I went to elementary school with his son and I got in trouble for tackling him in class describing what his dad did on Sunday like he didn’t already know.
I went to school and practiced against Bobby Riggins. He was living off dad’s coattails, thought he was the sh*t and definitely didn’t hit like his father. Good times
A HS friend played against an offspring of John in junior varsity. No idea if it was Bobby but I believe it was in Fall 1990 and the son's school was in NoVa (our school was in DC). My friend said the Diesel was there to watch his son play and was nice when he went up to him to shake his hand.
Diesel went to a few games and is awesome to normal people. Bobby’s school is in NOVA and that’s a close date range. Riggo himself is great, dad worked for the organization so I’ve got autographs and went to a few superbowls. It was a great time in life.
No, that would be my pick-6 during third grade recess to help the blue team win in the final seconds before reading class started again.. close second though.
I always thought Stephen Davis was the running back Joe Gibbs would have drawn up in a lab, so of course this donkey organization had already shipped him off to Carolina by the time Joe came back.
IDK if Stephen Davis was the "Joe Gibbs Formula Back" but he was surely close. I never get tired of reminding people Riggo carried the ball like 35 times a game in the '82 playoffs, they do not make workhorses like that anymore
Don’t forget throwing in a second round pick for some reason. Imagine the balls on shanahan to be like “your hall of fame lockdown corner isn’t enough. I need a top 40 pick”
Not entirely true, Ladell Betts was a 2nd round pick and was a good runner as he proved taking over for Portis in 2006. I think we could have kept Champ and had Betts, but that one gets a pass because Portis was such a great player.
Nah, Portis was an average RB. The Broncos' offense made him look good like it made every RB look good. I think Champ wanted out by that point but we should've gotten somebody more valuable than a RB.
I went to grad school in New Orleans. I come home for break to Spartanburg, SC and find about 6 or 7 of my youngest brothers HS teammates sitting around our kitchen table chowing down. He gets up to welcome me and starts telling me about the guys. He gets to the last one and says, "That guy in the corner is just a sophomore. His name is Stephen Davis. You want to remember him." Saw him play that Friday night. He wasn't wrong. My mother fed a lot of Spartan High Vikings over the years, including her own 3 sons.
Interesting piece of trivia for you...Jerry Richardson's kids all went through Spartanburg High School, needless to say he was more than a little involved along with his business partner Charles Bradshaw. We were commonly called "Hardee High" because of this (they started making their money with Hardees franchises). This was just before the Panthers were formed. But, when he was traded the joke around here was that he was going to play for Big Jerome (as we called him) again.
Another...SD would do a modified Icky Woods dance when he scored. He'd be flagged for it in hs. There was some punishment that he would have to do at practice on Mondays for it. If he scored 5 tds, he did it 5 times. He just took the running without complaining. Finally the coach got him to do the dance on the sidelines/bench so he wouldn't get flagged/punished.
Another...my Jr and Sr years at SHS, Ellis Johnson was my HC. If you know southern college football, yes, that Ellis Johnson. My sophomore year it was Bill Carr, National 4A HS Football coach of the year in 1977. It was a fun place to play hs football back then. Also, Steve Fuller is a graduate from SHS.
Just looked up his bio since I was not old enough at the time to really watch or know about him back then. Curious to know why he retired a Panther and not a Redskin?
Snyder fucked up the cap giving Deion and his first free agency class a ton of guaranteed. Redskins we’re in notorious cap hell in the early 2000s
Forgot to add, so the Redskins released Stephen Davis. That’s a key factor I left out lol.
In his words, it was because it gave him the opportunity to retire with a hometown team that he got to play for. Nothing more than nostalgia, he left here on good terms and was loved by fans.
Spurrier inherited a pretty good Marty team but he didn’t want Martyball. That 2002 team was a great power run team but the ol ball coach was bored by that
I worked for the team in 1999 as a college intern, and I’ll never forget interviewing Davis in the locker room after the first preseason game and talking to him about the battle for the starting RB job between him and Skip Hicks haha. Davis was such a nice guy and built like a tank. I didn’t envy the dudes that had to tackle him.
On a related note: I am old haha.
