Davis was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia and played scholastically at Jordan Vocational High School.

[1] He played collegiately for the Georgia Tech football team,[2] where he was a member of Chi Phi fraternity.

He was named to the All-SEC first-team three times (1945, 1946, 1947), and was a two-time All-American, earning second-team honors in 1946,[3] and a consensus selection in 1947.

[5] Davis was selected by the New York Giants in the sixth-round of the 1947 NFL draft.

[6] He played one season in the NFL (1948), with the Boston Yanks, appearing in 12 of their 14 games.