Russell Morgan Davis (born March 28, 1975) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. The

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

selected Davis in the second round and 49th overall in the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

, and Davis played the 1999 season for the Bears. Davis then played for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

from 2000 to 2005, the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

in 2006, and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in 2007 and won the

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

title with the Giants that year.

Early life and college

Davis graduated in 1994 from E. E. Smith High School in his birthplace of

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

, and Davis was an All-State selection as a two-way lineman. He then attended the

, and played on the

North Carolina Tar Heels football The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the sport of American football or Gridiron Football. The Tar Heels play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate ...

team from 1995 to 1998 after redshirting the 1994 season. In 22 games started for North Carolina, Davis had 10.5 sacks and was in the same defensive line as

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

picks Greg Ellis and

Vonnie Holliday Dimetry Giovonni "Vonnie" Holliday (born December 11, 1975) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers 19th overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college footbal ...

. In his freshman season (1995), Davis had 46 tackles and three sacks in eight starts. In 1996 as a sophomore, Davis had 27 tackles and 2.5 sacks. In 1997 as a junior, Davis had 60 tackles and three sacks in 10 games (with 9 starts). Ellis played only two games as a senior in 1998 due to an ankle injury but had 36 tackles and two sacks for the year.

Professional career

Chicago Bears (1999)

In the

, the

selected Davis in the second round, 49th overall. As a rookie in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, Davis played in 11 games with 8 starts and made 13 tackles and 2 sacks. Davis made his first NFL career sack on September 12, 1999 to

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 ...

quarterback

Elvis Grbac Elvis M. Grbac (born August 13, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, most notably with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football at Michigan, where he won the ...

Arizona Cardinals (2000–2005)

The

acquired Davis off waivers after the Bears cut Davis. Davis made 30 tackles and a forced fumble in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

with Arizona in 14 games with 9 starts. Davis' first full season of 16 starts in 16 games was in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

; he had a career-best 54 tackles on the season, 2 sacks, and deflected a pass. Again in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Davis played and started all 16 games in the regular season. He made 44 tackles, 2 sacks, and 2 passes defended. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, playing and starting 15 games, Davis made 37 tackles, 1 sack, 2 passes defended, and a forced fumble. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Davis made 49 tackles, 1 sack, 3 passes defended, and 1 forced fumble in 16 games (all starts). After starting the first three games of

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Davis spent the rest of the year on injured reserve due to a left biceps injury. Davis made 5 tackles in 2005.

Seattle Seahawks (2006)

In 13 games (no starts), Davis made 30 tackles and 3 sacks with the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

New York Giants (2007)

In his final NFL season, Davis played 11 games with the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. He had 5 tackles and 2 passes deflected. He played two playoff games, and the Giants later won

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Russell 1975 births Living people North Carolina Tar Heels football players African-American players of American football American football defensive tackles Chicago Bears players Arizona Cardinals players Seattle Seahawks players New York Giants players People from Cumberland County, North Carolina Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople