Strong, but Not Safe : Mike Davis Is Entering His Ninth Season in a Very Tough Job: Raider Defensive Back

Raider strong safety Mike Davis will report to the annual May mini-camp for veterans today, his ninth. This carries a message. He’s not some kid any more.

“I’m going into my ninth season,� said Davis, a second-round draft pick out of Colorado in 1977. “I came in with Lester Hayes, Jeff Barnes, Terry Robiskie, Mickey Marvin, Rod Martin. We were just talking about it the other day.

“When we came in, there was (Ken) Stabler, (Gene) Upshaw, (Art) Shell, Clarence Davis, Cliff Branch. They were the guys to look to, to lead you in the Raiders’ way of things. Now we’re the guys.�

The Raiders, believers in getting everything lined up, have been holding these mini-camps for their veterans for as long as Davis has been one. There are also two mini-rookie camps, the whole set serving to mark an unofficial end to the off-season that was begun for the Raiders last December by the Seahawks, who surprised them in the first round of the AFC playoffs.

After that, the veterans turned to a new priority: healing.

“I finished with a strained left knee,� Davis said. “Turf toe, a broken thumb, various bruises on my ribs and shoulders. That’s about normal. The times and places change, but the injuries stay about the same.�

Few seasons are much better, but some are worse. In the second game of the 1981 season, Davis was roll-blocked by the Vikings’ Sammy White. Davis wound up missing 14 games that season with a torn ankle ligament and a broken leg. There went his season and his off-season.

“I sat out 14 weeks and tried to come back,� Davis said. “I wasn’t full speed. My weight was down from 208 to 190. It was like pinball action out there. I was being popped around.

“Coming back the 14th game, there’s no way you can catch up. You can go with them for three or four plays, but after that, that 14 weeks shows.

“I lost a lot of time. I lost 14 games and the year following. I had to go to training camp and re-do everything. I had to build the leg back up. I had to build up my confidence.

“When I was injured, I’d been hearing things like, ‘Mike Davis is the young up-and-coming strong safety in the league’. I was competing with Billy Thompson of the Broncos, who was an All-Pro performer, and Donnie Shell of the Steelers, who was also an All-Pro performer.

“After I came back, all of a sudden there was a new group of guys: Kenny Easley (Seattle) and Dennis Smith (Denver). The competition with Thompson and Shell was over. Now there was new competition. . . .

“Our philosophy is, when Al Davis drafts a player, from the day he steps on the field, in three years he’s supposed to be in the Pro Bowl. I don’t think I could have played eight years and been in two Super Bowls and won both of them and not be a Pro Bowl-caliber player.

“But with the Raider defensive philosophy, as it relates to the strong safety, I don’t get a lot of interceptions. Everything else, I do extremely well. Kenny Easley might get 10 interceptions a year. It’s not easy playing the system they use but in that one, he’s reading the quarterback all the time. If I boosted my interceptions, I know I’d make the Pro Bowl.

“People ask me all the time, does it bother me to play with the other guys (Lester Hayes, Mike Haynes, Vann McElroy, all of whom have been in the Pro Bowl)? I say, ‘Of course not. It’d bother me not to be playing with them.’ There is no limit to the luxury of playing with them.�

Out of uniform, Davis has won all sorts of honors. He is on the board of the local March of Dimes. He has been the Raider player representative to the National Football League Players Assn. since his second season and now sits on the executive committee of that union. In the off-season, he makes USO tours.

“We’ve had George Atkinson, Jack Tatum--they were intimidators long before I got here,� Davis said. “The Raider secondary has always been the Dark Shadow, the Black Hole. I’ve been called various names I don’t care to get into. A lot of people don’t know about the other Mike Davis.�

During the season, he has different responsibilities, now including leadership.

“Sometimes we’ll be in a huddle,� Davis said. “I won’t lie to you, we’ll be bickering among ourselves. A lot of people think we’re talking technical. We’re saying, ‘Hey, you got to do this or we’ll lose! You can’t do that or we’ll lose. Hey, get off my tail!’

“Then someone will say, ‘Look, we’re in this together, we’re going to win it together or lose it together, and you know which way we want to go.’ And I won’t be the only one saying it.