Former NFL tight end Vernon Davis doesn’t want to be known as former NFL tight end Vernon Davis. He wants to be known as current actor Vernon Davis.
Via John Keim of ESPN.com, Davis recently explained that he hopes his acting career will eventually make people forget that he played football.
“Over time I’ll probably show up in so many projects that people will get used to seeing me as an actor and forget about me as a player,” Davis told Keim in a recent podcast. “I think about watching Terry Crews and The Rock and you see them and you don’t think about them as athletes, because you see them in so many different projects. That will probably happen with me.”
It won’t be easy. Davis, a top-10 pick of the 49ers in 2006 who spent 14 seasons in the NFL and played in two Super Bowls, had a much longer and more successful football career than Crews or Dwayne Johnson.
He’s off to a good start. He has acted in five movies, and three others will begin shooting soon. And he’s definitely not lacking in a key quality for success in that field -- confidence.
“I would love to do some of the same things [The] Rock is doing,” Davis said. “I like his work ethic. . . . I know what I’m doing and where I want to be. I can see it.”
Starting in 2022, you’ll be able to see Davis in multiple films. Then we’ll all see where it goes from there.