Buffalo Bill’s cornerback quits at halftime
Nick Aldrich, Staff Writer
Courtesy of pixabay.com
The Buffalo Bills are not having the best season. This fact is exemplified through the retirement of cornerback Vontae Davis during halftime of their game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Truthfully, this had nothing to do with the Bill’s prospects for this season, but simply the fact that Davis believes that he shouldn’t be playing the game of football anymore. According to ESPN.com, Davis was quoted as saying “I meant no disrespect to my teammates and coaches, but I hold myself to a standard. Mentally, I always expected myself to play at a high level. But physically, I know today that isn’t possible.”
Davis has been playing been playing in the NFL for 10 years and retired at the age of 30. His sudden departure from the team angered a few of his teammates and coaches, one of which was Lorenzo Alexander, who, according to ESPN.com, was quoted saying “It’s just completely disrespectful to his teammates. … He didn’t say anything to anybody. … I found out going into the second half of the game. They said he’s not coming out, he’s retired.” Davis, however, isn’t bothered by the criticisms. According to CBSSports.com, Davis couldn’t pinpoint the time that he made the decision. Davis said that “I went to the bench after that series and it just hit me, … I don’t want to be on that field anymore.” Davis also said “My intention was not to hurt my teammates, … At that moment, my intuition was telling me I don’t belong on that field anymore.”
The Bills went on without Davis, losing to the Chargers 31-20, setting the Bill’s record for this season at 0-2. Davis’s departure certainly had a negative effect on morale, which may have led to the Bill’s defeat. They were down 28-6 at halftime, so it was still unlikely that the Bill’s would be able to pull out a win, but it’s certainly something to think about. The Bills are consistently ranked among the worst teams in the NFL in the weekly power rankings. Needless to say, things are not looking good for the Bills.
That was until Sunday, September 23rd’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, where the Bills defied everyone’s expectations and defeated the Vikings 27-6, leading by a respectable 21 points. This was an upset in every sense of the word, as polls from the week leading up to the game set the Bill’s chances of victory at less than ten percent. The Bills had a phenomenal showing without Davis, proving that they are not the undisputed worst team in the NFL that many fans thought them to be. While this news is very exciting to Buffalo fans, the Bills are still in a very uncertain place as of now. We’ll have to see how the rest of the season plays out and if the Bills are able to maintain this momentum.
