James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
Davis is Done!
After 15 NFL seasons, Redskins Tight End Vernon Davis retired Sunday.
The former Maryland Terrapin, age 36, was drafted in round 1 (6 overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.
At 6-foot-3 and 248 pounds, Davis exemplified what it means for an NFL veteran to remain in top condition, maintaining his strength and speed throughout his lengthy and productive career.
Appearing in 198 NFL regular season games, Davis started 179, catching 583 passes for 7,562 yards and 63 touchdowns, averaging 13.0 yards per reception.
Investing heavily in Davis as their first round selection, Davis remained with the 49ers for ten seasons, being elected twice (2009, 2013) to the NFL Pro Bowl.
Having played his high school football at Washington DC Dunbar, Davis returned home to the Washington Redskins in 2016 signing as a 32 year-old free agent.
Davis collected 122 pass receptions in his four seasons with the Redskins (2016-19) gaining 1,721 yards.
Starting in 39 of the 50 games he played for the Redskins, Davis continued to be a deep threat for Washington, averaging 14.1 yards per reception, while garnering 8 touchdown passes.
The 2015 season was quite the shaky season for Davis, as in his first six games when only collecting 18 receptions, he was traded by San Francisco to Denver.
Though Denver executive John Elway said the trade was an opportunity the Broncos could not pass up, Davis in his nine games as a Bronco, only caught 20 passes, experiencing his only NFL season with no touchdown receptions.
It appeared Vernon Davis’ NFL career was in jeopardy.
However, coming back home to his Washington roots the following season, provided Davis both a comfort and motivation to continue his playing career.
Davis in top physical condition remained healthy playing in all 16 games in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons, where he contributed 44 and 43 pass receptions, averaging 13.3 and 15.1 yards per reception.
In 2018 at age 34, Davis impressively continued to get open for sizeable gains, averaging 14.7 yards per reception, before hamstring problems limited him to only eight games.
His final season (2019) was cut short when in a game-four 24-3 loss against the New York Giants, Davis suffered a concussion.
After several weeks the Redskins finally placed Davis on the Injured Reserve list November 22.
Thus Davis would accumulate only 10 receptions for 123 yards (12.3 per reception).
Yet, Davis at age 35, was in excellent condition for week one and had quite an impressive touchdown reception in Philadelphia for the Redskins’ first touchdown of the season.
In his final collegiate season as a Maryland Terrapin tight end, Maryland was only 5-6 under Ralph Friedgen.
However Friedgen knew the threat he possessed in his tight end, as Davis led the team in receptions (51) receiving yards (871), yards per reception (17.1) and receiving touchdowns (6).
Being drafted by San Francisco the 49ers then coached by Mike Nolan, Davis would two seasons later find himself being coached by Mike Singletary, where he became infamously known as the object for one of the more popular coaching rants in modern NFL history.
However, Davis would later admit he changed his attitude, got his act together, gained humility and became a better man, crediting the Singletary incident and former Redskins GM Scot McCloughan.
Congratulations Vernon Davis on a fine NFL career and for maturing and becoming a better man. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
Ivan Lambert is a lifelong die-hard Washington Redskins fan, raised in Berryville, Virginia. He is married and the father of two fine young men. He is currently a sports correspondent for The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida and can be found on Twitter @IvanLambert18
