On Sunday afternoon, Vontae Davis walked into the tunnel at halftime a member of the Buffalo Bills, but instead of retuning to the gridiron, he up and left New Era Field a retired man.
The Buffalo Bills entered the break down 28-6 at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers, and at that moment, Davis abruptly decided that he was “done,” changed into street clothes, informed his coaches of his retirement and left the facility.
The 30-year-old Davis’ sudden decision to retire in the middle of a game, as opposed to after the game, has drawn harsh criticism from many, with potentially no one more incensed than former NFL head coach and current ESPN analyst, Rex Ryan. During an appearance on “Get Up!” on Monday, Ryan shredded Davis.
“Oh my God. Get the hell out of here,” Ryan said, as transcribed by Business Insider. “When he had to inform (Bills head coach) Sean McDermott, I can just see Sean’s jaw, like, hitting the floor.”
Ryan wasn’t done there.
“A lot of things go bad, and guys lose their stinger a little bit. But you bench them, you try to bring them back or whatever,” Ryan continued. “But this is a joke. You don’t quit. For him not to think he was disrespectful to his teammates that are fighting their butts off and everything else — I mean, it is the ultimate disrespect, I think. You’re gonna quit, quit on Monday. It’s an embarrassment.
“The thing that’s really sad, though, you see Lorenzo Alexander — they have some real pros on that team, Kyle Williams, some different guys like that, that are gonna play their butts off all the way to the end,” Ryan said. “Yeah, it’s not going well right now. But you know what, they’re gonna man up. This team is going to get better because of it. Watch what happens.”
You can watch the whole rant here.
Shortly after his abrupt departure, Davis released a statement, which you can read below.
Official statement from CB @vontaedavis. pic.twitter.com/8WXszhnrUo
— NFL (@NFL) September 16, 2018
The Bills went on to lose to the Chargers 31-20.
