Davis Remembered for More Than Athletic Achievements

Glenn Davis, a three-time All-American football player at Army who died Wednesday at 80, was eulogized at a funeral Mass on Monday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in La Quinta, near his home.

Jim Hardy, a longtime Coliseum commissioner and, like Davis, a former pro football player, said of his friend that there was “far more substance to this man than jockstraps and cheers from the crowd.”

Hardy told of a day years ago when Davis’ stepson, John Slack, won a 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds in a high school meet. When Davis heard him bragging about that to friends, he challenged his son to a race. Slack pointed out that Davis wasn’t wearing track shoes, but Davis insisted, won the race and told Slack that he should, in the future, let his performance stand for itself.

Hardy said he’d traveled to West Point with Davis in recent years and, at one point, a high-ranking Army official told him, “Years ago, we brought Glenn Davis here to make him a soldier. He already was a gentleman.”

Davis, longtime director of special events at The Times before his retirement, will have a scholarship presented in his name at the U.S. Military Academy, Hardy said.

-- Bill Dwyre