Milton Eugene Davis (May 31, 1929 – September 29, 2008) was a defensive back who played four seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the Baltimore Colts. He had 27 career interceptions with the Colts, and he led the NFL in interceptions in 1957 and 1959. The defensive back was born May 31, 1929, on the

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

Indian reservation in Muskogee, Oklahoma to a father of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and Native American ancestry.via

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"Milt Davis, a Cornerback on 2 Title-Winning Teams, Dies at 79"
''

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'', October 2, 2008. Accessed October 2, 2008. According to Davis, his father was Black and

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsKiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

. He moved as a toddler to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Kilngaman, Mike
"Ex-Colt Milt Davis dies at 79"
''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'', October 1, 2008. He attended Jefferson High School and

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

, both in Los Angeles. He worked at the Vista Del Mar

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...

as a counselor while attending college. His track performance earned him a partial

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

. He earned a spot on the UCLA Bruins football team in both 1952 and 1953 under coach

Red Sanders Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He was head coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California at Los Angeles (1949–1957), compili ...

, and played in the team's

1954 Rose Bowl The 1954 Rose Bowl was the 40th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Friday, January 1. The third-ranked Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference defeated the #5 UCLA Bruins of the ...

28–20 loss to the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

. The Detroit Lions drafted him in 1954, the same year he was drafted into the

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, serving there for two years. After his return from the Army, the Lions told him "We don't have a black teammate for you to go on road trips, therefore you can't stay on our team." The Baltimore Colts gave Davis a tryout and signed him as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. In his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season in 1957, he had 10 interceptions which were returned for a total of 219 yards, two of them 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 Amer ...

s including a return of 75 yards. He was on the

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that season.Milt Davis
, databaseFootball.com. Accessed October 2, 2008. In the 1958 season, he had four interceptions, which he returned for a total of 40 yards. In the

1958 NFL Championship Game The 1958 NFL Championship Game was the 26th NFL championship game, played on December 28 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. It was the first NFL playoff game to be decided in sudden death overtime. The final score was Baltimore Colts 23, New ...

against the New York Giants, played at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

, Davis — despite playing with two broken bones in his right foot — forced one of two first-half fumbles by Giants

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

, both of which led to touchdowns by the Colts; The Colts won 23–17 in overtime in a game called "The Greatest Game Ever Played". Davis had seven interceptions in the 1959 season, which he returned for 119 yards, including a 57-yard return for a touchdown. In the

1959 NFL Championship Game The 1959 NFL Championship Game was the 27th NFL championship game, played on December 27 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a rematch of the 1958 championship game that went into overtime. The defending champion Baltimore Col ...

, the Colts beat the Giants for a second consecutive season, this time by a 31–16 score. In 1960, he had six interceptions which he returned for 32 yards. Angered at the treatment of black players, including segregated hotels and restaurants, Davis retired after four seasons in the NFL and returned to complete work on a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

at UCLA. He worked as a scout for several NFL teams and taught at John Marshall High School. He was a professor of natural history at

from 1964 to 1989, then

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

with his wife, where he raised

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft ...

and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

. He died in

Elmira, Oregon Elmira is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located west of Eugene and north of Veneta and Oregon Route 126, near the Long Tom River and Fern Ridge Reservoir. The community was named after Elmira, Califor ...

of brain cancer at age 79 on September 29, 2008.Noland, Claire
"Milt Davis dies at 79; All-Pro defensive back for Baltimore Colts"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', October 1, 2008. Accessed October 2, 2008.

References

External links

"Colts grew with 'Pops' at their side," ''The Baltimore Sun'', Thursday, October 2, 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Milt 1929 births 2008 deaths American football defensive backs UCLA Bruins football players Baltimore Colts players Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Los Angeles City Cubs football players University of California, Los Angeles alumni American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent Sportspeople from Muskogee, Oklahoma Players of American football from Los Angeles African-American players of American football Burials at Willamette National Cemetery Jefferson High School (Los Angeles) alumni United States Army soldiers 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people