Rod Davis
Encyclopedia
Rod Davis is a professional American and Canadian
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...

 linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 for the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...

 of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft
2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24-25, 2004 at the theater at Madison Square Garden...

 by the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.

Davis has played for the Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

 and Philadelphia Soul
Philadelphia Soul
The Philadelphia Soul are an Arena Football League team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They began play in as an expansion team. The team plays in the Eastern Division of the American Conference. They won their first ArenaBowl in 2008, defeating the San Jose SaberCats 59–56 in ArenaBowl XXII...

.

Early years

He went on to play at Central Junior High and Gulfport High School where he played for the Admirals, before he went to for Southern Mississippi. In 2002, he won the Conerly Trophy
Conerly Trophy
The Conerly Trophy or Cellular South Conerly Trophy is an award given annually to the best college football player in the state of Mississippi by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.-Voting:...

 as the best college football player in the state of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

.

College career

While at Southern Mississippi, Davis recorded four interceptions. Was selected as a First-team All-CUSA as a sophomore and junior. During his junior year he had career-highs with 122 tackles and 10.5 sacks
Quarterback sack
In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...

, he was also selected as the Conference USA defensive player of the year and a Third-team All-American. He finished his college career with 526 tackles and 18.5 sacks. In Soria City it was known at this time he was going pro.

National Football League

Davis has played in 40 career NFL games with the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 and Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

, recording 43 tackles with one forced fumble.

In 2004 he played in 14 games and had nine tackles. In 2005 Davis played in 16 games and had 21 tackles and one forced fumble. Davis joined the Panthers and began 2006
2006 NFL season
The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

, with Carolina playing in one game and recording one tackle. He then re-joined the Vikings and played in nine games and recorded 12 tackles.

Arena Football League

Davis joined the Philadelphia Soul
Philadelphia Soul
The Philadelphia Soul are an Arena Football League team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They began play in as an expansion team. The team plays in the Eastern Division of the American Conference. They won their first ArenaBowl in 2008, defeating the San Jose SaberCats 59–56 in ArenaBowl XXII...

 of the Arena Football League in 2008
2008 Arena Football League season
The 2008 Arena Football League season was the 22nd season of the Arena Football League and final season before the 2009 cancellation. The regular season began play on February 29, 2008 and concluded on June 22...

 and won his first professional championship win the Soul won ArenaBowl XXII
ArenaBowl XXII
ArenaBowl XXII was played on July 27, 2008 at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana . It was the 22nd and final championship game in the history of the original Arena Football League. This was the fourth neutral site ArenaBowl in AFL history and the second ArenaBowl in the state of Louisiana...

 over the San Jose SaberCats
San Jose SaberCats
The San Jose SaberCats are a professional arena football team in the Arena Football League. They began play as a 1995 expansion team. They played in the Western Division of the American Conference. Their final coach in the original Arena Football League was Darren Arbet, who will be a part of the...

.

Canadian Football League

Davis signed with the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...

 on May 6, 2009. His first start came on August 13, 2009, following an injury to Maurice Lloyd
Maurice Lloyd
Maurice Lloyd is a professional Canadian football linebacker who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. He played college football at UConn....

.

External links

  • Profile at NFL.com
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

  • Minnesota Vikings profile at Yahoo! Sports
    Yahoo! Sports
    Yahoo! Sports was launched on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc., employs various writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American sport...

  • Minnesota Vikings profile at ESPN.com
    ESPN.com
    ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK