Our Arklahoma Heritage: Davis quarterbacked the Sooners to one of their best-ever three-year runs
As a boy in Sallisaw, Steve Davis kept a photo of Oklahoma quarterback Bobby Warmack in his top dresser drawer, the image showing Warmack with eye black, double chin strap, and a towel hanging from the front of his pants, and on the day of Davis’s first college start in 1973 his mother took that same picture and wrote the word "TONIGHT" across it.
Oklahoma beat Baylor that night, then tied USC the following week, and from there Davis and the Sooners ran off a long streak of victories under Barry Switzer’s wishbone.
Davis, born James Steven Davis on November 19, 1952, at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana, while his father served there, was the oldest of four sons of James and Patsy Davis and grew up in Sallisaw after the family returned home.
He starred at Sallisaw High School for the Black Diamonds, earned the last available Oklahoma scholarship only after another recruit chose Colorado, redshirted, and then started every game from 1973 through 1975. In those three seasons he posted a 32-1-1 record, the best winning percentage of any starting quarterback in NCAA history, as the Sooners claimed Big Eight titles each year and national championships in 1974 and 1975.
He was named most valuable player of the 1976 Orange Bowl when Oklahoma defeated Michigan 14-6 to secure the second of those titles. In the wishbone he rarely threw more than a handful of passes a game, yet he rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 34 touchdowns while completing only about 40 percent of his limited attempts, and teammates recalled his competitiveness and clutch execution, including a 52-yard touchdown pass to Tinker Owens that helped erase a halftime deficit against Miami in 1973.
He never lost to Texas, and the sole defeat on his record came in a 1975 home loss to Kansas that ended a 28-game winning streak.
After his final season he joined ABC Sports in 1976 as the youngest football analyst the network had hired, beginning an 18-year broadcasting career that also included CBS and ESPN. He covered major rivalries and bowl games alongside partners such as Keith Jackson, Al Michaels, Vern Lundquist, and Brent Musburger, and he later returned for studio an
alysis on the Sooner Network.
At the same time he built a business career that started with the Tulsa firm Helmerich and Payne and later included launching, growing, and selling several companies before he focused on real estate development.
He had earned his pilot’s license as a teenager, remained active in the ministry and at First Baptist Church in Tulsa, supported the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and raised a son, Bo, while later becoming engaged to Fran Evans.
Personal difficulties, including the end of a first marriage and a period of spiritual struggle, were resolved after the death of his brother George, after which he rededicated himself to faith and family.
On March 17, 2013, at age 60, Davis died when the Beechcraft Premier I jet on which he was a passenger crashed into a residential neighborhood near South Bend, Indiana, during a business trip from Tulsa. An experienced pilot, though not rated in that aircraft, he was allowed by the pilot-in-command, Wesley Caves, to fly the plane.
On approach he misunderstood an instruction and shut down both engines. One engine was restarted, but the aircraft crashed while attempting a go-around, killing Davis and Caves. The two rear-seat passengers survived with serious injuries, and the National Transportation Safety Board later confirmed the sequence.
A memorial service took place on March 25, 2013, at First Baptist Church in Tulsa, followed by a private graveside service. He was buriedat the Calvary Cemetery in Tulsa,.
