Anthony Davis ( USC running back ) Anthony Davis ( born September 8 , 1952 ) , also known as A . D . , is a former American football running back . He played in the World Football League , the Canadian Football League , the National Football League , and the USFL . Davis played college football at the University of Southern California . College career . Anthony Davis was a college football All - America n in 1974 , and led the USC Trojans in rushing , scoring and kick return yardage for three consecutive seasons . He is long remembered for scoring 11 touchdown s in three games against Notre Dame . In a 45 - 23 USC win on December 2 , 1972 , he scored six touchdowns which set a school single game record . Two of those scores came on kickoff return s . He returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown after Notre Dame won the coin toss and chose to kick . Later in the game after Notre Dame scored on a short pass and narrowed the Trojans ' lead , he returned the following kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown . In this game , Davis had three kickoff returns for a total of 218 yards giving him an average of 72 . 7 yards per return . This set an NCAA record for the highest average gain per return in a single game . In his career as a Trojan he returned 37 kickoffs for 1 , 299 yards , an NCAA record 35 . 1 yard average . His six career kickoff returns for touchdowns set an NCAA record which stood until 2009 , when it was broken by C . J . Spiller of Clemson University . Davis ' kickoff return average of 42 . 5 yards in 1974 , is the highest kickoff return average for any single season leader ever . He was also the first Pacific - 8 Conference player to rush for more than 1 , 000 yards in three consecutive seasons – 1 , 191 in 1972 ; 1 , 112 in 1973 and 1 , 469 in 1974 . For his career at USC he carried the ball 784 times for 3 , 772 yards and 44 touchdowns . In his senior year ( 1974 ) he was a unanimous Consensus All - American selection . Davis was also a two time ( 1973 – 1974 ) first team All Pac - 8 Conference selection . He was also the third multiple recipient of the W . J . Voit Memorial Trophy , awarded each year to the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast . Davis won the Voit trophy in 1972 and 1974 . On November 30 , 1974 , he started an amazing rally which brought the USC Trojans back from a 24 - 0 second quarter deficit against # 4 ranked Notre Dame to a 55 - 24 win . Just before halftime he scored on a 7 yard lateral pass from quarterback Pat Haden . Davis found paydirt a second time on a 102 - yard kickoff return to open the second half . With only 3 : 25 elapsed in the third quarter Davis scored a third touchdown on a 6 yard run . Then with still 8 : 37 left in the same quarter , Davis added his fourth and final touchdown of the game on a 4 yard dash , dropped to his knees , went into his " endzone dance " , then added a two - point conversion and the Trojans had the lead 27 - 24 . Incredibly , Davis had scored 26 of the Trojans ' first 27 points . In 1974 , Heisman Trophy ballots were due prior to the end of the season and before that year ' s USC - Notre Dame game . Anthony finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to Archie Griffin . From that day forward , Heisman voting would take place after all the regular season games had been played . From 1972 - 1974 , with Davis as the tailback the Trojans compiled a 31 - 3 - 2 record , three conference titles , two Rose Bowl victories in three appearances and two national championships . Upon the completion of his career , he accumulated 24 school , conference and NCAA records , including over 5 , 400 all - purpose yards and 52 touchdowns . Anthony Davis ' talents weren ' t just limited to football , he was also successful in baseball . He was an outfielder and switch - hitter on USC ’ s 1972 , 1973 and 1974 College World Series champion baseball teams . Playing with wood bats at the time , Davis hit . 