A 49ers hero in San Francisco last week, he’s a
film star in New York this week. Once a destabilizing presence on a
foundering team, now a galvanizing force with a franchise one win
away from the Super Bowl. The video shows all, tells all. And when
the New York Giants study the 49ers offense in preparation for the
NFC Championship game Sunday at Candlestick Park, they’ll see more
than they cared to know about Vernon Davis.
A 49ers hero in San Francisco last week, he’s a
film star in New York this week.
Once a destabilizing presence on a foundering
team, now a galvanizing force with a franchise one win away from
the Super Bowl.
The video shows all, tells all. And when the New
York Giants study the 49ers offense in preparation for the NFC
Championship game Sunday at Candlestick Park, they’ll see more than
they cared to know about Vernon Davis.
Millions of TV viewers watched last week as
Davis destroyed the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round. And
as Giants defensive coaches play and replay film of the game in
which Davis caught seven passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns,
they’ll conclude no member of San Francisco’s offense poses a
bigger a threat.
Davis over six seasons has developed from a
talented but troubled physical specimen, prone to selfish
tendencies, into the complete tight end. He’s a committed teammate,
a devastating blocker and the most dangerous receiver on the
roster.
With a thin corps of wide receivers, Davis is
the go-to guy for quarterback Alex Smith and the Pro Bowl gift amid
the offensive rubble left behind by former coaches Mike Nolan and,
more pointedly, Mike Singletary.
“I thank God for Coach Singletary,” Davis says.
“They always say, ‘Thank God for the trials you go through. Give
thanks, because those trials are there for a reason.’
“Coach Singletary was here for a reason. I feel
he was here to help me. He helped me see that there’s more to the
game of football than it being about one person.”
We all saw that movie, if we didn’t see it
live.
In Singletary’s first game as interim coach,
Davis was flagged for a silly penalty. He jogged to the sideline,
got a face full of a furious Singletary and seemed to blow it off –
which only incensed the coach.
It became apparent Singletary couldn’t stand the
sight of Davis when the coach banished the player to the locker
room. When Davis left behind his helmet, Singletary personally
ordered him to come back and get it.
“I couldn’t understand at first,” Davis recalls.
“I was like, ‘What the hell is wrong with this dude? You’re going
to send one of your best players to the locker room when you need
help?’
“But I understood it later. I eventually
understood it. He helped me see, helped me see the bigger
picture.”
If anybody needed clarity, it was Davis, the
sixth overall pick in the 2006 draft. He concedes to being fixated
on the wrong things, like his own statistics. He also didn’t think
twice about lashing out at teammates.
He routinely scrapped with teammates during
practices, once inviting the disaster that surely would have come
had no one intervened in his fight with Larry Allen, a 325-pound
guard who was the strongest – and maybe the orneriest – man in the
NFL.
It was only 16 months ago that wideout Michael
Crabtree and Davis engaged in an argument on the practice field,
prompting Singletary to send both into the locker room.
Yet Davis’ continued growth, as a player and a
person, has become evident. He has particularly good on-field
chemistry with Smith. Davis also has evolved into a team leader,
considerably more popular with teammates.
“I’m just thankful to be a part of a team,”
Davis says. “To be a part of these guys in here; it’s something
special. It means a lot to me that all my teammates like me as a
person. Not just as a football player, but as a person.”
Rookie 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh admits to caring
little about Davis’ reputation, preferring to observe and listen
and reach his own conclusions.
“The only Vernon Davis I know is the team guy,”
Harbaugh says. “The study-hard guy, smart guy, willing to do
whatever he needs to do for the team.”
That’s the guy who insists he’s not hung up on
missing the Pro Bowl, and who proudly says receiving statistics are
but one way to measure contributions.
“I’ve learned, since I’ve matured, that I don’t
give a (flip) about the Pro Bowl,” Davis says. “I don’t give a
(flip) about the Pro Bowl. I don’t give a (flip) about the
individual accolades.
“I realize what I’m here for. My purpose is to
help my teammates win, (providing) whatever it is they need,
whether it’s pass-blocking or catching passes or setting the edge
for Frank Gore. Whatever it is, I’m always a factor.”
That’s the guy the Giants will have to scheme
against this weekend.
