Eric Wayne Davis (born January 26, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Davis was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 1990 NFL draft. He played in NFL seasons from 1990 to 2002.
In 2008, he was elected to the Division II College Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
College career
Davis played for Jacksonville State, which was at the time a Division II school, from 1986 to 1989. As a senior, he led the team to a 13–1 record, a Gulf South Conference championship, and an appearance in the Division II championship game. He finished 1989 with 51 tackles, 8 pass deflections, and 6 interceptions. He was voted into the school's athletic hall of fame in 1999.
Professional career San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers selected Davis in the second round (53rd overall) of the 1990 NFL draft. He was the fourth cornerback drafted in 1990 and became the fourth player from Jacksonville State to be selected in the NFL draft since 1967. 1990 season On July 29, 1990, the San Francisco 49ers signed Davis three—year, $950,000 rookie contract that included an initial signing bonus of $250,000. Due to an undisclosed injury, Davis missed the majority of training camp during his rookie year. Head coach George Seifert relegated Davis to a backup role at cornerback to begin the regular season and remained a backup behind the starting tandem of Don Griffin and Darryl Pollard.
On September 10, 1990, Davis made his professional regular season debut in the San Francisco 49ers’ season-opener at the New Orleans Saints and recorded one solo tackle and set a season-high with two pass break-ups during a 13—12 victory. In Week 6, he set a season-high with four solo tackles during a 45—35 victory at the Atlanta Falcons. On December 9, 1990, Davis had one pass break-up and had his first career interception as the 49ers won in overtime 20—17 at the Cincinnati Bengals. He intercepted a pass Boomer Esiason attempted to throw to wide receiver Tim McKee with nine seconds left in the game and sent the game into overtime after a 17—17 tie in regulation. He finished his rookie season with 21 combined tackles (20 solo), five pass deflections, a fumble recovery, and an interception in 16 games and zero starts. 1991 season Entering training camp, Davis was slated to remain a backup cornerback. On August 23, 1991, starting cornerback Darryl Pollard suffered a fractured ankle during a 28—16 victory at the Seattle Seahawks in their final preseason game. Defensive coordinator Bill McPherson held a competition between Davis and Kevin Lewis for the vacant starting role at cornerback. Head coach George Seifert named Davis a starting cornerback to begin the season alongside Don Griffin. On September 2, 1991, Davis earned his first career start in the San Francisco 49ers’ season-opener at the New York Giants and recorded five combined tackles (four solo) during their 14—16 loss. In Week 2, Davis set a season-high with five solo tackles as the 49ers routed the San Diego Chargers 34—14. On September 11, 1991, the San Francisco 49ers officially placed Davis on injured reserve for the rest of the 1991 NFL season due to torn muscles in his left shoulder that required surgery. His second season was limited to two games and two starts with ten combined tackles (nine solo). 1992 season He entered training camp slated as the No. 2 starting cornerback following the departures of Darryl Pollard, Kevin Lewis, and Mark Lee. Head coach George Seifert named Davis and Don Griffin the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season. In Week 3, Davis set a season-high with nine solo tackles during a 31—14 victory at the New York Jets. On September 27, 1992, Davis recorded five solo tackles, set a season-high with two pass deflections, recovered a fumble, and secured a 16—10 victory at the New Orleans Saints by intercepting a pass attempt by Bobby Herbert with 19 seconds remaining in the game. In Week 7, he made three solo tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass Chris Miller attempted to throw to wide receiver Michael Haynes as the 49ers routed the Atlanta Falcons 17—56. He started in all 16 games for the first time in his career and recorded 61 combined tackles (58 solo), 12 pass deflections, three interceptions, and made two fumble recoveries.
The San Francisco 49ers finished the 1992 NFL season first in the NFC West with a 14—2 record, clinching a playoff berth and a first round bye. On January 9, 1993, Davis earned hiz first start in a playoff game and recorded four solo tackles, made three pass deflections, and intercepted Mark Rypien's pass attempt to wide receiver Ricky Sanders as the 49ers defeated the defending Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins 13—20 in the NFC Divisional Round. On January 17, 1993, Davis started in the NFC Championship Game and made seven combined tackles (six solo) and had one pass break-up as the 49ers lost 20—30 to the eventual Super Bowl XXVII Champions the Dallas Cowboys.
