Clarence Davis
No. 28 | |||||||||
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Position: | Washington Prep (Los Angeles, California) | ||||||||
College: | USC | ||||||||
NFL draft: | 1971 / Round: 4 / Pick: 97 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Clarence Eugene Davis (born June 28, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) from 1971 to 1978. He played college football for the USC Trojans. He won an NFL championship with the Raiders, winning Super Bowl XI.
Early life
Davis was born in
In 1970, he was part of
Professional career
Davis finished his rookie season with 734 return yards, 321 rushing yards, 97 receiving yards, and 2 total touchdowns. The most touchdowns he scored in a season was in his next season, where he scored 6 touchdowns (all rushing) with 71 attempts on 363 yards. In Super Bowl XI, he played a key role in the Raiders' 32–14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, he rushed 16 times for 137 yards, an average of 8.6 yards. Davis, who had been plagued by a knee injury for three years, had runs of 20, 35, 13, 18, and 16 yards, part of a Raiders team that gained for 429 yards, a Super Bowl record at the time. In his penultimate season (1977, also his final full season), he collected 911 yards (787 rushing, 124 receiving) along with 268 yards on returns. In his last season, he played in only 2 games, rushing for 4 yards on 14 carries and catching 4 passes for 24 yards. In the span of his eight seasons, he had played in 89 games, rushing 804 times for 3,640 yards for 26 touchdowns along with 99 catches for 865 yards for 2 touchdowns and 2,140 return yards on 79 returns. His 27.1 yards per return ranks as 11th all time. In 12 total playoff games (including the aforementioned Sea of Hands Game), he rushed for 506 yards on 128 attempts with 2 touchdowns while catching 13 passes for 96 yards with one touchdown.
1974 Sea of Hands Catch
Clarence Davis' catch in a
The irony of the "Sea of Hands" catch lay in the fact that Davis was nicknamed "hands of wood" by some teammates for his difficulty catching balls out of the backfield.[4]
NFL career statistics
Legend | |
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Won the Super Bowl | |
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
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GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
1971 | OAK | 14 | 0 | 54 | 321 | 5.9 | 39 | 2 | 15 | 97 | 6.5 | 18 | 0 |
1972 | OAK | 11 | 0 | 71 | 363 | 5.1 | 45 | 6 | 8 | 82 | 10.3 | 26 | 0 |
1973 | OAK | 14 | 0 | 116 | 609 | 5.3 | 32 | 4 | 7 | 76 | 10.9 | 19 | 0 |
1974 | OAK | 11 | 7 | 129 | 554 | 4.3 | 41 | 2 | 11 | 145 | 13.2 | 45 | 1 |
1975 | OAK | 11 | 8 | 112 | 486 | 4.3 | 41 | 4 | 11 | 126 | 11.5 | 31 | 1 |
1976 | OAK | 12 | 12 | 114 | 516 | 4.5 | 31 | 3 | 27 | 191 | 7.1 | 17 | 0 |
1977 | OAK | 14 | 14 | 194 | 787 | 4.1 | 37 | 5 | 16 | 124 | 7.8 | 38 | 0 |
1978 | OAK | 2 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 0.3 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 13 | 0 |
89 | 43 | 804 | 3,640 | 4.5 | 45 | 26 | 99 | 865 | 8.7 | 45 | 2 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
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GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
1972 | OAK | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
1973 | OAK | 2 | 0 | 16 | 63 | 3.9 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
1974 | OAK | 2 | 2 | 22 | 75 | 3.4 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 10 | 1 |
1975 | OAK | 2 | 2 | 29 | 92 | 3.2 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 10 | 0 |
1976 | OAK | 3 | 3 | 34 | 220 | 6.5 | 35 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 4.0 | 5 | 0 |
1977 | OAK | 2 | 2 | 25 | 49 | 2.0 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 21 | 0 |
12 | 9 | 128 | 506 | 4.0 | 35 | 2 | 13 | 96 | 7.4 | 21 | 1 |
Personal life
Davis has a son named Tyler Davis, who played college football at Missouri Valley College. Tyler was signed by the Miami Dolphins on January 4, 2016, becoming the first player to be signed from the German Football League straight to the NFL.[5]
References
- ^ "Clarence Davis Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
- ^ a b "Clarence Davis College Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
- ^ LaMarre, Tom (March 3, 2022). "RB Davis Was a Star in Two of the Greatest Raiders Games". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
- ^ Cockerham, Carl (2014-12-04). "Top 10 Running Backs in Oakland Raiders History - Page 6". Justblogbaby.com. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
- ^ "Breaking News: German Football League MVP Tyler Davis has signed a deal with the Miami Dolphins". Nfldraftdiamonds.com. 2015-06-04. Retrieved 2016-01-07.