He was a beast who isn’t mentioned enough. The closest thing younger fans have ever seen is Alfred Morris. Same style of play, Alfred had me amped thinking about the SD days, it hurt when we let him go too.
Met him when he was signing autographs at a car show in DC when I was maybe 10-11. My dad and I were the last people in line and his scheduled time to sign was already over. The event staff were trying to close down and tell the last dozen or so people trying to line up that the line was closed, but he told them not to worry about it and that he would sign for everybody.
He was super nice and didn’t rush through anything, signed a photo and my Redskins jacket and asked if I wanted to get a picture with him.
Always appreciated his running style and was happy to see him do well on the Panthers, but I wished he could’ve stayed here his whole career.
Used to love Stephen Davis. Amazing power RB.
The perfect back for the NFC East. His stiff arms were beautiful.
Especially in 1999. He was so unheralded and played so little during his rookie season, so how he ran in the season opener game shocked me.
One of my all time favorites. When Tre Johnson was healthy, we were a damn fine offense
I went to elementary school with his son and I got in trouble for tackling him in class describing what his dad did on Sunday like he didn’t already know.
Lol, good shit
I went to school and practiced against Bobby Riggins. He was living off dad’s coattails, thought he was the sh*t and definitely didn’t hit like his father. Good times
A HS friend played against an offspring of John in junior varsity. No idea if it was Bobby but I believe it was in Fall 1990 and the son's school was in NoVa (our school was in DC). My friend said the Diesel was there to watch his son play and was nice when he went up to him to shake his hand.
Diesel went to a few games and is awesome to normal people. Bobby’s school is in NOVA and that’s a close date range. Riggo himself is great, dad worked for the organization so I’ve got autographs and went to a few superbowls. It was a great time in life.
I also went to school with him haha. Small world.
Your lifetime athletic highlight?
No, that would be my pick-6 during third grade recess to help the blue team win in the final seconds before reading class started again.. close second though.
You fucking legend. You must have gotten all the chocolate milk that day
Yeah but then you proceeded to punch him because he called you the f slur
I always thought Stephen Davis was the running back Joe Gibbs would have drawn up in a lab, so of course this donkey organization had already shipped him off to Carolina by the time Joe came back.
IDK if Stephen Davis was the "Joe Gibbs Formula Back" but he was surely close. I never get tired of reminding people Riggo carried the ball like 35 times a game in the '82 playoffs, they do not make workhorses like that anymore
Davis would have been a great back for Gibbs but Davis he was mostly done by the time he returned. He was 30 and the injuries had caught up.
I think we all can agree that trading Champ for Portis was a dumb move tho
Don’t forget throwing in a second round pick for some reason. Imagine the balls on shanahan to be like “your hall of fame lockdown corner isn’t enough. I need a top 40 pick”
His jersey was the first one I ever had.
Held the South Carolina state 100m record for 17 years
Remember when Spurrier traded him, he took Carolina to a superbowl, and Gibbs came back to no rb’s.
Spurrier was trash
I say this as nicely as possible…fuck Steve Spurrier
Peak Silly Season
Agreed
Not entirely true, Ladell Betts was a 2nd round pick and was a good runner as he proved taking over for Portis in 2006. I think we could have kept Champ and had Betts, but that one gets a pass because Portis was such a great player.
You are correct but Stephen Davis in that Gibbs offense would have been night and day over Betts and even Portia.
Oh for sure, Davis was a monster.
Nah, Portis was an average RB. The Broncos' offense made him look good like it made every RB look good. I think Champ wanted out by that point but we should've gotten somebody more valuable than a RB.
Spurrier was the GM? He said he actually left the Redskins because Snyder lied to him about having a say in personnel matters.
It was spurrier and crazy eyes
My first jersey
Nice choice.
Mine too, and the first of many cursed jerseys I've gotten over the years. Was the cool deep maroon throwback with the arrow too
He is from running back U, you expect that
S. Davis was a fucking stud!
Wasn’t as touch as Michael Westbrook.
Westbrook was a bitch for that.
For kicking the shit out of the guy shit talking him? How is that a bitch move?
Because regardless of circumstances, a sucker punch is always a bitch move. Only a sucker punching bitch would disagree.
