Andra Raynard Davis ronounced André(born December 23, 1978) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for 10 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

and was selected by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

in the fifth round of the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

. He also played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Early life

Davis was born in

Live Oak, Florida Live Oak is a city and the county seat of Suwannee County, Florida, United States. The city is midway between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville. As of 2020, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Burea ...

in 1978.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Andra Davis
Retrieved April 6, 2011. He attended

Suwannee High School Suwannee High School is a public high school in Live Oak, Florida Live Oak is a city and the county seat of Suwannee County, Florida, United States. The city is midway between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, Jack ...

in Live Oak,databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved April 6, 2011. where he was a four-year starter for the Suwannee Bulldogs high school football team.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2001 Roster
Andra Davis
. Retrieved April 6, 2011. As a senior in 1996, Davis was the team captain for the Suwannee Bulldogs football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams, and was recognized as a first-team Florida Class 4A all-state selection and a SuperPrep high school All-American in football.

College career

Davis accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, where he played for coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nicknam ...

's Gators teams from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 89, 97, 98, 125, 153–154, 180 (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011. The Gators coaching staff decided to red-shirt him as a true freshman in 1997. As a junior in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, Davis was a member of the Gators'

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) championship team. As a senior team captain in 2001, he was recognized as a first-team All-SEC selection and a second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. During his college career, he played in thirty-five games, and started twenty-three of them; he finished his career with 232

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, five

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

s and four forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

s, three of which were recovered.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Davis was selected by the

in the fifth round (141st pick overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft, and he played for the Browns for seven seasons from to .National Football League, Current Players
Andra Davis
Retrieved May 19, 2011. Cleveland also selected

André Davis André N. Davis (born June 12, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Tech, earning first-team All- ...

in second round of the 2002 draft, requiring the linebacker to have his full name on the back of his jersey for his first three seasons. He made his NFL debut versus the

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

on September 8, 2002. He finished his rookie season with 24 tackles and one

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, 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 ...

. Davis became the Browns starting

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and finished the season leading the team with 171 tackles. He also tied a franchise record with 4 sacks in a single game that year against Kansas City on November 9, 2003. During the 2004 season he missed the final five games of the season with a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, he finished the season with 89 tackles and three interceptions. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Davis recorded a career high and team leading 199 tackles. His best game came against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

on September 18 when he recorded 20 tackles. On November 20 he was named the AFC Defensive Player of the week after recording 14 tackles, 2 tfl and 2 pbu's in the 22–0 win over the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. On December 15, 2005, the Browns gave him a five-year contract extension. During the 2006 season Davis played in 14 games, finishing with 104 tackles, one sack and two interceptions. During the 2007 season he struggled starting only 10 of 16 games, finishing with only 67 tackles. After the 2008 season, Davis became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. He finished his seven seasons with the Browns starting 83 of 105 games, recording 711 tackles (484 unassisted), 8.5 sacks, and 8 interceptions. After football Davis went on to attain his MBA degree in 2016.

Denver Broncos

On February 28, 2009, Davis signed a two-year contract with the

. They released him on March 11, 2010. In his single season with the Broncos, he started 13 of 16 games, recording 90 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

Buffalo Bills

Davis signed a two-year contract with the

on March 16, 2010. During the season, he saw action in six games and started four of them. After appearing in sixteen games for the Bills during , he became a free agent following the season.Matt Rich Warren,
Buffalo Bills Seeking "Smaller" Linebackers, Says Andra Davis
" BuffaloRumblings.com (February 15, 2012). Retrieved April 19, 2012.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). .

External links

* – Florida Gators player profile
Andra Davis
– National Football League player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Andra 1978 births Living people American football linebackers Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Florida Gators football players Sportspeople from Live Oak, Florida Players of American football from Florida