Charles Franklin Davis (born November 14, 1964) is an

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

analyst. He is currently an analyst for ''

NFL on CBS ''NFL on CBS'' is an American television sports presentation show broadcast by CBS. It aired from September 30, 1956 to January 23, 1994. The show returned since September 6, 1998. The branding is used for the presentation of the National Foot ...

'', working alongside Ian Eagle. He is also an analyst for

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

preseason games, working alongside Dan Hellie. Along with Brandon Gaudin, he is the analyst for the ''

Madden NFL ''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football sports video game series developed by EA Orlando for EA Sports. The franchise, named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden, has ...

'' series since 2017. He is also an analyst for the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

, and has previously worked with

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

, TBS,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

The Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply "Golf" or "NBC Golf") is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently ba ...

and Sun Sports (now Bally Sports Sun).About Charles
," CharlesDavisSports.com. Retrieved: August 6, 2013. Davis was a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

from 1982 to 1986, though he went undrafted in the

1987 NFL draft The 1987 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 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

. He earned a master's degree in history while a student at Tennessee. He resides in

Windermere, Florida Windermere is a town in Orange County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,030. It is part of the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office opened in Windermere in 1888. The post office ...

, with his wife Lisa, a University of Tennessee law school graduate. He has a son, Parker, who played basketball at Rollins College, and is now in graduate school at Georgetown, and a daughter Taylor, who founded the clrlosangeles.com candle brand.

Early life

Davis was born in

Elizabethton, Tennessee Elizabethton () is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of ...

, but he and his family moved to

New Paltz, New York New Paltz () is an incorporated U.S. town in Ulster County, New York. The population was 14,407 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston. New Paltz contains a village, also with ...

, when he was two years old. His father, Franklin, was a high school 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 ...

coach. Davis played football,

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at New Paltz High School. Davis played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, and kicker for the high school football team. A

dual-threat quarterback In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback is a quarterback (QB) who is adept at both passing and running with the ball. With the rise of several blitz-heavy defensive schemes and faster defensive players, the importance of a mobile quarter ...

, during his senior year he passed for 742 yards and six touchdowns, and he ran for 738 yards and eleven touchdowns. He also registered four interceptions on defense, and completed 15 of 20 extra points and a field goal as a kicker. He earned All-State honors his junior and senior seasons.

College career

1983 season

Davis accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, in part because it was the school where one of his childhood heroes, Condredge Holloway, had played. After redshirting during his first season in 1982, he was moved from

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

and worked his way into the starting lineup during the 1983 season. He had interceptions against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

early in the year, and a key interception that helped preserve Tennessee's 7–0 win against

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

. He registered 12 tackles in the Vols' 41–34 win over

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and had 5 tackles and recovered a fumble in the team's loss to Auburn. He finished the season with 58 tackles (39 solo) and a team-leading 4 interceptions.

1984 season

During Tennessee's win over

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

at the start of the 1984 season, Davis suffered a broken

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

. Although he played through the pain and finished the game, he missed the next three games. He tallied 8 tackles in Tennessee's 28–27 win over Alabama, and had interceptions late in the season against

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and Vanderbilt. He finished the season with 34 tackles (22 solo), 4 passes defensed, and 2 interceptions.

1985 season

Davis was named to the Preseason All-SEC team at the beginning of Tennessee's memorable 1985 season. For the year, he registered 59 tackles (33 solo), forced 2 fumbles, and 2 passes defensed. In Tennessee's 35–7 win over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in the 1986 Sugar Bowl, Davis had 6 tackles and an interception.

1986 season

Davis was again named to the Preseason All-SEC team for the 1986 season. In the third quarter of a close game against

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, he intercepted a pass and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. He finished the year with 83 tackles (52 solo) and 4 interceptions. He was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll at the end of the season. Davis graduated with a degree in political science prior to his senior year with the Tennessee football team, and subsequently earned a master's degree in history.

Broadcasting career

Early Career

Davis was signed as an

undrafted 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 ...

by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

after the

on April 30. He was waived on August 6. After not making the team, he enrolled in

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

. One of the first games he called was the University of Tennessee's 1987 Orange-and-White Game (an annual scrimmage played at the end of spring practice), in which he worked alongside long-time Vol Network play-by-play commentator John Ward. Davis' initial career path took him into a variety of jobs related to sports. He was an assistant coach at the University of the Pacific for one season (1989), worked for the

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 ...

and was hired as the director of the United States Olympic Training Center. He was an assistant athletic director at Stanford University for three years, 1994–1996. In 1996, Davis became manager of sports operations on multipurpose fields and sports programming at the field house at Disney's Wide World of Sports. In October 1998, Davis became the first African-American to be a tournament director of a

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

golf event, when he led the Walt Disney World Golf Classic. In 1997, Fox Sports South hired him to serve as an analyst on college football games. Davis also worked at radio station 740 The Team in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, co-hosting ''Clarke and Davis'', a morning show, along with local sportscaster Pat Clarke (along with various special guests including "The Pastor" Sean Fitzgerald, Glenn Dehmer and Steve Gunter) from July 2000 until July 2002. During this same period, he worked as a

sideline reporter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

during Jefferson Pilot's SEC Game of the Week, and co-hosted the Sunshine Network's evening sports show, ''Sunshine Network Live''. He called

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

games for the

AFL on NBC The ''AFL on NBC'' is the branding used for broadcasts of Arena Football League (AFL) games produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States, that aired from the 2003 to 2006 seasons. Background J ...

from 2003 to 2004. He has also been a frequent commentator on

, appearing on program's such as ''Viewer's Forum'' and the ''Grey Goose 19th Hole''.

