Post by Lithfan on Mar 30, 2016 6:53:08 GMT -5
March 30, 1976
The date of the 1976 expansion draft for the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccanneers. Each existing NFL was able to protect 29 players from their roster. Once a team lost a player, they would be permitted to protect two additional players. Each of the 26 existing NFL teams would lose 3 players in the draft
as the two new teams would stock their rosters with 39 players each.
The Jets lost two player to Seattle: DL Larry Woods and DB Jerry Davis, and one to the Bucs, RB Anthony Davis. Ending a strange, strained couple of years for Davis and the Jets.
Anthony Davis was a stud in college, a 2nd round pick out of USC for the Jets in 1975. He was one of a long line of great USC tailbacks from the 60s through the 80s, including Mike Garrett, OJ Simpson, Ricky Bell, Charles White & Marcus Allen. Davis had finished 2nd to Archie Griffin in the Heisman Trophy voting in 74 and seemed like a steal for the Jets in the 2nd round. It didn't quite work out that way.
Davis was happy to be a Jet and to play with Joe Namath. He was happy at least until he met Jets HC Charley Winner. He and Winner immediately clashed. According to Davis, “I’d had a long friendly talk with Joe Namath at the Washington Touchdown Club about playing with the Jets and he was very positive about what he thought I could do for the team… Joe said I’d fit right in, but Winner expressed doubts about whether I could make it in pro football."
“Sure I wanted to play in the NFL,” Davis continued. “But I didn’t want to play for a guy who didn’t want my services. I didn’t want to be just another body and sit on the bench. All I could see were problems in New York. I felt it would have been walking into a death trap.”
Unable and unwilling to agree to terms with the Jets, who offered him a 3-year deal worth about $100K, Davis instead opted to play for the Southern California Sun of the World Football League. He signed a 5-year $1.7 million contract with a $200K signing bonus. He led the WFL in rushing in 1975. The league folded after the 75 season, but Davis chose the CFL rather than the Jets.
He finally returned to the NFL for the 76 season, when his former college coach, John Mckay was named head coach of the new Tampa Bay franchise. The Jets left him unprotected and it was no surprise when he was selected by his former coach. He had to sit out the 76 season due to a rule that prohibited a player who played in Canada from playing in the NFL,
Davis was a disappointment when he joined Tampa for the 77 season, as he gained only 304 yards in a 2-year NFL career that included stops with the Oilers and Rams in addition to one season in Tampa.
Source: The Pittsburgh Press & Sarasota Herald Tribune
The date of the 1976 expansion draft for the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccanneers. Each existing NFL was able to protect 29 players from their roster. Once a team lost a player, they would be permitted to protect two additional players. Each of the 26 existing NFL teams would lose 3 players in the draft
as the two new teams would stock their rosters with 39 players each.
The Jets lost two player to Seattle: DL Larry Woods and DB Jerry Davis, and one to the Bucs, RB Anthony Davis. Ending a strange, strained couple of years for Davis and the Jets.
Anthony Davis was a stud in college, a 2nd round pick out of USC for the Jets in 1975. He was one of a long line of great USC tailbacks from the 60s through the 80s, including Mike Garrett, OJ Simpson, Ricky Bell, Charles White & Marcus Allen. Davis had finished 2nd to Archie Griffin in the Heisman Trophy voting in 74 and seemed like a steal for the Jets in the 2nd round. It didn't quite work out that way.
Davis was happy to be a Jet and to play with Joe Namath. He was happy at least until he met Jets HC Charley Winner. He and Winner immediately clashed. According to Davis, “I’d had a long friendly talk with Joe Namath at the Washington Touchdown Club about playing with the Jets and he was very positive about what he thought I could do for the team… Joe said I’d fit right in, but Winner expressed doubts about whether I could make it in pro football."
“Sure I wanted to play in the NFL,” Davis continued. “But I didn’t want to play for a guy who didn’t want my services. I didn’t want to be just another body and sit on the bench. All I could see were problems in New York. I felt it would have been walking into a death trap.”
Unable and unwilling to agree to terms with the Jets, who offered him a 3-year deal worth about $100K, Davis instead opted to play for the Southern California Sun of the World Football League. He signed a 5-year $1.7 million contract with a $200K signing bonus. He led the WFL in rushing in 1975. The league folded after the 75 season, but Davis chose the CFL rather than the Jets.
He finally returned to the NFL for the 76 season, when his former college coach, John Mckay was named head coach of the new Tampa Bay franchise. The Jets left him unprotected and it was no surprise when he was selected by his former coach. He had to sit out the 76 season due to a rule that prohibited a player who played in Canada from playing in the NFL,
Davis was a disappointment when he joined Tampa for the 77 season, as he gained only 304 yards in a 2-year NFL career that included stops with the Oilers and Rams in addition to one season in Tampa.
Source: The Pittsburgh Press & Sarasota Herald Tribune
