If you haven’t heard by now, Vontae Davis retired from the NFL on Sunday.
How he did it, however, raised quite a few eyebrows as the Buffalo Bills cornerback elected to retire at halftime of the Bills’ Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. He released a statement on his Twitter account Sunday night, and Wednesday, he said he has no regrets about how he walked away from the game.
“Leaving was therapeutic, bro. I left everything the league wanted me to be, playing for my teammates while injured, the gladiator mentality, it all just popped,” Davis told The Undefeated’s Domonique Foxworth. “And when it popped, I just wanted to leave it all behind. So that’s why I don’t care what people say. That experience was personal and not meant for anyone else to understand. It was me cold turkey leaving behind an identity that I carried with me for so long.”
Davis signed a one-year, $5 million deal with Buffalo in February. The two-time Pro Bowler spent the previous six seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. But at age 30, he abruptly decided to hang up his cleats, noting he “didn’t expect” his teammates to understand his decision.
“That moment was shocking to me as well,” Davis said.
It certainly was an unorthodox way to retire, but Davis seems pretty content with his decision.
