NFL: Vernon Davis Enjoying Retirement, Likes Repeat Match In Super Bowl
Super Bowl champion and long-time NFL standout Vernon Davis has used 14 years in the league to show that he can perform big when the lights are on.
Now, as an investor and potential contributor to Players Media Group's new PlayersTV streaming platform, Davis is exhibiting the style and ability he had on the football field and applying it to the business and entertainment worlds.
Over the NBA's All-Star weekend, Davis participated in the PlayersTV launch party on Valentine’s Day in downtown Chicago. Launching exclusively on Samsung TV next month, the platform touts that will help athletes create stories through video production.
Likely with a mind on making himself more recognizable without a helmet and his #85 on, Davis kick-started the new era of his life and said good-bye to the old one by retiring officially via a pre-game skit that was a part of FOX's coverage of the past Super Bowl. It's likely PlayersTV could include such light-hearted and irreverent content among its programming, with the added draw that it comes directly from your favorite athletes.
Only weeks out of the NFL game officially, Davis is a good source for insight into the current League, and he expressed to WARR Media his thoughts on some his past experiences while also making some hot takes regarding the state of the upcoming 2020 season.
The 49ers, the team Davis played with for the first nine years of his career, lost to the Chiefs 31-20 in the big game earlier this month, and there were many criticisms laid out in front of San Francisco after losing a championship game that it looked like it had in the bag.
Many critics put the blame on the Niners' quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and his perceived role as the team's franchise QB could be tenuous if the team comes up short in any more playoff games to come. Davis expressed support for Jimmy G and feels that he is the guy that can represent the Niners and re-establish the team's tradition of excellence.
“I think Jimmy G is very talented,” Davis said. “The most incredible thing is that he’s young. He still has time to grow like (Kansas City's) Patrick Mahomes. He may be a little older but he still had time to groom himself and win a few championships."
On the other side of Garoppolo, Mahomes became the youngest quarterback to be a league MVP as well as a Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP by besting San Francisco. Davis believes the sky is the limit on what Mahomes can do for the remainder of his career.
“Patrick Mahomes is one of the best young stars in the NFL,” Davis said, comparing his early leadership abilities to the likes of Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
“Mahomes fits in that same category. You look at what he’s doing now, you can tell he’s going to have a bright future. What kid comes out and wins a Super Bowl after three years of starting as a quarterback in the NFL? That’s impeccable."
Davis went on to say that he likes the idea of a rematch of this year's Super Bowl in 2021, the last time two teams met two years in a row for the Lombardi Trophy was when the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills met in Super Bowls 27 and 28. Opening up the possibilities some, Davis also put up the Los Angeles Rams as a possible contender.
During his long run in San Francisco, Davis played with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, he caught a touchdown in Kaepernick's first NFL start, a blowout against the Bears, and caught many more balls from the then rising star as he then led the franchise to the brink of its first world championship since 1995.
Today, Kaepernick's name is one that is shrouded in controversy and is basically persona non grata in regards to NFL franchises. While his efforts to bring attention to police brutality and other social ills plaguing Black Americans has made him a divisive figure, Davis looks at Kaep positively both as a former teammate and a credit to socially-minded athletes.
“It was a great experience playing with Kaepernick,” Davis said. “He was always a standup guy towards me and the team. I know he has this deal that he is fighting for justice and making all of that work, but other than that as a teammate he was fantastic and awesome.
“What he is doing is for a good cause, but if you can do it in a way where everyone can be on the same page and everyone understands the mission, let’s do it together,” Davis said. “From the President to the NBA, NFL, NHL, bring everyone together to do what we can to have an understanding. It has to make sense on both sides. There has to be an equal understanding.”
While in Chicago, Davis was complimentary yet realistic in his opinion of the Bears. Davis believes that they are long shot from winning the Super Bowl. However, he supports head coach Matt Nagy and believes that the front office needs to do a better job of bringing in great talent to support what Nagy is trying to implement within the franchise.
“I think the Bears need to continue to bring in great players and make sure they have a wonderful coaching staff that can get the attention of the guys and have them playing to win a championship,” Davis said.