Samuel Davis (July 5, 1944 – September 10, 2019) 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 a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

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 ...

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) from 1967 to 1979. He won four

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 Steelers.

College career

Davis played

Allen University Allen University is a private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

Professional career

Davis was an

undrafted 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 ...

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

in 1967. He did not start any game during his first three years of play, but started at the left

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

position for the

from 1970 to 1979. In 1970,

Chuck Noll Charles Henry Noll (January 5, 1932 – June 13, 2014) was an American professional football player and head coach. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, his sole head coaching position was for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the ...

's second year as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

, Davis replaced Larry Gagner and started all 14 games. From 1970 to 1979, he played next to left

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 ...

Jon Kolb and the two went on to win four

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

s together with the Steelers (

Super Bowls 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 ...

IX, X, XIII, and XIV). However, Davis injured his foot before Pittsburgh's first Super Bowl and

Jim Clack James Thomas Clack (October 26, 1947 – April 7, 2006) was an American professional football center and guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played for 11 seasons between 1971 and 1981. He died of heart failure in 2006 af ...

started in his place in Super Bowls IX and then retained the starting job throughout the 1975 season and Super Bowl X. In 1980, he was replaced by Ray Pinney.

Death

On September 10, 2019, at approximately 6:50 am, Davis, aged 75, was reported missing from the New Life Care Personal Home in

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Pittsburgh, it is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers. The population was 17,727 as of the ...

, Pennsylvania. He had been suffering from dementia and was legally blind. Later that evening, authorities announced that Davis was found deceased inside of the facility. Davis' family later stated that he had died of a heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Sam 1944 births 2019 deaths People from Ocilla, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Miami Northwestern Senior High School alumni American football offensive guards Allen Yellow Jackets football players Allen University alumni Pittsburgh Steelers players