 Davis in 2008 | |||||||||
| No. 75, 70, 68 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1978-09-05)September 5, 1978 (age 47) Wortham, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 355 lb (161 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Wortham | ||||||||
| College | Texas (1997–2000) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2001: 1st round,2nd overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Leonard Barnett Davis (born September 5, 1978) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aguard for 12 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL). He was a consensusAll-American playingcollege football for theTexas Longhorns, where he was also a two-timeOutland Trophy finalist and aLombardi Award semifinalist. Davis was selected by theArizona Cardinals with the second overall pick in the2001 NFL draft. He played for the Cardinals, theDallas Cowboys - where he was a three-time Pro-Bowler and a second team All-Pro - and theSan Francisco 49ers, with whom he went toSuper Bowl XLVII. He also spent part of a season with theDetroit Lions, but never took the field for them.
Leonard grew up inWortham, Texas. He is the only child of L.A. and Sammie Lee Davis, but has 21 half-brothers and half-sisters (L.A. had 11 children from a previous marriage, while Sammie Lee had 10 children from a previous marriage).
Davis attendedWortham High School, where he led his Bulldogsbasketball team to the state championship in 1997 and the football team to the 2nd round of the 1996 Texas High School Football Playoffs. He was a Parade All-American in football and USA Today first-team All-American playing defense and offense for a school with fewer than 150 students. Davis also lettered in track.
He was inducted into the Texas High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.[1]
Davis played college football at theUniversity of Texas at Austin from 1997 to 2000, arriving inJohn Mackovic's final season> He intended to playdefensive tackle and even started three games at that position, but he was moved to theoffensive line afterMack Brown was named the new head coach. He playedleft tackle in his last two years.
During his career, Davis blocked for three consecutive 1000-yard season rushers in Hodges Mitchell and twice forHeisman Trophy winnerRicky Williams, who set the college career rushing record. In 1998, he helped the Longhorn go to and with the Cotton Bowl and finish ranked 15/16/
He was second team All-Big 12 in his junior season and helped the Longhorns win the Big 12 South, go to theBig 12 Championship Game, return to theCotton Bowl and finish ranked 21/23.[1]
Prior to his senior year he was named a Playboy Preseason All-American and that year the Longhorns went to the2000 Holiday Bowl, finishing the season ranked 12th. That season Davis was a first-teamAll-Big 12 selection, and a consensus first-teamAll-American.[2] He was also a finalist for theOutland Trophy and a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award.
Following his senior year, he played in theEast-West Shrine Bowl.[1]
Davis was UT's fifth top-two pick in draft history and its first sinceKenneth Sims went No. 1 in1982.
In 2005, Davis was selected to the Big 12's 10th Anniversary Team.[3]
He was named to the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2016.[4]
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft5+7⁄8 in (1.98 m) | 370 lb (168 kg) | 5.28 s | 1.85 s | 3.06 s | 5.18 s | 8.72 s | 28.0 in (0.71 m) | 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m) | 33 reps | |||
| All values fromNFL Combine[5] | ||||||||||||
Davis was selected second overall in the2001 NFL draft by theArizona Cardinals, and was named the starter atright guard as a rookie.[6] He came in 4th for the NFL AP Offensive Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. The next year injuries on theoffensive line forced the team to move him toright tackle. He was moved back toguard in2003.
In2004, afterDennis Green was named the new head coach, he was moved toleft tackle where he would remain for three seasons, even though he struggled at the position and was one of the highest penalized players in the league.
On February 17,2007, the Cardinals told Davis that they would not name him afranchise ortransition player, clearing him to become anunrestricted free agent.
On March 4,2007, Davis signed with theDallas Cowboys for a seven-year, $49.6 million contract with $18.75 million guaranteed, who were looking to replace the retiredMarco Rivera.[7] At the time, the contract was criticized in the media, for the amount of salary cap space being assigned to a player who would playguard and who had an average performance in previous years. According toForbes, Davis was the highest-paid NFL player and 19th overall athlete in the 12-month period ending in June 2007, earning $25.4 million.[8]
Davis was named the starter atright guard and would flourish in Dallas by going to thePro Bowl in his first three seasons. He had an exceptional year in2007, as he receivedPro Bowl andAll-Pro honors for the first time in his career. The Cowboys finished 13-3 and won theNFC East division, but suffered a disappointing first round playoff loss against theNew York Giants (who would go on to win theSuper Bowl).
In2009, the Cowboys again won the division and also won their first playoff game in 13 seasons, but lost in the divisional round to theMinnesota Vikings.
In the 2010 season, Davis struggled and was even benched halfway through the game against Tennessee. His replacement injured his eye, Davis returned and didn't miss another snap all season. Nonetheless, he was released by the Cowboys the following July - after thelockout - to make salary camp room.[9] At the time he left Dallas, he had started every game of the previous 5 seasons.
After his release by Dallas, Davis tried out with the Lions during the offseason, but did not make the roster. In October, he had a workout with the Titans.[10]
On November 7,2011, he signed a one-year deal with theDetroit Lions.[11][12] After joining the team midway through the season, he was declared inactive for every game with the Lions and became a free agent when the season was over.
In the offseason, Davis had foot surgery and then visited the 49ers.[13]
On July 26,2012, Davis signed a one-year deal with theSan Francisco 49ers as afree agent. He was a backup but played in all 16 games and all 3 playoff games that year, sometimes lining up as tight end. He played 13% of offensive snaps and 19% of special teams snaps that year.[14] He helped the team reachSuper Bowl XLVII. In the game, the last of his career, he played 6 plays on special teams and the 49ers fell to theBaltimore Ravens by a score of 34–31.[15]
After retiring, Davis spent time as the bassist in the heavy metal band Free Reign with former Cowboys' teammatesMarc Colombo andCory Procter with guitaristJustin Chapman.
His older half-brotherCharlie Davis playeddefensive tackle in theNFL and theUSFL.
Davis started coaching football atChandler High School inChandler, Arizona in 2021.[16]