Where are they now: Stephen Davis
July 6, 2026
by Steve Thomas
Welcome to another edition in my “Where are they now” series, everyone. This is something a came up with a few weeks ago during the start of the slowest time period in the NFL’s annual calendar, the month before training camp. So far, I’ve covered defensive ends Dexter Manley (click here to read) and Charles Mann (click here to read), as well as running back Timmy Smith (click here to read). This week, I thought I’d cover another Redskins legend, running back and fullback Stephen Davis. He’s a bit different than the others I’ve covered so far, in that Davis had multiple productive years with another NFL team, the Carolina Panthers, and today identifies with the Panthers as much or more than he does with Washington. So without further ado, let’s jump in.
Davis, who was born in 1974, is originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he attended high school. He was a star in both track, in which he was a champion-level sprinter, and football[1]. Davis was awarded a scholarship to Auburn University, where he played for three years from 1993 to 1995[2]. During that time, he played in 33 games, and had 488 carries for 2811 yards, 5.8 yards per carry, and 30 touchdowns, as well as 33 receptions for 342 yards and another 4 touchdowns. As a result of his collegiate success, he was drafted by head coach Norv Turner’s Redskins in the fourth round of the 1996 NFL Draft, 103rd overall.
Davis’ NFL career lasted a total of 11 years, including 7 seasons with the Redskins, from 1996 through 2002, three years with the Carolina Panthers from 2003 to 2005, and one year with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006,[3]. In total, he played in 143 games, including 102 starts, and had 1945 carries for 8052 yards, 4.1 yards per attempt, and 65 touchdowns, plus 179 receptions in 250 targets for 1494 yards and 4 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl 3 times and was a Second-Team All-Pro in 1999.
During his time with the Redskins, he played in 99 games, including 75 starts, and had 1383 carries for 5790 yards, for and average of 4.2 yards per carry, and 45 touchdowns, plus 146 receptions in 202 targets, for 1168 yards, and 3 touchdowns. He is ranked fourth in team history for total career rushing yards, behind John Riggins with 7472 yards, Clinton Portis with 6824 yards, and Larry Brown, with 5875 yards. Davis’ 45 career rushing touchdowns is ranked third behind Riggins with 79 and Portis with 46.
Davis’ first year was spent behind two other Redskins’ legends, Terry Allen and Brian Mitchell. His best season in Washington was 1999. That year, he had 290 carries for 1405 yards in 14 games, for an average of 4.8 yards per carry and a league-leading 100.4 yards per game, plus a league-leading 17 touchdowns, as well as 23 receptions for 111 yards. He was selected to the Pro Bowl and as a Second-Team All-Pro that season. In the history of the NFL, just 83 running backs have averaged 100 or more yards per game in a season in which they played at least 12 games. For the Washington franchise, only Larry Brown and Alfred Morris have done better – Brown averaged 101.3 yards per game over 12 games in 1972, and Morris averaged 100.8 yards per game over 16 games in 2012.
It is fair to say that Davis remains one of the best running backs in Washington team history. So why did Washington cut him the 2002 season? For one thing, he was scheduled to have what was back then a very large cap hit, at $11.42M.[4] Secondly, 2003 was the second and what proved to be the final year of the Steve Spurrier era, and Spurrier’s offense very much minimized the role of the run game, particularly given Davis’ straight-ahead style. As a result, Spurrier no doubt saw Davis’ $11.42M cap hit as being way too large for the style of offense he ran.
Clearly, this was a mistake, as Davis went on to have one of the best seasons of his career with Carolina in 2003, with 318 carries for a career-high 1444 yards, 4.5 yards per carry, and 8 touchdowns, and played in the Super Bowl. Injuries started to take their toll after that, though, and he only played in 2 games in 2004, and suffered through nagging injuries in 2005 which caused him to start just 11 games. Davis played one final season as a backup with the Rams in 2006 before retiring from NFL.
