So Cal's All-Time Roster: No. 41
No. 41:
Our pick:
==Glenn Davis, Rams (1950-'51)
It would have been almost impossible to think that "Mr. Outside" could match the achievements he had at Army, where the Claremont native from Bonita High in La Verne won the Maxwell Award in '44 and the Heisman in '46. At Bonita, Davis scored an unheard of 256 points his senior year. Army coach Red Blaik once said about Davis: "Anybody who ever saw Davis carry the football must realize there could not have been a greater, more dangerous running back in the history of the game. He was emphatically the greatest halfback I ever knew. He was not so much a dodger and sidestepper as a blazing runner who had a fourth, even fifth gear in reserve, could change direction at top speed, and fly away from tacklers as if jet-propelled."
After graduation, he served three years in the military before joining the Rams, wearing the same No. 41 he had at Army when he teammed with "Mr. Inside" Doc Blanchard and appeared on the covers of Life and Time magazines. While on Army leave in 1948, Davis dated Elizabeth Taylor, and he married the actress Terry Moore in 1951. They were divorced two years later. Davis eventually married the late Alan Ameche's widow, Yvonne on July 12th 1996.
Davis made the NFL's Pro Bowl in '50 after leading the Rams with 416 yards rushing on 88 carries with three touchdowns, on a team with what was called the "Bull Elephant Backfield" of Davis, Tank Younger and Deacon Dan Towler. The running game was a bit overshawdowed on a team where Norm Van Brocklin passed for 2,061 yards (sharing time with Bob Waterfield) and Tom Fears had 1,116 yards in receiving (sharing duties with Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch). But a knee injury ended Davis' career in '52; it was an injury he suffered while filiming the movie "Spirt of West Point," where he and Blanchard played themselves. Ithampered his mobility during the '51 season, when the Rams won the NFL championship. He died in 2005 at his home in La Quinta.
Runner ups:
==Glen Rice, Lakers ('99-'00), Clippers ('03-'04)
==John Lackey, Angels ('02- ) Starter and winner of Game 7 of the 2002 World Series. And he’s the one Harvey Keitel refers to as “that Schmedrick” in the Gatorade commercial when he’s trying to convince Derek Jeter to steal second base on him.
==Jerry Reuss, Dodgers ('79-'87) Pitched in four different decades, threw a no-hitter against San Francisco for the Dodgers in 1980, finished second in NL Cy Young Award that season, leading the league with six shutouts, 18-6 record and 3.50 ERA
==Ken Norton Jr, UCLA football ('84-'87)
1987 All-American, leading team with 125 tackles.
Other No. 41s:
==Spencer Havner, UCLA football ('02-'05
All-American linebacker.
==Elden Campbell, Lakers ('90-'99)
Sports Illustrated's choice for the all-time No. 41: Tom Seaver, over Eddie Matthews and Rice