Douglas Sherone Davis (July 2, 1944 – February 10, 2011) was a professional

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 ...

tackle for seven seasons for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of 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 was born July 2, 1944, in Elkton, Md. and was the son of Newton and Grace Reynolds Davis. He was married to Roberta and had a son Brian Davis. His siblings include (sisters) Christine Thomas, Bertha (Lowell) Kennedy, Nancy (James) Griffith, Brothers Larry (Phyllis) Davis, Kenneth Davis, Earnst (Brenda) Davis. Doug graduated from Centerburg High School in Central Ohio in 1962 and continued his education at the University of Kentucky. He was a member of the Wildcat football team from 1962 to 1966. He was chosen by the Wigman of America to be a National High School All American All Star player which earned him the right to play in the All-Star game in Dallas, Texas. Drafted in the 5th round, first pick by the Minnesota Vikings, he appeared in 148 career regular season games. Along with Grady Alderman, Mick Tingelhoff, Jim Vellone and Milt Sunde, he formed a highly-effective offensive line which played a significant role in the Vikings reaching

Super Bowl IV Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking ...

in 1970. Following his football career, Davis worked as a highly respected national sales director for a water technology company for 25 years in Sarasota FL. He died on 10 February 2011 in

Brandon, Florida Brandon is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. The p ...

where he lived. He was 66.

References

1944 births 2011 deaths People from Elkton, Maryland Players of American football from Maryland American football offensive tackles Kentucky Wildcats football players Minnesota Vikings players Sportspeople from Brandon, Florida Players of American football from Hillsborough County, Florida 20th-century American sportsmen {{offensive-lineman-1940s-stub