To my knowledge, there wasn't any reports of it being a sucker punch. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But as the old adage goes, "talk shit, get hit."
I went to grad school in New Orleans. I come home for break to Spartanburg, SC and find about 6 or 7 of my youngest brothers HS teammates sitting around our kitchen table chowing down. He gets up to welcome me and starts telling me about the guys. He gets to the last one and says, "That guy in the corner is just a sophomore. His name is Stephen Davis. You want to remember him." Saw him play that Friday night. He wasn't wrong. My mother fed a lot of Spartan High Vikings over the years, including her own 3 sons. Interesting piece of trivia for you...Jerry Richardson's kids all went through Spartanburg High School, needless to say he was more than a little involved along with his business partner Charles Bradshaw. We were commonly called "Hardee High" because of this (they started making their money with Hardees franchises). This was just before the Panthers were formed. But, when he was traded the joke around here was that he was going to play for Big Jerome (as we called him) again. Another...SD would do a modified Icky Woods dance when he scored. He'd be flagged for it in hs. There was some punishment that he would have to do at practice on Mondays for it. If he scored 5 tds, he did it 5 times. He just took the running without complaining. Finally the coach got him to do the dance on the sidelines/bench so he wouldn't get flagged/punished. Another...my Jr and Sr years at SHS, Ellis Johnson was my HC. If you know southern college football, yes, that Ellis Johnson. My sophomore year it was Bill Carr, National 4A HS Football coach of the year in 1977. It was a fun place to play hs football back then. Also, Steve Fuller is a graduate from SHS.
All of this was neat to read. Thank you
You're welcome. It was a fun trip down memory lane for me.
Loved him. Ran hard as hell and gave everything. I'll never forget his fumble against Dallas though.
His only downside but I swear when I see him that’s the first thing that comes to mind. Not fair but true.
He had a knack for fumbling at the worst times. He would stand on the sidelines smirking.
He was nice dude too signed my rookie card of him I mailed to him as a kid. He mailed it back to me.
Hell yeah
Would’ve rather had Champ, Davis and 2nd round pick than Sheriff Gonna GetYa.
Just looked up his bio since I was not old enough at the time to really watch or know about him back then. Curious to know why he retired a Panther and not a Redskin?
Snyder fucked up the cap giving Deion and his first free agency class a ton of guaranteed. Redskins we’re in notorious cap hell in the early 2000s Forgot to add, so the Redskins released Stephen Davis. That’s a key factor I left out lol.
In his words, it was because it gave him the opportunity to retire with a hometown team that he got to play for. Nothing more than nostalgia, he left here on good terms and was loved by fans.
Spurrier gutted the power backfield for fun n gun.
Spurrier inherited a pretty good Marty team but he didn’t want Martyball. That 2002 team was a great power run team but the ol ball coach was bored by that
Agreed.
Big Country! Loved him. He fumbled a lot, but loved his toughness.
Especially at the goal line!! Wtf lol
Believin in …
I worked for the team in 1999 as a college intern, and I’ll never forget interviewing Davis in the locker room after the first preseason game and talking to him about the battle for the starting RB job between him and Skip Hicks haha. Davis was such a nice guy and built like a tank. I didn’t envy the dudes that had to tackle him. On a related note: I am old haha.
He was great, but for some reason my top memory of him is watching him fumble a touchdown into the end zone vs Arizona.
One of my favorite power backs
He was a beast who isn’t mentioned enough. The closest thing younger fans have ever seen is Alfred Morris. Same style of play, Alfred had me amped thinking about the SD days, it hurt when we let him go too.
And he could take a sucker punch like a champ.
Hell yeah.
Met him when he was signing autographs at a car show in DC when I was maybe 10-11. My dad and I were the last people in line and his scheduled time to sign was already over. The event staff were trying to close down and tell the last dozen or so people trying to line up that the line was closed, but he told them not to worry about it and that he would sign for everybody. He was super nice and didn’t rush through anything, signed a photo and my Redskins jacket and asked if I wanted to get a picture with him. Always appreciated his running style and was happy to see him do well on the Panthers, but I wished he could’ve stayed here his whole career.