The San Francisco 49ers may be based in California, but their city is a solid trek away from the bright lights of Hollywood.
Still, one former 49ers first round draft pick who spent nine seasons with the team and played a critical role in winning Super Bowl 50 — although it happened during his one season with the Broncos — while earning two trips to the Pro Bowl and in 2009, he broke the record for the most touchdowns from a tight end in NFL history until the record was broken by Rob Grownski in 2011.
Vernon Davis helped carve the way for the new-age NFL tight end, thriving as a blocker in the run game but creating a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses as a dynamic pass-catcher.
The former San Francisco 49ers tight end finished his 14-year NFL career with 583 catches, 7,652 receiving yards and 63 touchdowns.
After one season with Denver following his 9-year run with the 49ers, Davis returned to his hometown of Washington D.C. where he closed out his NFL career with a successful stint as the starting TE for the Washington Redskins.
In February 2020, just ahead of the Super Bowl, Davis announced his retirement by doing a skit on Fox, which was possibly foreshadowing his plans for the future.
Former San Francisco 49ers Star Vernon Davis Shining As An Actor, Which Was Always His Plan After NFL
It’s common for NFL players to suddenly find themselves out of the daily grind that comes with being a successful pro football player and many find themselves lost and searching for ways to fill their day.
For Davis, it was all planned out.
Anyone who lasts 14 years in the NFL would be an instant asset to a front office, could get into coaching or land a broadcasting role, but the former San Francisco 49ers 6th overall pick had bigger plans.
In a recent interview with FOX News, Davis admitted he had been preparing for a post-football career as an actor while he was still in the NFL.
“When I was in San Francisco, I took a class, and in that class, I felt the passion for acting. And after that, I started to pursue,” Davis told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“When I was playing ball, I was learning on the go. But now, I’ve immersed myself in the world of entertainment, I have an acting coach that I’ve been consistent with since 2020, we’ve been working, and I’ve done over 20 movies since I retired. So, it’s been fun.”
Davis has appeared in “20-something” films, working alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Morgan Freeman, Luke Wilson and Destry Spielberg.
The 40-year-old knew, though, that he was going to be around football for a long while after retirement because of his son, who is now a sophomore in high school.
As Davis puts it, “He’s about to take off.” The former San Francisco 49ers tight end knows a thing or two about the grind it takes to make it to college and is getting a chance to re-live those experiences through his son while continuing to tackle new acting projects.
“ I did football so long, now I live vicariously through my son. My son’s been getting scholarship offers… he’s only in the 10th grade,” Davis said. “Just living vicariously through him, giving him all my time and energy, it’s really enough for me when it comes to sports and the game of football.”
“Sitting at all his games, working with him, just live through him all over again, it takes up a lot of my time.”
Davis admits that football and acting are equally difficult. “In life, anything that you do, anything that considers a skill – you have to put work into everything,” he says. “I think they’re equally hard, depending on your skillset, what you aspire to do, you have to put the work in. For me, I think they’re equally challenging.”
He had a well-accomplished football career, and his acting career is already very successful. But there’s no stopping here.
”I think for me, I’m just never complacent with the stuff I do. I always feel like I haven’t done anything, and I think that’s why I continue to just keep pushing forward with a lot of the things that I’m interested in,” Davis said. “I just love what I do, I try not to reflect on it too much because it’s just a part of who I am and what I desire to accomplish. At the end of the day, it’s more rewarding for me to inspire the people to aspire to just do great things in life.”
It’s clear the San Francisco 49ers legend has no plan on slowing down.
“I just want to keep creating, man,.” he added. “Just keep getting better and better with the craft, keep telling stories, and keep evolving. That’s it.”