1993 season Davis and Don Griffin returned as the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season. On October 3, 1993, Davis recorded three combined (one solo), set a new career-high with seven pass deflections, and returned an interception for the first touchdown of his career as the 49ers routed the Minnesota Vikings 38—19. His first career pick-six occurred after Davis picked off a pass Jim McMahon threw to wide receiver Anthony Carter and returned it 41—yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. On October 17, 1993, Davis recorded five combined tackles (four solo), made two pass deflections, and recovered a fumble by running back Emmitt Smith and returned it 4—yards for a touchdown during a 17—26 loss at the Dallas Cowboys. In Week 8, he set a season-high with ten combined tackles (nine solo), made two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass Steve Beuerlein threw to wide receiver Anthony Edwards as the 49ers defeated the Phoenix Cardinals 14—28. On December 24, 1993, the San Francisco 49ers re-signed Davis to a two—year, $2.40 million contract extension. The 49ers were re-signing players before the NFL salary cap would officially come into effect. He started in all 16 games and finished the season with 69 combined tackles (63 solo), 27 pass deflections, four interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and two touchdowns.
The San Francisco 49ers finished the 1993 NFL season atop the NFC West with a 10—6 record to clinch a playoff berth and a first round bye. On January 15, 1994, Davis made three solo tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted Phil Simms' pass attempt to wide receiver Ed McCaffrey as the 49ers routed the New York Giants 44—3 in the NFC Divisional Round. The following week, Davis recorded five combined tackles (four solo) and made a pass deflection during a 21—38 loss at the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game. 1994 season On February 17, 1994, the San Francisco 49ers hired Ray Rhodes to takeover as their defensive coordinator after Bill McPherson was promoted to assistant head coach. Head coach George Seifert retained Davis as a starting cornerback and paired him with free agent acquisition Deion Sanders.
On October 23, 1994, Davis recorded two combined tackles (one solo), set a season-high with four pass deflections, and had his lone interception of the season on a pass Trent Dilfer threw to wide receiver Courtney Hawkins as the 49ers defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16—41. In Week 11, Davis set a season-high with 12 combined tackles (11 solo) and had one pass deflection as the 49ers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21—14. He started all 16 games in 1994 and finished with a total of 74 combined tackles (68 solo), 23 pass deflections, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one interception.
The San Francisco 49ers finished the 1994 NFL season first in the NFC West with a 13—3 record. On January 7, 1995, Davis made three solo tackles, one pass break-up, and intercepted a pass Steve Walsh threw to Curtis Conway as the 49ers routed the Chicago Bears 15—44 in the NFC Divisional Round. On January 15, 1995, Davis made eight solo tackles, two pass deflections, two interceptions, ans returnedan interception thrown by Troy Aikman for a 44—yard touchdown as the 49ers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 28—38 in the NFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl. On January 29, 1995, Davis started in Super Bowl XXIX and recorded six solo tackles, made three pass deflections, and intercepted a pass Stan Humphries threw to wide receiver Tony Martin as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers 26—49. Davis earned his first and only Super Bowl ring of his career. 1995 season On February 3, 1995, the San Francisco 49ers hired former New York Jets head coach Pete Carroll as their new defensive coordinator following Ray Rhodes departure to become head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Following the departure of Deion Sanders, Davis became the No. 1 starting cornerback and was paired with Marquez Pope.
In Week 3, Davis made seven combined tackles (six solo), one pass deflection, and had the first sack of his career on Drew Bledsoe for an eight-yard loss as the 49ers defeated the New England Patriots 3—28. In Week 10, he set a season-high with ten solo tackles and made three pass deflections during a 7—13 loss to the Carolina Panthers. He was inactive as the 49ers defeated the New York Giants 20—6 in Week 5 after injuring his shoulder and groin. On November 26, 1995, Davis made one solo tackle, one pass deflection, and returned an interception thrown by Chris Miller for an 86—yard touchdown as the 49ers routed the St. Louis Rams 13—41. On December 3, 1995, he recorded one tackle, set a season-high with four pass deflections, and set a season-high with two interceptions on passes by Jim Kelly during a 27—17 win against the Buffalo Bills. He finished the 1995 NFL season with a total of 51 combined tackles (43 solo), 22 pass deflections, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, one sack, and scored one touchdown in 15 games and 15 starts. He was voted to the 1996 Pro Bowl, marking the first Pro Bowl selection of his career. 1996 season Following the 1992 NFL season, Davis became an unrestricted free agent and was highly sought after. He visited and met with multiple teams, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, and Carolina Panthers. He also had contract negotiations with the San Francisco 49ers and was offered a four—year, $8 million contract, but declined to accept their offer.
Carolina Panthers On February 21, 1996, the Carolina Panthers signed Davis to a four—year, $11.40 million contract that included an initial signing bonus of $3.00 million. The Panthers signed Davis following the departure of Tim McKyer and was slated to takeover as their starting cornerback. Head coach Dom Capers named Davis a starting cornerback to begin the regular season and paired him with Tyrone Poole.