273 with 6 home run s , 45 RBIs and 13 stolen base s for the Trojan ’ s 1974 National Championship Baseball team . During his Trojan career , Davis won three National Championships – two in football , three in baseball . As a two - sport standout , Davis holds the distinction of being the only player in school history to start for a National Champion Football team ( 1972 ) and a National Champion Baseball team ( 1974 ) . He did not finish his degree at USC . The Notre Dame vs . USC game on November 27 , 2004 was titled the " Anthony Davis Day , " in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the record - breaking game . He also was pictured on the cover of " Sports Illustrated " magazine three times , including one foldout . Davis was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on December 6 , 2005 in New York City . He was enshrined on August 12 , 2006 in South Bend , Indiana . Professional career . The Minnesota Twins selected him in the fourth round of the 1975 January amateur entry draft ( 83rd overall pick ) ; however he rejected them , thinking they would be unable to meet his salary demands . World Football League . After graduation Davis was drafted by the New York Jets of the National Football League in the 2nd round of the 1975 draft . At the time , the Jets had quarterback Joe Namath and offered a major stage , but the team ' s management were not willing to give in to his contract demands . Thus in 1975 Davis opted to play for the Southern California Sun of the upstart World Football League ( WFL ) ; he signed a five - year , $ 1 . 7 - million deal that reportedly included a $ 200 , 000 cash bonus and a Rolls - Royce . He led the WFL in rushing with 1 , 200 yards on 239 carries and 16 touchdowns at the time of its demise . He also caught 40 passes for 381 yards and one TD , while on kickoff returns he ran back 9 for 235 yards and one TD . In all , he scored 18 TDs in the WFL for 133 points . His 16 touchdowns for rushing over 12 games is a WFL record . He also threw the ball and completed 4 of 11 attempts for 102 yards and one TD . The league folded and Davis moved on . Canadian Football League . Davis headed to the Canadian Football League in 1976 , and became the league ' s first " million dollar man . " His time with the Toronto Argonauts was not happy . His star ego clashed with CFL legend and Argo coach Russ Jackson ' s idea of a team player . He ended up rushing 104 times for 417 yards and catching 37 passes for 408 yards . He scored 4 TDs . During the final game of the 1976 regular season , in a game against the Hamilton Tiger - Cats ( in Hamilton , Ontario ) Argo quarterback Matthew Reed , desperate to find an open receiver threw an incomplete pass to Davis . When Reed returned to the bench , assistant coach Joe Moss told him never to throw the ball to Davis again . Davis was called the most expensive passing decoy in the history of the league . National Football League . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Davis in the 1976 expansion draft , with his old USC coach John McKay hoping to turn some new magic . Alas , Davis ' NFL career would be a disappointment . In 11 games for the Bucs , Davis would rush 95 times for 297 yards ( 3 . 1 yard average ) and catch 8 passes and score one touchdown . He would play 2 games for the Houston Oilers in 1978 , and 2 games in 1979 for the Los Angeles Rams , rushing 3 times for 7 yards . United States Football League . In 1983 , four years after he last played , he has a short stint with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL , rushing 12 times for 32 yards . After football . Following his football career , Davis found initial success as a real estate developer in the 1980s and early 1990s , while also occasionally acting in minor film and television roles . However , as the economy tightened he began to have financial troubles , accumulating more than $ 33 , 000 in state liens and civil judgments between 1997 and 2006 as real estate projects faltered . In 1998 , two members of the Irvine City Council asked him to help pitch the idea of bringing an NFL team to the area . His participation led a local businessman provide $ 55 , 000 in seed money to the effort . After being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame , Davis sold the blazer and ring he received to a memorabilia collector . He described the ring as looking " like it ' d come out of a bubble gum machine . " He ' d previously sold his baseball championship rings . The Anthony Davis Foundation raised more than $ 40 , 000 from fundraising dinners in 2006 and 2007 ; the bulk of that money was given to scholarship programs at USC and the university ' s Black Alumni Association . However , in 2008 , Davis told a reporter that his $ 10 autograph signing fee went to the Foundation , something that was not entirely correlated by the foundations administration ; the incident led to the foundation was put on indefinite hold . Davis strives to develop himself into a brand via his association as a college football great . Davis can regularly be heard as a commentator on Fox Sports Radio . Davis had a decade - long relationship with Vera LeBlanc . They split in 2009 .