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Another one of the Green Bay Packers legendary greats passed away on Wednesday. Defensive end Willie Davis, who played for the Packers from 1960-69, passed away in a Santa Monica, California hospital at the age of 85.
During his playing days, the Hall of Famer flourished after joining the Packers in a trade from the Cleveland Browns. He turned his success on the field to one of riches, becoming a millionaire business owner.
Davis played at a time when sacks weren’t an official statistic. But there’s no doubt that Davis was the best pass rusher in team history, better than the team’s career sack leaders Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (74.5), Clay Matthews (72.5) and Reggie White (68.5).
Unofficially, it is estimated that Davis had more than 100 career sacks, and maybe closer to 140.
Davis joined the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981. He was selected to five all-NFL teams in his 10 seasons with the Packers and appeared in five straight pro bowls from 1963-67. He started on five NFL Championship teams and is the only member of the Packers organization to have earned all four Packers Super Bowl rings, receiving two as a player and subsequent rings as a member of the Packers Board of Directors.
After receiving his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1968, Davis worked as a color commentator for NBC’s telecast of NFL games in the early 1970’s. He would later become owner of All-Pro Broadcasting Inc., which operated five radio stations in the Midwest and Southern California.
Names to the NFL’s All-Decade Team, Davs holds the all-time Packers record for career fumble recoveries with 21.
AUDIO: Jerry Kramer said Davis was really an exceptional human being :20
AUDIO: Jerry Kramer said he and Davis got together quite a bit after football :12