This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.
The most obvious choices for No. 41:
= John Lackey, Anaheim Angels
= Jerry Reuss, Los Angeles Dodgers
= Elden Campbell, Los Angeles Lakers
= Glen Rice, Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers
The not-so-obvious choices for No. 41:
= Glenn Davis, Los Angeles Rams
= Ken Norton Jr., UCLA football
= Jeff Shaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
The most interesting story for No. 41:
Glenn Davis, Los Angeles Rams running back (1950 to 1951)
via Bonita High
Southern California map pinpoints:
Claremont, La Verne, Pomona, Los Angeles Coliseum, La Quinta
Glenn Davis’ 1946 Heisman Trophy sits in the main office at Bonita High School in La Verne, rather unassuming in a glass case, with all sorts of newspaper clippings behind it to help explain what it means. It’s near is the Smudgepot Game Trophy — to some, carrying more importance for bragging rights.
Upon further examination, there’s a small addition made to the plaque that wasn’t on the original when it was presented to Davis, who, at that time, was just the 12th recipient in the award’s history.
The Army tailback had finished as the Heisman runner up as a sophomore and as a junior as the sport kept going on during World War II. At last, “Mr. Outside” had had sole possession of the title of outstanding college football player in the United States as deemed by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City.
Now, in the bottom left corner, Davis may not have known that his high school alma mater added the notation: “Bonita High School 1940-1943.”
To the kid known as the “Claremont Comet,” that mattered. To the school, it was an honor and a matter of pride.
“I don’t think there’s too many high schools in the country with a Heisman Trophy in their possession,” said then Principal Bob Ketterling, who arrived a couple of years after the handoff. “People walk by and do a double-take.”
For historians of high school sports in Southern California, this was validation. Davis was the first Heisman Trophy winner with roots in the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section.
And, eventually, to the Los Angeles Rams, it meant bringing a home-town star back in the spotlight where he would play in two championship games during his only two NFL seasons.
The background
Born in Claremont on Christmas Eve 1924 — that’s what his headstone at West Point states, and it is what we will go with even though some sources say he was born on the actual Christmas day or the day after Christmas — Glenn Davis was nicknamed “Junior” as a family joke. He arrived 90 minutes after his twin brother, Ralph, who was given their father’s name.
Ralph and Irma Davis owned grove of lemon and orange trees in La Verne, and the boys worked summer as fruit pickers. They also were defense workers at a plant on Olympic Blvd., in L.A., when they were older.
At Bonita High, Glenn Davis was a four-star athlete, earning 13 varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track. Wearing No. 22, his claim to fame was scoring 236 points in his senior year. He scored five touchdowns to lead the Bearcats to a 39-6 win over Newport Harbor in the CIF-SS Class A title game.
Fame also came in a 41-12 win over South Pasadena during the playoff run to the title. Davis became the subject of a Ripley’s “Believe It Or Not” item. Running the Bonita Single Wing offense, Glenn threw a touchdown pass to Ralph during that game. But it was called back. His team was offside. So they did the same play — another TD pass from Glenn to Ralph, again, canceled by an offside call. On the third try, Glenn threw another TD pass — Bonita was called for holding, thus it was also nullified.
On the fourth try, Glenn faked a pass, tucked the ball in, and ran for a 55-yard touchdown. At that moment, he became known as the “Claremont Comet.”
The 1942 CIF-SS Player of the Year (and first-team All CIF with his brother Ralph on the second team), Glenn led his team to an 11-0 mark. He was also All-CIF in baseball and he received the 1943 Knute Rockne Trophy as the best track star in Southern California, running the 100 yards in 9.7 seconds and the 220 in 20.9.
Glenn’s plan was to move onto USC for football, but he was offered a Congressional appointment to the Army Academy by Congressman Jerry Voohis. Glenn agreed to go only if his brother Ralph could join him. They enlisted.
West Point may not have known what it was getting until Glenn’s plebe year when he took the “Master of the Sword” physical fitness test. A combination of the 300-yard run, a “dodge” run, a vertical jump, parallel bar dips, softball throw, situps and chins and standing broad jump would earn an average score of 540 for the participants. Davis scored a 926.4 out of 1,000 — an all-time high — and later increased it to 962.5.
In 1943, Davis enrolled but he was not the scholar student. He was asked to leave at the end of the season. He came back to Webb Prep School in Claremont to finish a four-month math course that allowed him to re-admit at West Point in 1944-45 back as a plebe.
