Date of birth | September 8, 1952 |
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Place of birth | Huntsville, Texas, United States |
Career information | |
Position(s) | Running back |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
College | USC |
NFL draft |
1975 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37 (By the New York Jets) |
Career history | |
As player | |
1975 | Southern California Sun (WFL) |
1976 | Toronto Argonauts (CFL) |
1977 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL) |
1978 | Houston Oilers (NFL) |
1978 | Los Angeles Rams (NFL) |
1983 | Los Angeles Express (USFL) |
Honors | All-WFL (1975) |
Career stats | |
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Anthony Davis (born September 8, 1952), also known as A.D., is a former American football running back. He played in the World Football League, the Canadian Football League, the National Football League, and the USFL. Davis played college football and college baseball at the University of Southern California, where he earned five national championships (2 in football and 3 in baseball).
Anthony Davis was a college football All-American in 1974, and led the USC Trojans in rushing, scoring and kick return yardage for three consecutive seasons. He is especially remembered for scoring 11 touchdowns in three games against Notre Dame. In a 45-23 USC win on December 2, 1972, he scored six touchdowns which set a school single game record. Two of those scores came on kickoff returns. He returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown after Notre Dame won the coin toss and chose to kick. Later in the game after Notre Dame scored on a short pass and narrowed the Trojans' lead, he returned the following kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. In this game, Davis had three kickoff returns for a total of 218 yards giving him an average of 72.7 yards per return. This set an NCAA record for the highest average gain per return in a single game. In his career as a Trojan he returned 37 kickoffs for 1,299 yards, an NCAA record 35.1 yard average. His six career kickoff returns for touchdowns set an NCAA record which stood until 2009, when it was broken by C. J. Spiller of Clemson University . Davis' kickoff return average of 42.5 yards in 1974, is the highest kickoff return average for any single season leader ever. He was also the first Pacific-8 Conference player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons – 1,191 in 1972; 1,112 in 1973 and 1,469 in 1974. For his career at USC he carried the ball 784 times for 3,772 yards and 44 touchdowns. In his senior year (1974) he was a unanimous Consensus All-American selection. Davis was also a two-time (1973–1974) first team All Pac-8 Conference selection. He was also the third multiple recipient of the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy, awarded each year to the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast. Davis won the Voit trophy in 1972 and 1974.