Davis (right) with track coach Jack Harvey |
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| Born | September 15, 1956 Millen, Georgia |
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| Career information | |||
| Year(s) | 1980–1983 | ||
| NFL Draft | 1979 / Round: 4 / Pick: 86 | ||
| College | Michigan | ||
| Professional teams | |||
| Career stats | |||
| Rushing yards | 474 | ||
| Receiving yards | 45 | ||
| Kickoff return yards | 168 | ||
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |||
| Stats at DatabaseFootball.com | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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First team All-Big Ten
Michigan Wolverines team MVP Michigan Wolverines team Captain Big Ten Conference Champion (3x) |
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Russell Davis, III (born September 15, 1956) is a former professional American football fullback who was drafted by and played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He had starred for the Michigan Wolverines football team in college. Davis attended Woodbridge High School in Virginia.[1]
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Davis was the Most Valuable Player for Bo Schembechler's Big Ten Conference champion Michigan Wolverines during the 1977 NCAA Division I-A football season.[2] He was elected captain at the beginning of the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season and was selected as First team All-Big Ten at the conclusion of the season after the team defended its conference championship a second time in a row.[3] During his Michigan Wolverines career he accumulated a total of 2,550 yards rushing, including eighteen touchdowns and five 100-yard games.[4] He had started three games at fullback (Rob Lytle started the other nine) during the 1976 NCAA Division I-A football season when he enjoyed his first Big Ten Conference Championship.[5] He then started all twelve games at fullback for the 1977 and 1978 conference champions.[2][3] In his three Rose Bowl appearances, he totaled 146 yards rushing and during the 1978 Rose Bowl he led all rushers with 79 yards on 18 carries.[6] Davis was involved in the last game (of two All-time) in which Michigan has had three rushers accumulate 100 yards.[7][8]
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[9] However, he did not play at all for Chuck Knoll during the 1979 NFL season in which they won Super Bowl XIV. During 42 games over the course of four seasons from 1980 to 1983 he accumulated a total of 474 rushing on 104 carries.[10] The Steelers would not return to the playoffs until the 1982 NFL season. They lost in the first round of the 1982-83 NFL Playoffs and 1983-84 NFL Playoffs.[11][12]