At 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, Davis had to rely on his leg strength, change of speed and a strong stiff arm on a defender — not unlike the pose presented on the Heisman Trophy.
Lettering in football, track and as a center fielder in baseball, Davis attracted the attention of Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey, who said he could earn $75,000 if he was willing to come to spring training with the team.
In 1944, the sophomore Davis finally sporting No. 41 led Army to a 9-0 record and No. 1 ranking as he accounted for 19 touchdowns. He led the nation with an average of 11.7 yards per carry. He scored 14 touchdowns rushing (667 yards on 58 carries), four TDs receiving (221 yards on 13 catches) and one passing (in six attempts, for 197 yards) to win the Maxwell Trophy, the Walter Camp Trophy and the Helms Foundation Trophy. Army finished undefeated for the first time in nearly 30 years. The prize win was 59-0 over Notre Dame.
That year, he gained the nickname “Mr. Outside” for his skills to turn the corner of the line, while teammate Doc Blanchard was “Mr. Inside” for his ability to put his 235-pound body through the line. They became the “Touchdown Twins” and combined for 156 points together in ’44.
In the first of three All-American selection seasons, Davis finished second and Blanchard was third in the Heisman voting, behind winner Les Horvath, the senior halfback/quarterback from national champion Ohio State. Horvath would precede Davis in playing two seasons for the Los Angeles Rams (1947 and ’48), wearing No. 12.
By 1945, as Army again was 9-0 and ranked No. 1 all season long, Davis was second again in the Heisman, this time to teammate Blanchard. Both scored 17 touchdowns each for 204 points. Davis averaged an NCAA record 11.5 yards per carry and 103.3 yards a game (930 yards, 15 TDs) on the ground and 42.6 yards a game receiving (213 yards, two TDs).
The 1946 season saw Davis lead Army to another undefeated season, despite a tie against Notre Dame (which ended as the No. 1 ranked squad). Davis ran that season for 712 yards and seven touchdowns, had 356 yards receiving with six touchdowns, passed for 396 yards and four touchdowns, and played safety. Davis’ Heisman win (792 votes, over Georgia’s Charley Trippi and Notre Dame’s Johnny Lujack) came with teammate Blanchard finishing fourth (and Army quarterback Arnie Tucker fifth).
In his three years at Army, where the team was 27-0-1 and almost always ranked No. 1 in the nation, Davis piled up 2,957 yards rushing on 8.3 yards per carry — a long-time standing record. It resulted in 59 touchdowns. He also had 850 yards receiving as 12 TD catches. He passed for 1,172 yards.
Hollywood got a hold of the Davis-Blanchard story and recruited both to star in “The Spirit of West Point,” where another former Heisman winner, Tom Harmon, played the role of a radio sportscaster.
Filmed at the UCLA practice field, Davis actually tore cartilage and ligaments in his right knee during the shoot. For what it’s worth, the film didn’t do all that well in reviews. The featured review on the IMdB.com called it “The Plan 9 of sports movies.”
Davis also had to fulfill his military obligation, serving in Korea, which means that while he was drafted by the NFL’s Detroit Lions, second overall in the ’47 event, he had to put that off.
He would join the star-studded Los Angeles Rams for the 1950 season and kept wearing No. 41 once his obligation ended. Now listed at 5-foot-11 and 171 pounds at age 25, and despite the residuals of that knee injury, he was named to the Pro Bowl after a season where he ran for 416 yards on 88 carries and caught 42 passes for 592 yards, combining for seven touchdown.
In the 1950 NFL Championship Game on Christmas Eve, Davis scored on an 82-yard pass from Bob Waterfield for the first play after the opening kickoff in an eventual 30-28 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, secured by Lou Groza’s 16-yard field goal with 28 seconds left. Davis had six yards rushing on six carries and one punt return for 14 yards.
In 1951, Davis re-injured his knee and was able to pile up just 290 yards rushing for the season. In the 1951 NFL Championship Game, during the Rams’ 24-17 loss at the Coliseum, Davis caught three passes for 10 yards, but also lost six yards on six carries. Sitting out the 1952 season, the Rams released him in September of ’53, ending his football playing days. It was time to move onto other things.
