl Blaik, Davis playedfullback in his freshman season. Blaik moved him tohalfback for his three varsity seasons, whileDoc Blanchard took over at fullback. With Davis and Blanchard, Army went 27–0–1 in 1944, 1945, and 1946. Davis was nicknamed "Mr. Outside", while Blanchard was "Mr. Inside".
Davis averaged 8.3 yards per carry over his career and 11.5 yards per carry in 1945; both results are records which still stand today. Davis led the nation in 1944 with 120 points. He scored 59 touchdowns, including eight on his freshman squad, in his career. His single-season mark of 20 touchdowns stood as a record for 10 years.
Blanchard and he set a then-record 97 career touchdowns by two teammates. (The record was broken byUSC backsReggie Bush andLenDale White, who had 99 career touchdowns.) In 2007, Davis was ranked No. 13 onESPN's list of Top 25 Players in College Football History.
For all three varsity years at West Point, Davis was a "consensus"All-America player (that is, selected by all the different groups picking All-America teams). In 1944, he won theMaxwell Award and theWalter Camp Trophy, and was runner-up for theHeisman Trophy. In 1945, he was again runner-up for the Heisman (won by his teammate Blanchard). In 1946, he won the Heisman and was named theAssociated Press Male Athlete of the Year. In 1961, Davis was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame.
Davis also starred inbaseball,basketball, andtrack at West Point.[4]
Davis graduated from West Point in June 1947 and entered theU.S. Army as asecond lieutenant. He was offered a contract and $75,000 signing bonus by the Brooklyn Dodgers, but declined, as he was required to serve in the Army and would be a relatively old rookie after that.[5]
In spite of Davis' service obligation, theDetroit Lions of theNational Football League selected Davis with the second overall pick of the1947 NFL draft, held in December 1946.[6] In September 1947, theLos Angeles Rams acquired the rights to Davis from the Lions.[7] He applied to resign his commission in December, but was refused by theSecretary of the ArmyKenneth Royall.[8][9]
Davis was also denied extended furloughs or other accommodations that might allow him to play football while serving in the Army. There was public feeling that after the expense of his West Point education, he should not just go off to play football.
Davis (and Blanchard) did earn $25,000 each by appearing in the low-budget movieThe Spirit of West Point (about their football careers). Davis tore a ligament in his right knee during filming.[10]
Davis served three years in the Army. While on leave in 1948, he attended theRams training camp and played in a preseason game.[11][12][13] He then reported for duty inKorea (this was before theKorean War, which began after he returned to the U.S.).
Davis' service obligation ended in 1950, and he finally joined the Rams fortheir 1950 season.[14]
Despite his knee injury, Davis was an effective player, and was even named to the 1950Pro Bowl on the strength of his 42 catches for 592 yards as a receiver and 416 yards on 88 carries as a runner; he had seven total touchdowns. He scored the first touchdown of the1950 NFL Championship Game on an 82-yard touchdown catch fromBob Waterfield; the Rams narrowly lost 30–28. In 1951, he injured his knee again, and he ran for a total of only 290 yards from scrimmage.[4] He caught three passes for ten yards while running the ball six times for -6 yards in the1951 NFL Championship Game, which Los Angeles won 24–17.[15]
He did not play for the team in the1952 season.[16]In September 1953, the Rams released him, ending his professional career.[17]
Davis moved toTexas to work in theoil industry, but returned to California a few years later. He became special events director for theLos Angeles Times, organizing and directing the newspaper's charity fundraising events. He held this job until his retirement in 1987.[4][18] TheTimes gave the annualGlenn Davis Award in his honor (not to be confused with theGlenn Davis Army Award).
Davis was married three times. In 1948, he dated actressElizabeth Taylor.[19] From 1951 to 1952 he was briefly married to film actressTerry Moore.[20][21][22]
In 1953, Davis married Ellen Slack; they were married for 42 years, until her death in 1995. They had one son, Ralph. In 1996, Davis married Yvonne Ameche, widow of NFL star and fellowHeisman Trophy WinnerAlan Ameche. Davis was survived by his wife Yvonne, his son, Ralph, and a stepson, John Slack III.[18]
Davis was sometimes confused with Olympic medal-winning athlete andDetroit Lions wide receiverGlenn Ashby Davis (1934–2009); the two men occasionally received each other's mail, but they never met.[23]
Davis died ofprostate cancer atLa Quinta, California, at age 80 on March 9, 2005.[4][18][24] He is interred inWest Point Cemetery.
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