The best Steelers to wear each number: #44 Davenport, Pollard
Each week of the 2021 offseason, Steel City Underground will look back at some great careers to find out which Steelers were the best to wear each jersey number. Stay tuned to see which fan favorites or forgotten greats are mentioned in this weekly series!
This week, Ben Beberman and Christina Rivers looked at the all-time Pittsburgh Steelers list of jersey numbers and two players in black and gold jumped from the page of notables.
Ben’s Pick
A player on his second team would help get his only ring. He is Najeh Davenport.
From 2006-2008, Davenport served in a backup role for the Steeler’s running game. In his three years with Pittsburgh, Davenport played in 32 games. He rushed 169 times for 725 yards. While his tenure was short, his 2007 season was his best even with his limited role.
Davenport had most of his success with the Green Bay Packers before he joined the Steelers. Najeh was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and played for Miami University of Florida. He was drafted by the Packers in the 4th round of the 2002 draft.
While he did not play a massive role in his time here, he did have a decent career in the NFL. He played a total of 73 games and finished with 1,819 yards and 13 scores. Not game-breaking numbers but he certainly had more success than many running backs that have been a part of the NFL.
Christina’s Pick
One player that isn’t really “known” for his wearing of No. 44 was fullback, Frank Pollard, who is still ranked sixth all-time in Steelers history for rushing yards (3,989). Pollard became an 11th round pick (Baylor Bears) in the 1980 NFL Draft for Pittsburgh that the young rusher didn’t expect. Pollard had only received interest from the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys prior to the Draft, and Dallas chose James Jones despite assurances they’d pick Pollard. “I had no idea the Steelers were in the picture,” Pollard told Pittsburgh Sports Daily in 2015. “But I’m glad they were!”
Things weren’t easy for Pollard. Following the retirement of Rocky Bleier, Pollard competed for a spot on the roster with Franco Harris, Greg Hawthorne, and Sidney Thornton. Having made the 1980 squad, Pollard once again made the cut in 1981 and started ten games in tandem with Harris in the Steelers’ offensive backfield where he carried the ball 123 times for 570 yards while also helping block for Harris.
Due to a contract dispute between the Steelers and Harris that resulted in Harris leaving the team, Pollard took over the starting fullback job with fellow Baylor alum Walter Abercrombie being selected in the 1982 NFL Draft. Chuck Noll ran an offense that featured the fullback, giving Pollard his big opportunity to step out of the shadows of more well-known Steelers rushers. Pollard subsequently changed his jersey number to “30” and is often recognized for that number over his original “44”.
His most well-known game was against the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium during the Steelers’ playoff upset. Pollard carried the ball for 99 yards and two touchdowns; he scored the game-winning touchdown with the game winding down in the final minutes, giving Pittsburgh a 24-17 victory. He would follow up that memorable game with an outstanding season the next year, carrying the ball for 991 yards.
Pollard became a symbol, to many, of how the Steelers could find a gem in the Draft that wasn’t necessarily on the radar – and is still considered to have been a steal for Pittsburgh in 1980.
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Christina’s editorial note: While Davenport certainly has name – and game – recognition going for him, his legal issues surrounding domestic violence, child endangerment, and unlawful restraint charges made me hesitant to call him the “best” Steelers player to wear No. 44. Davenport was cleared of the charges; his wife refused to testify against him following the 2007 incident that included the running back choking his wife while she held their son following an attempt to drive away while she was unbuckling the toddler from a car seat. Nicknamed the “Dump Truck” and “Dookie”, Davenport was arrested in college for breaking into a woman’s dorm room and defecating there.
Davenport’s recent lawsuit, filed with fellow retiree Kevin Henry, against the NFL related to memory loss, neurocognitive decline, depression, and more as a result of head injuries during their careers – and subsequent calls of racial inequality against players of color in receiving compensation for CTE and CTE-related disorders – brings his name into the public arena as well.
Neither issue takes away from his statistics as a player but places an asterisk, in my opinion, behind his name as being “the best”.