The legacy
In 2020, ESPN drew up a list of the Top 150 players in college football’s first 150 year history, and Davis was No. 18 with this writeup: Those who saw him play make Mr. Outside’s long list of records read like the dry text that it is. Two quotes from the book “The Heisman: Sixty Years of Tradition and Excellence” explain Davis’ greatness. First, Steve Owen, the coach of the New York Giants in the 1940s, declared Davis “better than Red Grange. He’s faster and he cuts better.” Additionally, Army teammate Bill Yeoman, the Hall of Fame coach of the Houston Cougars, said late in his life that Davis “is still the most phenomenal athlete I ever saw.” At 5-9, 170, Davis might have been too slight for today’s game. That’s assuming anyone ever laid a pad on him.
Legendary Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik was also known to say about Davis: He was “the best player I have seen, anywhere, anytime.” Blaik also called Davis’ shy demeanor as someone who was “bashful as a girl on her first date, even through he was an All American.”
Bonita High named its football field after Glenn Davis in 1987 – but it was not the stadium where he played. The Bonita High in Davis’ day was at the current site of Damien High, as the current Bonita campus was built years after he graduated.
Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961, Davis also found fame dating actresses Ann Blyth and Elizabeth Taylor and was briefly married to actress Terry Moore, was with his wife Ellen Harriet Lancaster Slack for 43 years until her death. Davis and Slack had one son – named Ralph. In 1966, Davis married Yvonne Amenche, the widow of 1943 Heisman winner Alan Ameche.
The Glenn Davis Award was created by the Los Angeles Times to honor the winner of its high school football player of the year. Davis worked at the Times as its special events director for fund raising, lasting 35 years before retiring to La Quinta.
As for the story of how Bonita High received his Heisman:
A year before he died at age 80 in 2005 — and he would be buried at West Point near his coach, Earl Blaik — Davis said he just called the school one day and asked if anyone was there that day.
“I’m going to bring something over,” he told them.
Davis asked there be no publicity around the presentation. He left it off at the principal’s desk. As he was leaving, he saw a trophy case with a small, non-descript award called the “Downtown Business Community” trophy the school used to give to its top athletes.
Davis asked if he could take that one home instead, so he could remember his days at Bonita High.
“Nobody knew that he was going to give the Heisman to the school, and Glenn specifically asked for no cameras or no media coverage,” said Eric Podley, former head football coach at Bonita High School.
“I just happened to be walking outside the day he brought it. I saw a little old man and a little old woman walking along. I thought they were lost, Dan Harden, former Bonita Athletic Director said. Then I saw it. He was walking with his wife and just carrying it along, under his arm.”
As Davis told L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke in 2004 about the handoff: “It’s just a trophy. It’s not a life.”
Who else wore No. 41 in SoCal sports history? Make a case for:
John Lackey, Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher (2002 to 2009):
The Angels’ second-round 1999 draft pick from Abilene, Tex., made his major-league debut in June of 2022 at age 23 and finished 9-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 18 starts. But there was more to come. He made five appearances in the 2002 playoffs, including the second rookie to start a Game 7. He got the win by allowing one earned run on four hits in five innings, leaving with a 4-1 lead. The World Series title he won with the Angels was the first of three he won in his career — another one each with Boston and the Chicago Cubs. In eight of his 15 seasons with the Angels, he went 102-71, winning 19 games and a league-best ERA of 3.01 during his AL All Star season of 2007, third in Cy Young voting. And for those with keen vision: Lackey is the pitcher who was in a Derek Jeter Gatorade commercial as actor Harvey Keitel was telling the Yankees’ great to steal second base on “that Schemedrick.”
Jerry Reuss, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher (1979 to 1987):
A member of the NL All Star team in 1980, which allowed him to make a mound appearance at Dodger Stadium for the home-town team, strike out three batters and earn the victory, Reuss would win 18 games that season and finish second in the Cy Young voting. It included throwing a no-hitter at San Francisco (missing a perfect game because of one first-inning error). That put him in line as manager Tommy Lasorda’s opening day starter in 1981. But he wasn’t up to the task. So Fernando Valenzuela subbed in and, well, you know the rest. Reuss’ nine years with the Dodgers were the longest of any of the eight teams he played for in 22 seasons (including one with the Angels in 1987 wearing No. 44) going 86-69 with a 3.11 ERA in 201 starts that included 44 complete games, 16 shutouts and even eight saves. He also won Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Yankees (after losing Game 1).
