Former two-time Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis knows a thing or two about being a champion and winning a Super Bowl.
The 40-year-old Davis was one of the best tight ends in the NFL during his playing career between 2006 through 2019. Despite playing in the same generation as the best tight ends in NFL history — Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Gates — Davis emerged as one of the top vertical threats at the position, once tying a single-season touchdown record (13) for tight ends during the 2009 season before eventually winning a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos in 2015.
While Davis is high on the 9-1 Detroit Lions, he still believes the Kansas City Chiefs — who are coming off of their first loss of the season — are the Super Bowl favorites.
“Best team in the NFL, I’m going to have to go with Kansas City,” says Davis in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his partnership with Smirnoff’s “NFL We Do Game Days” campaign.
The Lions have been the most dominant team in the NFL so far this season, Outside of their one loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Lions have defeated their opponents by a total margin of 159 points, an average victory margin of 15.6 points per game. The next-closest team is the Buffalo Bills with a total margin of victory of 106 points.
However, the Chiefs have a proven pedigree of winning the big games, as evidenced by the fact that they’ve won three of the past five Super Bowls. Kansas City is 7-0 in one-possession games this season. They have the opportunity to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
“They have a lot potential to get there and capitalize off the moment,” says Davis of the Lions. “But Kansas City, they’ve proven to have a winning record. They’ve been super consistent. I’m betting on them, especially with the addition of DeAndre Hopkins.”
Davis is hosting a Smirnoff Game Day experience prior to the Lions’ home matchup against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football on Dec. 5 at Ford Field in Week 14. The experience gives select fans an opportunity to watch a game in a suite with Davis while engaging in fun activities.
The former All-Pro tight end previously hosted the Los Angeles Rams’ home Thursday Night Football game against the Minnesota Vikings. He’ll get his first opportunity at witnessing the Lions up close and personal this season.
“Detroit, they’ve come out of nowhere,” says Davis. “I didn’t expect to see them dominate the game like they’ve been doing. They’ve proven themselves to be a contender and if they keep doing what they’re doing, I can see them winning a championship at some point. I don’t know when that’s going to be, but it could be this year with the way they’ve been playing the game of football. I’m excited to see this game and see what Detroit’s going to bring.”
While the Packers may be lurking under the radar even after nearly advancing to the NFC Championship Game last season, they’re in prime position to clinch a playoff berth for the second consecutive season. Green Bay is currently 7-3 and two games ahead of the Los Angeles Rams — the first team outside of the NFC playoff race — with a head-to-head tiebreaker over them.
The Packers are starting to gain serious momentum with a 5-1 record over their past six games, including wins over playoff-caliber teams such as the Rams, Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. Their lone loss has been to none other than the Lions.
“They’ve had some ups and downs, especially with losing Aaron Rodgers,” says Davis. “They had to rebuild and I think they’ve done a tremendous job with that. They’re playing good football.”
Another team that has been playing good football has been none other than Davis’ former team, the Broncos. Although Davis is best known for his career with the San Francisco 49ers and his four years spent with the Washington Commanders, it was with the Broncos where he won a Super Bowl at the conclusion of the 2015 season.
The Broncos are currently 6-5 and holding the last Wild Card spot in the AFC playoff picture. They’re 6-3 in their past nine games after a 0-2 start, with all of their losses coming against playoff contenders. Their remaining strength of schedule is the 10th-easiest in the NFL.
Bo Nix has emerged as a potential frontrunner for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, combining for 16 touchdowns against just two interceptions since Week 4.
“I don’t know what to say about them,” says Davis of the Broncos. “As far as staying consistent with how they play the game, I don’t know if they’re quite there yet. I think they have a lot of potential to do some damage, especially in the conference. But we’ll see.”
The Super Bowl champion tight end recently released his autobiography, “Playing Ball Life: Lessons from My Journey to the Super Bowl and Beyond.” The book covers Davis’ growth as a football star during his playing career along with his post-playing career as an actor and a producer. Davis has filmed more than 30 projects and has been a contestant on the TV show, “Dancing With The Stars.”
“Playing Ball is a book I wanted to create because I feel like there’s a lot of things that I’ve been able to do and I can share these experiences with people and a lot of things people don’t know about me,” says Davis. “My journey, how it all started up until now, I think they look at me in the moment, but they don’t understand what it took to get to this point. I’ve done a lot of stuff and that stuff is not given. It’s not given to you, you have to work for it.”
Davis says although he’s known for his 14-year NFL career, he still had to create a platform for himself in order to succeed in his post-playing career.
“Even though I have a name and I created a platform for myself, no one’s given me anything,” says Davis. “You put in the work, you do the work and you stay consistent in your preparation and I think you can do anything. I want people to understand that no matter what they’re going through, they can overcome it. They can win. Anything is possible.”
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