Eric Davis

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 occured 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.

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 San Francisco 49ers offered a four—year, $8.00 million contract.

Denver Broncos On August 2, 2001, the Denver Broncos signed Davis to a one—year, $600,000 contract at the veteran league minimum that included an initial signing bonus of $100,000. He was reunited with defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes who was previously his defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers.

Detroit Lions On June 28, 2002, the Detroit Lions signed Davis to a one—year contract as an unrestricted free agent. The San Francisco 49ers offered a four—year, $8.00 million contract.

Denver Broncos On August 2, 2001, the Denver Broncos signed Davis to a one—year, $600,000 contract at the veteran league minimum that included an initial signing bonus of $100,000.

NFL career statistics Regular season Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Comb Solo Ast Sck Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD 1990 SF16 0 21 — — 0.0 1 13 13.0 13 0 2 1 34 0 1991 SF 2 2 10 — — 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1992 SF 16 16 61 — — 0.0 3 52 17.3 37 0 0 2 0 0 1993 SF 16 16 69 — — 0.0 4 45 11.3 41 1 1 1 47 1 1994 SF 16 16 74 68 6 0.0 1 8 8.0 8 0 1 2 0 0 1995 SF 15 15 51 43 8 1.0 3 84 28.0 86 1 2 0 0 0 1996 CAR 16 16 60 56 4 0.0 5 57 11.4 36 0 2 0 0 0 1997 CAR 14 14 41 35 6 0.0 5 25 5.0 17 0 0 1 2 0 1998 CAR 16 16 71 64 7 1.0 5 81 16.2 56 2 0 1 0 0 1999 CAR 16 16 76 58 18 0.0 5 49 9.8 16 0 1 1 0 0 2000 CAR 16 16 73 61 12 0.0 5 14 2.8 8 0 4 1 0 0 2001 DEN 16 0 25 24 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2002 DET 7 1 38 31 7 0.0 1 14 14.0 14 0 0 1 0 0 Career 188 150 670 440 69 2.0 38 442 11.6 86 4 14 12 83 1

Broadcasting career In the 2000s, Davis worked as a color analyst for the 49ers during the preseason on KPIX-TV, and also analyzed on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. In 2011, he was hired as the color analyst for the 49ers radio broadcasts, joining Ted Robinson in the booth, and replacing Gary Plummer. He was also the cohost of "The Drive with Tierney and Davis" on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco.

In 2012, he became a cohost/analyst for a new weekday morning show on NFL Network titled NFL AM. while moving to The NFL Network's flagship program Total Access. In 2016 he became cohost on the afternoon drive show at ESPN LA.

In 2017 Davis was accused of sexual assault and sexual misconduct by two makeup artists while Davis was working on Total Access. Davis was terminated from both ESPN and The NFL Network following the accusations.

In 2019 he became cohost of Bleav in 49ers Podcast.

In 2020 he was cleared of all sexual harassment allegations with all claims being dismissed with prejudice in Los Angeles County Superior Court.