Lou Johnson, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder (1965 to 1967)
“Sweet Lou” hadn’t played in a big-league game for two seasons before the Dodgers acquired him from Detroit before the ’64 season and brought the 31-year-old up during the eventual 1965 World Series run to replace the injured Tommy Davis. As the Dodgers’ regular left fielder, Johnson hit .260 with 58 RBIs. His claim to fame may have been scoring the only run in Sandy Koufax’s 1965 perfect game — walking in the fifth inning, going to second on a sacrifice bunt, stealing third and scoring on a throwing error. He also got the only hit in the game, a seventh-inning single — Johnson was the only player to reach base for either team. Johnson’s two homers in the 1965 World Series included what turned out to be the game winner in Game 7 at Minnesota. Johnson moved to right field in ’66 and played 152 games with 17 homers and 73 RBIs, hitting .272 leading to another World Series appearance. After his career ended following recovering from a broken leg, he joined the Dodgers community relations department.
Jeff Shaw, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher (1998 to 2001):
Traded to the Dodgers by interim GM Tommy Lasorda for promising rookie Paul Konerko and Dennys Reyes at mid-season 1998, Shaw didn’t wear a Dodgers uniform for the first time until he was introduced for the All Star Game in Denver three days later. His selection was based on his performance as a Cincinnati Reds reliever. During the AL’s 13-8 win, Shaw pitched the eighth inning, giving up a run on three hits. Shaw became the first player in baseball history to participate in the Midsummer Classic while wearing the uniform for a club he had yet to play in a regular-season game for. Shaw posted 25 saves and a 2.55 ERA during the second half, convincing the Dodger to make him one the highest-paid closers in MLB by signing him to a three-year, $15 million contract at season’s end — or risk having him use a player option to leave as a free agent (which Lasorda wasn’t aware of when he made the trade). Shaw was the franchise leader in saves with 129 (until Eric Gagne passed him in 2004) and made another NL All Star team for the Dodgers at age 34.
Ted Sizemore, Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman (1969 to ’70)
He started the ’69 season as the Opening Day shortstop, but was moved to second base within a few weeks when the Dodgers brought back Maury Wills. Posting a .359 batting average by the end of April, Sizemore ended up with 160 hits in 159 games and a .271 average to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award voting. He hit .306 his next year in 96 games, but the Dodgers, who originally drafted him as a catcher, decided to package him in a deal with St. Louis to get Dick Allen in 1970. They traded back with St. Louis to get Sizemore for Willie Crawford in 1976 as the rumor was the Dodgers were about to deal shortstop Bill Russell to the Cardinals for Reggie Smith, but that never happened. After one season back in L.A. (as he wore No. 5), Sizemore was dealt to Philadelphia.
Ken Norton Jr., UCLA football linebacker (1984 to 1987):
The son of the heavyweight boxer by the same name, Norton came by way of Westchester High and made his way into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 by leading the Bruins in tackles his junior and senior season and winning four straight bowl games. A finalist for the Butkus Award and the Bruins’ defensive MVP, he piled up 339 tackles at UCLA and was a second-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys. He returned in 2022 to be the Bruins linebacker coach after six seasons coaching defense at USC (2004 to ’09).
Spencer Havner, UCLA football linebacker (2002 to 2005):
A semifinalist for the Bednarik Award (nation’s top defender), the Rotary Lombardi Award (nation’s top lineman) and the Butkus Award as well as quarterfinalist for the Lott Trophy (nation’s top defender) was the winner of UCLA’s Red Sanders Award for Most Valuable Player in 2005. He led the Bruins with 99 tackles, 15 for a loss and three interceptions. The four-year starter was eventually converted into an NFL tight end with Green Bay.
Elden Campbell, Los Angeles Lakers center (1990-91 to 1998-99):
The 6-foot-11, 215-pounder from Morningside High of Inglewood went to Clemson University and came back to So Cal, scoring more points in the 1990s decade (6,408) than any other Laker. He also ranks third in franchise history in blocks. That decade started with a Lakers roster including Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Byron Scott, and ended with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. As a starter from ‘93 to ‘97, Campbell averaged 13.4 points and 7.1 rebounds. But during the 1998-99 season, as GM Jerry West felt there was a missing piece, Campbell was traded to Charlotte along with Eddie Jones for three-time All-Star small forward Glen Rice, who took his No. 41. Campbell died at 57 in 2025, the same year Morningside High closed.
