Bruce Edward Davis II has always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.

The backup Steelers linebacker did so in college, becoming an All-American at UCLA, where his father, former Raiders offensive tackle Bruce Sr., played from 1975-78 and his mother, Lorna, ran track.

But the rookie is far from finished. He remembers at a young age his dad showing him his two Super Bowl rings still nestled in their original casing.

“I’d say, ‘If he’s got two, I’ve got to get two,’ ” Davis said. “It’s always been a dream.”

His first chance comes in a story book scenario on Super Bowl Sunday in Tampa, where his dad earned his second ring as a member of the Raiders’ upset of the Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa Stadium on Jan. 22, 1984.

Like father, like son.

“I’ve been saying all week, ‘What did I do right to deserve all this?’ ” said Davis, who was born 20 months after his father’s win in Tampa. “It’s been crazy.

Said his father: “For most adults, sometimes it takes a lifetime to realize your full potential and your dream. For most of us it’s in your 40s and 50s. He’s doing it at 23 years old.”

Davis, backup to LaMarr Woodley, hopes to mimic the former Michigan star who has tutored him since training camp. Davis, like Woodley, was converted from defensive end, where he was one of college football’s premier pass rushers, racking up 24½ sacks in his final two seasons before being drafted in the third round. Davis, who at 6 feet 2, 252 pounds has mostly played on special teams, said he has been “soaking in everything” from his All-Pro teammates, while patiently waiting his turn to take his place in the franchise’s storied linebacker tradition.

Davis is “quick off the ball and instinctive,” said UCLA defensive line coach Todd Howard, a former Chiefs linebacker and Rams assistant. “I think he has the ability and intellect (to make the switch).”

He also has the bloodline. Davis Sr. said he has talked to his son about preparing for the big game, and remembers his Tampa Super Bowl as if it were yesterday. There was the pregame media hype and trash talk, with Redskins defensive end Dexter Manley running his mouth, “I think the most famous one was he was going to ‘feed me to the alligators,’ ” Davis said, laughing.

“I remember telling (Manley) after the game, ‘You can go touch Jim (Plunkett) now, cause you didn’t during the game.’ ”

In Super Bowl XVIII, nothing went as expected. The favored Redskins, behind league MVP Joe Theismann and fullback John Riggins, were supposed to run all over the Raiders.

Instead, in the 38-9 Raiders victory, often called “Black Sunday,” it was a Marcus Allen run that is etched in Super Bowl lore. The game MVP had a highlight-reel 74-yard scoring run on the final play of the third quarter in which he changed direction.

“Marcus actually missed a hole — there was a hole you could have driven a truck through,” Davis joked. “He had to put a little flair in it.”

The celebration had its own flair, too, with the Raiders toasting “about 120 bottles of Dom Perignon,” and Davis smoking a Cuban cigar for the first time.

Davis told his son to consider the Super Bowl like a “business trip,” but also reminded him to “take it all in. It’s something you’ll never forget the rest of your life.”

Davis, who is a middle school teacher in the Washington D.C. area, will assemble what could be a large family fan club at Raymond James Stadium: daughter Jennifer is working on her Ph.D. in California and younger son Ian is a freshman walk-on defensive end at UCLA, who wears the same No. 44 his older brother did.

Whether another Davis gets to hold the Lombardi Trophy remains to be seen, but he’ll likely have a similar emotional moment before the game.

“I remember being the second player introduced, running out of the tunnel and looking and seeing my parents,” Davis Sr. said.

When Davis has his chance, they’ll be able to share more than a look.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/article969798.ece

Some of you might remember Bruce Davis – the former UCLA defensive end with a monster speed rush and a flair for the dramatic.

Well, “The Sack Master” – as he was known around these parts – just might be the luckiest son of a gun in the world.

After getting drafted last spring, Davis spent all of this season transforming himself into an outside linebacker. There’s no place in the league for a 6-foot, 3-inch, 234-pound defensive end. So he put on 20 pounds, discarded his three-point stance and learned the ways of a ‘backer.’

He dressed for only five games this season and doesn’t have an NFL stat line yet. He wasn’t even on the active roster in three playoff games, but he did do something right.

He got drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Even though Davis has yet to make a tackle in the professional ranks or celebrate his first NFL sack, he now has a permanent title in front of his name: “Super Bowl Champion.”

Not too shabby for a guy who just one year ago was wondering where he might fall in the draft.

Now all he’s wondering is when that UPS truck will roll up to his door and hand him that big ol’ ring.

When that day comes, Davis is going to be looking like Martin Lawrence at the end of “Blue Streak” – high-stepping down the road with a diamond in hand the size of his head, and in complete disbelief that it’s actually his.

And somewhere that same day, former USC quarterback Matt Leinart will be sitting on his hands wondering how he’s ever going to get the Cardinals back to the Super Bowl once Kurt Warner decides to walk away.

But the point is the guy who beat UCLA every time on the field got beat by a Bruin to a Super Bowl win.

And, leaving Troy Polamalu out of this, that’s some sweet payback.

Unlike Davis, Leinart was actually active for the Super Bowl and would’ve stepped in for Warner if the old guy had gone down, but that’s just the fine print at this point.

At the end of the day, Davis is a world champion.

His little to no effect on the actual game? Semantics.

Most players earn their Super Bowl rings on Sunday and Mondays and while Davis didn’t exactly have that kind of impact, it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have one of those big, shiny fists on his finger in a few months.

Let’s be honest for a second. Pittsburgh probably would have won the Super Bowl without Davis’ help. Saying otherwise would be like saying Barack Obama wouldn’t have won without his own vote.

But those little things tend to add up.

Though I’ve never seen Davis on the Steelers practice field, maybe his impersonation of the Cards linebackers was Oscar-worthy. Maybe he gave some Rudy-like effort on the practice field that was just the motivation Pittsburgh needed. Maybe, on some tiny off chance, Davis was the difference-maker in the Steelers run to the Super Bowl.

Maybe, maybe not.

But when it comes down to it, Davis is a world champion.

http://www.dailybruin.com/news/2009/feb/03/emsuper-bowl-win-settles-score-former-bruinem/

PRO: Drafted by the Steelers in the third round (88^th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft out of UCLA…played primarily as a defensive end in college but will make the transition to linebacker in the NFL.

http://news.steelers.com/article/88658/

(Follow the link for more of this article)

UCLA seniors Bruce Davis and Trey Brown have been named second-team All-Americans by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, it was announced this evening. (more…)

For weeks, Bruce Davis would wake up in the middle of the night, nervous about what was in store for his football career.

But with the NFL draft less than a week away, the former Clear Creek star has settled down and is ready to enjoy the experience of the day he’s been waiting for all his life. (more…)