James Andrew Davis (born January 1, 1986) 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

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(NFL). He played

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for the Clemson Tigers 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 sixth round of the 2009 NFL draft. He was also a member of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

, and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Early life

Davis was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, and attended Douglass High School, where he rushed for 7,339 yards and 80 touchdowns in his career. As a senior, he ran for 2,389 yards and 28 touchdowns on 350 carries, including two games with 300+ yards. Davis has a brother Mike Davis who played for the Gamecocks. He participated in the Georgia North/South game and earned co-MVP honors as he scored the only touchdown to lead the North to victory. Davis received 5A all-state honors by the ''

Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Jo ...

'' as a senior, after being named honorable mention 5A all-state as a junior. He was also an honorable mention All-Southern team pick by the ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

''. Considered a four-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Davis was listed as the No. 6 running back prospect in the nation in the class of 2005. He chose Clemson 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 ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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 ...

, Louisiana State,

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

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, and

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

College career

Already a starter in his true freshman season at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

, Davis racked up 879 rushing yards on 165 carries and scored nine rushing touchdowns, which set the Tiger single-season freshman touchdown record. He had four 100-yard rushing games, most ever by a Tiger true freshman, and ranked first among freshmen in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

in rushing. Davis was subsequently named ACC Rookie of the Year, the first Tiger to win the award since Anthony Simmons in 1995. He was also a second-team freshman All-American by ''Rivals.com'' and third-team by '' College Football News'', as well as an honorable mention freshman All-American by ''

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''. In his sophomore year, Davis rushed 1,187 yards (sixth highest total in Clemson history) for an average of 91.3 yards per game (5.85 yards per carry), 28th-best in the nation and third-best in the ACC. His 17 touchdowns tied a Clemson single-season record also held by Lester Brown in 1978, and was fifth-most in ACC history. Davis was one of ten semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award in 2006, and also earned First-team All-ACC honors. Clemson's leading rusher for the third-straight year (the first Tiger to do so since Raymond Priester from 1995–97), Davis ran for 1,064 yards and 10 touchdowns on 214 attempts as a junior. He ranked second in the ACC and 53rd in the nation in rushing average per game (81.8). Davis became the first Tiger running back to be named First-team All-ACC in consecutive years since Terry Allen (1987, 1988). As a senior, Davis suffered separated shoulder in spring 2008 practices, and 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 ...

to repair. He failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark for a third consecutive year, as he only rushed for 751 yard and 11 touchdowns. However, he still led Clemson in rushing, becoming the first Tiger in history to do that. Davis finished his college career fourth in Tiger history in career all-purpose yards (4,309).

Professional career

Pre-draft

Davis applied for the 2008 NFL draft in January 2008, but withdrew his name a few days before the final deadline. He was automatically eligible in the 2009 NFL draft, but his draft stock had taken a hit after his up-and-down senior season. Consistently referred to as a "one-cut, one-speed runner", Davis was projected as a late-round pick.

Cleveland Browns

Davis was selected in the sixth round (195th overall) by the Cleveland Browns. On September 12, Davis was involved in a minor one-car accident and suffered a head injury. He was briefly hospitalized and released a few hours later. Davis was projected by many pundits to be a good under-the-radar player and a

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sleeper, however after appearing in the season's first three games, Davis was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on October 3, after allegedly being tackled by 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 ...

in practice and suffering a torn labrum. It was initially reported Davis did not have shoulder pads on while the

that tackled him did. However, an investigation by the NFL concluded that the injury occurred in a "controlled environment" and no league policies were violated. On October 25, 2010, he was released by the Browns.

Washington Redskins

On October 27, 2010 Davis was signed to the Washington Redskins practice squad. During the Redskins' Week 11 victory over the

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 ...

, back up running back, Chad Simpson, suffered a broken foot during pregame warmups, Davis was then signed to the Redskins' roster the following day, November 22, 2010. Davis left the squad on August 15, 2011, after reportedly being unhappy with his playing time. The following day, he was placed on reserve/left squad. He requested and was granted his release on August 21.

Houston Texans

On September 28, 2011, Davis was signed to the

practice squad.

Detroit Lions

On October 19, 2011, Davis was signed to the

practice squad. On October 21, he was placed on the practice squad/injured list.

Personal life

Davis's brother, Mike Davis, is a former running back for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, James Living people 1986 births Players of American football from Atlanta American football running backs Clemson Tigers football players Cleveland Browns players Washington Redskins players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Detroit Lions players