Bruce Edward Davis (June 21, 1956December 25, 2021) was an American 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 an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

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) for 11 seasons with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders and the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

. 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

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, switching to the offensive line after beginning his collegiate career as a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. He won two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s with the Raiders.

Career

Davis attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, and began his collegiate career with the

Bruins Bruin, (from Dutch for "brown"), is an English folk term for brown bear. Bruin, Bruins or BRUIN may also refer to: Places * Lake Bruin, ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River located in northeastern Louisiana ** Lake Bruin State Park * Bruin, K ...

as a

. He moved to

as a senior after the offensive line was beset with injuries. Davis was selected by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

in the 11th round of the

1979 NFL draft The 1979 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 May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

, his low position due to his limited time as an offensive lineman. Raiders' owner

Al Davis Allen R. Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American professional football executive and coach. He was the managing general partner, principal owner and ''de facto'' general manager of the National Football League (NFL) Oakland Rai ...

admired his lower-body strength. Mentored out of college by the Raiders'

Art Shell Arthur Lee Shell Jr. (born November 26, 1946) is an American former professional football player and coach. He played as an offensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL) for the Oakland / ...

, Bruce Davis became a full-time starter at

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, when he supplanted Shell. Davis won two

s with the Raiders ( XV in 1981,

XVIII 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 (number), 17 and preceding 19 (number), 19. It is an even composite number. Mathematics 18 is a semiperfect number and an abundant number. It is a largely composite number, as it has 6 divisors a ...

in 1984), and teammates voted him the team's best offensive lineman in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

. In 1987, Davis was traded mid-season to the

, who were 5–2 and contending for the playoffs. He played in 43 consecutive games for the Oilers until he was released after the 1989 season. He had been holding out, seeking a new contract after making $435,000 in the past season. He had

arthroscopic surgery Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgery, surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted in ...

on both knees that offseason and fell to third on the depth chart at left tackle behind

Don Maggs Donald James Maggs (born November 1, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a tackle and guard in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL). Maggs was born and raised in Youngstown, ...

and David Williams. Davis re-signed with the Raiders prior to the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

exhibition season, but he was released before the regular-season opener. He ended his 11-year career with 160 games played and 115 starts.

Personal life

Davis was born on June 21, 1956, in

Rutherfordton, North Carolina Rutherfordton (usually pronounced ( ) or ( ), among other similar variations) is a town and the county seat of Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,640 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Th ...

, and graduated from Henry E. Lackey High School in

Indian Head, Maryland Indian Head is a town in Charles County, Maryland, Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,894 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. It has been the site of a naval base specializing in gun and rocket propellan ...

. After his playing career, he became a high school history and geography teacher. Davis's son Bruce II also attended UCLA and was an

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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

with the Bruins, and played professionally as well for the Oakland Raiders. They are one of the few father–son combos to have played on teams that reached the Super Bowl; Bruce II 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 the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

squad that advanced to

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

. Davis died on December 25, 2021, in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, at the age of 65.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Bruce 1956 births 2021 deaths American football offensive tackles Houston Oilers players Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players People from Rutherfordton, North Carolina Sportspeople from Rutherford County, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina UCLA Bruins football players