Glen Rice, Los Angeles Lakers forward (1998-99 to 1999-2000), Los Angeles Clippers forward (2003-04):
Through a 15-year NBA career that started in Miami and went through Charlotte, the three-point specialist Rice came to the Lakers and was able to keep his No. 41 — because Elden Campbell was part of the trade from L.A. to Charlotte for him. Rice averaged 17.9 in the last half of the ’98-’99 season and 15.9 points in his only full season to help the Lakers win the 2000 NBA title. His final NBA season with the Clippers were 18 games off the bench.
Have you heard this story:
Eddie Matthews, Santa Barbara High baseball (1945 to 1949):
The Santa Barbara High baseball field sports his name because that’s where he drew attention prior to a Hall of Fame career with the Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. The legend of Matthews on that field included those who claim to have seen him hit home runs over fences, buildings and swimming pools.
“I was a linebacker and fullback in football,” he once told the L.A. Times. “We played St. Anthony of L.A. in the football championship game at the Coliseum, but we lost because they had more first downs. Then we played in the baseball championship game at the old ballpark (Lane Field) in San Diego. I hit a home run, but we lost that one, too.”
The “Santa Barbara Bomber” signed with the Braves at age 17 on the night of his high school graduation in 1949 and he was in team’s regular third baseman by age 20. The Braves retired his No. 41. What number did he wear playing baseball at Santa Barbara High? We aren’t sure. A 1948 yearbook shot shows him as a junior playing third base. But there is this photo of No. 65 playing football.
Matthews was a player, coach and manager with the franchise, including the team skipper on the night in 1974 when former teammate Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th home run against the Dodgers. And a photo of him adorns the initial cover of Sports Illustrated in August of 1954.
Pasadena native and longtime Atlanta Braves slugger Darrell Evans was one of many who attended Mathews’ 2001 funeral in Santa Barbara Cemetery. Evans wore Matthews’ No. 41 while playing in Atlanta. “I think I still have some of the bruises from balls he hit at my chest,” said Evans, who played under Mathews. “He took the fear out of playing baseball. He taught me how to be a leader. He wanted me to be a leader. He is gone, but he is certainly going to live on with everybody here.”
Ron Shelton, a minor-league baseball player who would go on to be a Hollywood writer, producer and director, idolized Mathews growing up in Santa Barbara and wrote at the time of Mathews’ death: “If you lived in Santa Barbara — or Milwaukee, because the Braves moved there from Boston — you knew early on that two young hitting stars were about to become the most potent 1-2 home-run combination in baseball history. Two kids, really, Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews. With one ‘t’, Mathews — that was a big thing for us kids. Spell his name right. He’s our guy. … I won the batting title at Santa Barbara High and was awarded the Eddie Mathews Bat, which was the school’s trophy for best batting average. Of all the trophies, plaques and honors I’ve received, this is the only one I can actually locate. It’s the only trophy you can carry out to the backyard and take a few cuts with.”
Quincy Olivari, Los Angeles Lakers forward (2024-25):
“Who is No. 41? The winning way Quincy Olivari introduced himself to Lakers nation,” was the headline on a Los Angeles Times story in mid-October when the Lakers had their annual media day in El Segundo prior to training camp for the 2024-25 season. The undrafted training-camp signee on a non-guaranteed contract deal became somewhat famous on the Internet one day for arranging to have his photo taken with LeBron James in the background of a TV interview being done with James’ son, Bronny. He then went out and had 11 points, with five rebounds and two assists during a 10-minute window in an exhibition game win in Milwaukee. “Yeeeeaaaahhhhh Q!!,” James posted on Instagram afterward. “They know who 41 is now.” Olivari was eventually signed to a two-way contract and went to the Lakers’ South Bay G-League team, using the mantra “Who is #41?” as his motivation. In the ’24-’25 season, Olivari played 10 minutes over two games, making one three-pointer.
We also have:
Clem Labine, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher (1958 to 1960) Also wore No. 41 from 1950 to ’57 with Brooklyn
Mitch Kupchak, Los Angeles Lakers forward (1981-82) Also wore No. 25 from 1983-84 to 1985-86
Swen Nater, Los Angeles Lakers center (1983-84)
Mike Marshall, California Angels outfielder (1991)
Anyone else worth nominating?
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