Davis actually signed a one year contract with Carolina in 2008 in order to retire as a Panther, despite the bulk of his career being spent in Washington. He later addressed that issue in an interview in October, 2020 with Zachary Neel of USA Today Sports, saying, “Washington will always be my first love and somewhere that I spent seven years of my career, and I made the best of it. But when I signed with Carolina, it was an opportunity for me to come back home and play for the home team. I’ve been living here for 20 years, I live here in Columbia. And not only that but just having the opportunity to retire with the home team and be able to do some community stuff and do all of that type of stuff and be involved.”[5] He later made a point to emphasize his love for the Redskins organization in an interview on the Next Man Up podcast with Bryan Colbert Jr. in 2024, posted on Washington’s website.[6]
After retirement, Davis was the Panthers’ minority coaching intern for the 2010 – 11 season. He indicated to Zeel that was interested in coaching and he took the internship “to see how much time they really spend” since his son was about to enter high school.[7] His son, Stephen Davis Jr. played college football for Auburn, the University of South Carolina, and North Carolina A&T University as a running back and later as a linebacker through 2021. As of 2024, Davis Jr. was coaching high school football in South Carolina.
These days, Davis lives in South Carolina, and his primary non-NFL retirement income appears to be via his ownership of a trucking company and through some home renovations.[8] I was unable to conclusively determine the name of the trucking company. He’s also apparently been involved in some youth football programs, and has grandchildren.
He was arrested on September 21, 2012, for failure to pay retail taxes associated with a nightclub in South Carolina called the “Pure Lounge”, which involved operating the business without a license.[9] However, the case was dismissed on March 26, 2013.[10]
Davis has also talked about his health problems stemming from his football career, including chronic tinnitus, severe headaches, and short-term memory loss.[11] He joined the concussion lawsuits against the NFL in 2012, stating that he had suffered countless concussions during his career.[12]
Interestingly, Davis’ mother, Queen Davis, was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in an exhibit called “Most Valuable Mom”[13], despite the fact that Davis himself has never made it past the preliminary nominee stage of Hall of Fame consideration.
Overall, Davis appears to be doing well, and presented very well in the 2024 New Man Up podcast interview. Thanks for the memories, Stephen. You’ll always be a Redskins football legend.
[1] https://sc.milesplit.com/articles/44596/south-carolina-track-and-field-boys-all-time-list
[2] All collegiate stats courtesy of www.sports-reference.com/cfb
[3] All NFL stats courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com.
[4] https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2003/02/27/davis-redskins-part-ways/29662092007/
[5] https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/commanders/2020/10/02/10-questions-about-the-past-and-present-with-legendary-washington-rb-stephen-davis/80146986007/
[6] https://www.commanders.com/video/next-man-up-percy-butler-stephen-davis-on-this-special-season-and-the-cowboys
[7] https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/commanders/2020/10/02/10-questions-about-the-past-and-present-with-legendary-washington-rb-stephen-davis/80146986007/
[8] https://www.panthers.com/news/legend-of-the-game-stephen-davis
[9] https://www.live5news.com/story/19595822/former-carolina-panther-stephen-davis-arrested-for-tax-evasion-for-his-sc-nightclub/; https://www.si.com/si-wire/2012/09/20/stephen-davis-arrested-tax-evasion
[10] https://publicindex.sccourts.org/Richland/PublicIndex/CaseDetails.aspx?County=40&CourtAgency=40001&Casenum=2012A4010800212&CaseType=C&HKey=8969116986881657049108118798456741031178511777438455106797753102897374905343110122981109080978665
[11] https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/stephen-davis-already-experiencing-memory-loss
[12] https://www.wistv.com/story/19001181/5-sc-natives-join-concussion-lawsuit-against-nfl/
[13] https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2003/09/25/davis-mother-honored-by-hall/29684583007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z115429e007300v115429d–54–b–54–&gca-ft=212&gca-ds=sophi