A. J. Davis (born May 29, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

who was drafted by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

. Davis was also a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Early years

Davis attended Northern Durham High School. He played at both corner and wide receiver. He made 13 career

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s, three of which were returned for

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. As a senior, he made 42 receptions for 709 yards and nine touchdowns. He played in the 2002 U.S. Army All-American Bowl following his high school career. Davis was a Parade All-American cornerback at Northern Durham High School during his senior year, where he also competed as a receiver. Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report, a scouting service that also awarded Davis with first-team All-American honors, ranked him the top cornerback in the nation. The North Carolina High School Athletics Association named him North Carolina's Male High School Athlete of the Year. TheInsiders.com rated Davis the 24th-best prospect in the nation, regardless of position and Prep Star/CBS SportsLine accorded him Top 125 Dream Team accolades as the third-best defensive back in the nation and the best defensive back in the Atlantic region. At the U.S. Army All-American Game, Davis was timed as the contest's fastest player, boasting a 4.28-second timing in the 40-yard dash. Rivals.com rated Davis the sixth-best cornerback in the national high school ranks.

College career

Davis played

for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...

and made 23 starts out of 46 games played. He made 135

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, 1.5

Quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

and 4 Interceptions during his college career. ALL-ACC Cornerback 2006. He was also an All-ACC member of the

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

team 2003 and 2004. He majored in

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Davis was selected by the

in the fourth round (105th overall) in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was waived by the Lions but was then signed on September 3. He was released again on September 13.

Cleveland Browns

A day after his release from the Lions, Davis was signed to the

on September 14, 2007. He spent the entire season on the squad and attended training camp with the Browns in 2008 before being waived during final cuts on August 30.

Kansas City Chiefs

Davis was signed to the

on October 1, 2008 after the team released

Travarous Bain. He was released on October 28.

Indianapolis Colts

Davis was signed to the

on November 5, 2008 after

Brandon Sumrall was placed on the injured list. The Colts released Davis on November 14, only to re-sign him on November 19. He was released on December 12.

Houston Texans

Davis was signed to the

on December 16, 2008. He signed a Three year extension on August 25, 2009 and was placed on Injury Reserve on September 7, 2009.

Personal life

Davis resides in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio

Houston Texans bio

Kansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, A. J. 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina American football cornerbacks NC State Wolfpack football players Players of American football from North Carolina Detroit Lions players Cleveland Browns players Kansas City Chiefs players Indianapolis Colts players Houston Texans players