On December 3 1946 1946 Heisman winner Glenn Davis
Glenn Davis had two lifetime resume lines that every red-blooded American male of his era would have killed for:
— Dated Elizabeth Taylor
— Won the Heisman Trophy
Several other men have filled either role — the glamorous actress was married eight times, and they’ve given away the Heisman 74 times. But both? That’s a strong double. Still, Davis’ primary claim to fame was football, particularly his role as “Mr. Outside” to Doc Blanchard’s “Mr. Inside” while starring for the Army juggernaut of the mid-1940s. They were also called the “Touchdown Twins,” though Davis already had a twin brother (Ralph, who also attended West Point). While Blanchard was the bigger and more physical runner, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Davis was the home-run speed threat. He averaged a staggering 11.5 yards per carry in 1945 — still the NCAA record — but Blanchard won the Heisman. The next year Blanchard got hurt early in the season, so Davis picked up the slack and won the trophy while averaging “only” 5.8 yards per carry. His career average of 8.3 yards per carry also remains an NCAA record. Blanchard and Davis appeared in a 1947 movie called “The Spirit of West Point,” and Davis hurt his knee during the filming — which might have helped to curtail his NFL career. But it did not curtail his ability to mingle among the beautiful people in his home state of California, where he dated actress Ann Blyth and later met Liz Taylor on the beach. His relationship with Taylor could not endure a three-year Army hitch in Korea. She moved on to marry hotel heirs and actors, while he moved on to a brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams before working as the special events director for the Los Angeles Times. In the 1990s, he married the widow of 1954 Heisman winner Alan Ameche. All things considered, Glenn Davis did pretty well for himself.
— Pat Forde
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