SANTA CLARA -- Jimmy Davenport might be getting a tryout in 49ers’ rookie camp as a wide receiver and long-snapper, but he’s no stranger to professional athletics.
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Davenport is the grandson of Jim Davenport, a member of the original 1958 San Francisco Giants and a long-time coach who has spent a half-century with the baseball organization.
[RELATED: Rice Jr. declines his father's retired number]
“I was always going to field with him at Candlestick,” said the younger Davenport, who turns 29 on June 1. “I got a pretty good feel right off the bat, hanging out with Bobby Bonds and all those guys. It was a good experience.”
Jimmy Davenport attended Newark Memorial High. He was a .253 career hitter in two minor-league seasons in the Seattle Mariners organization before giving football a shot at Chabot College, then at Faulkner University, an NAIA institution in Montgomery, Alabama.