Vontae Davis stunned the NFL on Sunday when he retired at halftime of the Buffalo Bills home game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
It was a shock, and also a bit funny given that the cornerback left his team in the middle of a blowout loss after sustaining an even bigger blowout in Week 1. But there was also a bit of mystery to the fact that Davis got into his street clothes and left the stadium at halftime, not even addressing his teammates before abandoning the team. Mainly: what the hell happened?
After social media exploded with jokes about the Buffalo Bills, who are very bad, Davis released a statement through the NFL on Sunday night explaining what happened. Davis apologized to his teammates and explained that he simply realized he “shouldn’t be out there anymore” when he abruptly decided to call it quits.
Official statement from CB @vontaedavis. pic.twitter.com/8WXszhnrUo
— NFL (@NFL) September 16, 2018
“Today, on the field, reality hit me fast and hard: I shouldn’t be out there anymore.
I meant no disrespect to my teammates and coaches. But I hold myself to a standard. Mentally, I always expect myself to ply at a high level. But physically, I know today that isn’t possible, and I had an honest moment with myself. While I was on the field, I just didn’t feel right, and I told the coaches, ‘I’m not feeling like myself.’
I also wondered: Do I want to keep sacrificing?”
After the game, Davis’ Bills teammates were angry about his decision to leave. Lorenzo Alexander, a linebacker who broke the news to some of the media that Davis had called it a career, said it was “disrespectful” of Davis to quit in the middle of a game. It’s unclear of his statement on Sunday night will change the opinion of anyone on the 0-2 Bills, but it’s clear now that he was serious when he left the team. He’s leaving football, and the Bills, behind.