National Broadcasting

In basketball, Davis worked as a sideline reporter for CBS's coverage of the

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 ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Men's Tournaments. Starting with the 2002 College Football season, Davis joined TBS as a game analyst, paired primarily with Ron Thulin through the 2006 season. Additionally he worked as a sideline reporter for regular season and playoff games on the

NBA on TNT The ''NBA on TNT'' is an American presentation of National Basketball Association (NBA) games, produced by TNT Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports and later Warner Bros. Discovery Sports). In the United States, the TNT cable network held ...

. At the end of the 2006 season, Davis joined

as an analyst. He called the 2007 BCS National Championship Game with

Barry Alvarez Barry Lee Alvarez (born December 30, 1946) is an American former college football coach and athletic director at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons, from 1990 to 2005, compili ...

and Thom Brennaman, and the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

games with only Brennaman. He and Brennaman also called Appalachian State's upset of Michigan in 2007 on the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

. At Fox Sports, he primarily worked on Big Ten Network games from in 2007 & 2008, then transitioned to the

NFL on FOX The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports and televised on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox broadcast network. ...

for the 2009 & 2010 season. Fox Sports began expanding their college football portfolio and hired Gus Johnson as their lead college football broadcaster in time for the 2011 season. Davis was paired with Johnson on the lead crew for college football games from 2011 through 2014. Johnson and Davis also worked a handful of NFL games when an additional crew was needed. Davis was featured within

’s exclusive coverage of the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

. He was also an analyst on ''Path to the Draft'', which provides in-depth analysis on prospective draft choices and a look at each NFL team's needs during the off-season with host Paul Burmeister and

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock Sr. (born August 14, 1958) is an American former professional football executive and player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety with the New York Giants. After his playing career, he was a draft ...

. From 2007 to 2009, Davis was an analyst on NFL Network's College Football Now, a show that brought fans a daily dose of college football highlights, news and analysis. In addition to his duties in studio at NFL Network, Davis also served as a game analyst for the network's broadcasts of the 2007 Texas Bowl. From 2007 to 2008, he served as an analyst for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

preseason schedule. Davis joined the ''

NFL on Fox The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports and televised on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox broadcast network. ...

'' postgame show in October 2008, appearing with Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw. He appeared with

Chris Rose Christopher Rose (born January 27, 1971) is an American sportscaster for the NFL Network, and the interim radio play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Outside of football, he is also a commentator ...

, Barry Switzer, and Johnson on December 7, 2008, for the BCS results shows. He also called

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

preseason games with Tim Brant and previously, Vince Cellini. In 2014, Davis joined Bob Papa to provide game commentary at

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...

for

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces advertisement film, commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentary film, documentaries ...

' World Feed. In 2015, Davis returned full-time to the NFL on FOX joining Thom Brennaman and

Tony Siragusa Anthony Siragusa (May 14, 1967 – June 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Goose", was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle for 12 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football Leagu ...

. In 2016, Davis alongside Brandon Gaudin (who also calls

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

college football as well as select NFL games) became the new commentators for the ''Madden NFL'' video game franchise, debuting in '' Madden NFL 17'' replacing

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the New York Giants. After playing college football for the Morehead Sta ...

and

Jim Nantz James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA, and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has ancho ...

. The two continued as commentators for '' Madden NFL 18'', '' Madden NFL 19'', '' Madden NFL 20'', '' Madden NFL 21'', '' Madden NFL 22'', '' Madden NFL 23'', '' Madden NFL 24'', and '' Madden NFL 25''. Starting with the

2017 NFL season The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 52nd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 7, 2017, with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the defending Super Bowl LI champion ...

, Davis became part of Fox's number 2 team with Kevin Burkhardt and

Pam Oliver Pam Oliver (born ) is an American sportscaster known for her work on the sidelines for various National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) games. Early life and education Oliver was born in Dallas, Texas. She att ...

. In 2020, Davis returned to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

to replace Dan Fouts as the network's number 2 game analyst paired with Ian Eagle. After five seasons in that post, CBS announced it had tapped Davis as its lead

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 ...

analyst, replacing Gary Danielson upon his retirement at the end of the 2025 college football season, with J. J. Watt set to replace him beginning with the

2025 NFL season The 2025 NFL season is the 106th season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season is scheduled to begin on September 4, 2025, with reigning Super Bowl LIX, Super Bowl champion 2025 Philadelphia Eagles season, Philadelphia hosti ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Charles 1964 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American journalists African-American sports announcers African-American sports journalists American football safeties American golf commentators American television reporters and correspondents American television sports announcers Arena football announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers NFL announcers NBA broadcasters NFL Network people People from Elizabethton, Tennessee People from New Paltz, New York Sportspeople from Windermere, Florida Players of American football from Orange County, Florida Players of American football from Tennessee Tennessee Volunteers football players