Absolute Davis

He starred on the gridiron in the '70s, but

By DAVIDCISNEROS
Assistant Sports Editor

It is now decades later, and not a day goes by that someone doesn't come up to Anthony Davis and mention his days as an Irish-killer. In fact, sometimes all they have to say is two words - "Notre Dame" - and it's understood. Trojans love him. The Fighting Irish hate him.

But for Davis, who became legendary for single-handedly crushing Notre Dame, scoring 11 touchdowns against them in his career en route to two national titles, Irish could someday run in the family.

That's because his 12-year-old daughter wants to go to Notre Dame.

Well, that was after she met California Lt. Governor Dan Lungren and Treasurer Chuck Quackenbush, both friends of Davis, who convinced her she should go to Notre Dame.

"She's thinking USC now," said Davis, a single parent. "The only problem is, they don't have a (varsity) softball program (at USC), and she is pretty good at what she does for her age and her level."

But while his daughter's collegiate future remains up in the air, Davis' collegiate past is etched into the annals of Trojan lore - and burned into the memories of Irish fans who remember the humiliation.

If you know USC football, then you know Davis.

You know Davis rushed for 3,928 yards in his career - third in all-time rushing for the Trojans behind Heisman winners Charles White and Marcus Allen.

You might remember he was one of the greatest kickoff return men in college football history, averaging almost 35 yards per kickoff and returning six for touchdowns.

You know him as the player who Notre Dame so feared and hated that Irish students burned him in effigy and taped pictures of him on the walkways of the campus in 1973 so they could trample his face.

You might also recall that he played in four different pro leagues in a disappointing pro football career.

But what you might not know is that if he could do it all over, he wouldn't have played pro football.

"If I could do it over," he said, "I'd have played professional baseball. Of course, the (pro football) money was great coming out of school, but if you don't get with the right surroundings, the proper coaching and the proper players, (success) is not going to happen."

Davis was drafted in the second round by the New York Jets in 1975 but decided to play with the Southern California Sun of the World Football League. After a stellar rookie year, the league folded and Davis went to the Canadian Football League. He quit after a year when the Toronto Argonauts attempted to make him a wide receiver.

Davis then rejoined his former coach at USC, John McKay, in the NFL in Tampa Bay but was traded to Houston. Injuries plagued the remainder of his career, which included stints with the Rams in 1979 and the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League.

Davis has no regrets about playing in four different leagues, but he said he would have done better in baseball - if only he had been patient. Davis was a switch-hitting center fielder who won two NCAA championships under legendary USC Head Coach Rod Dedeaux. Davis was actually drafted by the Orioles in 1974 and the Twins in 1975 but never signed because he chose the gridiron rather than the diamond.

"If I'd have been patient and waited a year or two, I would have got that money playing professional baseball," Davis said. "I think I'd have done well. (Ex-Detroit Tiger Coach) Sparky Anderson saw me the other day and said, ŚYou know something - you should have played 20 years in the major leagues.' If it was up to Dedeaux and (ex-Dodger manager) Tommy Lasorda, I'd have played baseball. They rub it in the wounds."

But Davis feels he emerged from the turmoil of his professional career a better person.

"I bounced around, but in a lot of ways it's been a blessing in disguise because when I got out I got in the real world and found my niche in business, which is real estate development," Davis said.

Davis has done well in his career in the real estate business and owns his own company, Southern California Business and Sports, which is attempting to build a 440-acre sports park in El Toro to attract an NFL team to southern California.

Davis, who has done some acting in television and film, also continues to be a spokesperson for Nike - he maintains he is the first USC athlete to wear Nike.

"They used to kick Nike off campus when I was in school," Davis recalled.

Nike had reason to keep an eye on Davis - especially during two special games against Notre Dame that, to this day, remain as two of the greatest individual performances in Trojan football history.

In 1972, Davis ran for an astonishing six touchdowns in a 45-23 win against Notre Dame that led USC to a Rose Bowl win versus Ohio State and a national title.

But it was the 1974 game that most people remember-but not just because Davis rushed for four touchdowns.

It was how the team did it.

Notre Dame, then No. 2 in the country, jumped out to 24-0 first-half lead in front of a stunned Coliseum crowd. Davis scored a seemingly insignificant touchdown to close it to 24-6 at the half, but all hope seemed lost.

That was until Davis got his hands on the ball, taking the opening kickoff of the second half 102 yards for a touchdown that electrified the team and a frenzied crowd. Davis' touchdown opened the floodgates as USC ran its lead to 55-24 in less than 17 minutes. Davis scored twice more in the third quarter in what is considered one of the greatest - and most improbable - comebacks in college football history.

"We turned into madmen," was Davis' famous quote after the touchdown barrage against Notre Dame. Madmen indeed, but it was Notre Dame that was driven mad as Irish fans watched USC win the Rose Bowl, 18-17, against Ohio State to capture its second national title in three years.

The game made Davis a legend - and a figure of hatred for Notre Dame fans. After the game, Davis, who was the last to leave the Coliseum-bruised and battered-encountered firsthand just how much Notre Dame fans hated him.

"I come outside and I notice these people in dark clothes, and this woman comes out of the shadows and has a crucifix and she says, ŚNo one does that against Notre Dame. You must be the devil,'" Davis said. "I just looked and stared at this woman. She kept mumbling and talking as I was walking and she says, ŚThat'll never happen again. Thank goodness you're leaving this place.'"

Davis did leave, and no one has since inflicted what he did on Notre Dame. He was there this year when Notre Dame had its own 1972-like 21-point comeback against USC in the unearthly rain earlier this year. And he was there when USC finally beat UCLA for the first time in nine years.

For Davis, it's the spirit of those two big games he misses most about his playing days at USC. And while last week marked the 25th anniversary of the "Comeback," it's an everyday topic for Davis.

"A day hasn't gone by in 25 years people don't talk to me about that game," he said. "That's what is amazing to me - this (year) is the anniversary, but I get it all the time."

Because of that day, the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles put him on trial in 1997 for "high crimes and misdemeanors against the Irish."

Davis laughed about the mock trial. "That was Quackenbush and Lungren and all those guys," he said. "They're the ones who got to my daughter."

It's his daughter who he hopes will continue the Davis tradition at USC. Now all he has to do is find a way to get a softball program at USC - this Davis will have to score runs instead of touchdowns.

"I raise a very lively 12-year-old daughter who drives me crazy," Davis said, laughing. "We've got to try and figure out how to pool some money together and build her a softball field."

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 138, No. 65 (Tuesday, December 7, 1999), beginning on page 16 and ending on page 14.