Vernon Davis (b. 1984)
Filed under the name Vernon · January 30, 2026
I don't know much about professional football, having raised my four on a schoolteacher's salary where extra channels on the television weren't in the budget, but I do know something about young people who use whatever platform they're given to help others, and that's what caught my eye about this tight end. Making the Pro Bowl is one kind of achievement, plenty of athletes manage that, but turning around and putting real effort behind arts and STEM programs for children is another thing entirely, and it's the harder one to sustain once the cheering stops. I had a former student go on to some athletic success in college years back, and what I remember proudest isn't the trophies, it's that he came back every summer to help coach the younger kids at the rec league for free. That's the real test of character, what a person does with their good fortune once it's arrived. Seems like this young man passed that test, and I hope he keeps at it.