Demario Davis and that famous headband
Saints linebacker Demario Davis has been a solid linebacker during his eight years in the NFL, routinely recording near or above 100 tackles in a season. However, the Pro Bowl eluded Davis until last season in which he had 111 tackles, 12 forced fumbles and four quarterback sacks. In his first season with the Saints.
Davis began his career in 2012 as a third-round draft pick by the Jets out of Arkansas State, starting three of the 16 games and recording 36 tackles. After four seasons and over 300 tackles with the Jets, Davis played a season with the Browns before returning to the Jets for the 2017 season, recording 135 tackles with a league-leading 97 solo tackles. He’s been a mainstay for the Saints over the past two seasons.
A devote Christian, Davis wore a “Man of God” headband during an early-season game last year against the Seattle Seahawks. He was fined by the league $7017 for violating the policy that “personal messages” are not allowed on uniforms. Instead of letting this violation get him down, Davis made the most of it in a charitable way.
Davis raised over $30,000 in sales of “Man of God”, “Woman of God”, and “Child of God” headbands and donated the money to St. Dominic Hospital in Mississippi, where he was born and raised. In addition, Davis won his appeal for the week 3 violation and donated that to the hospital, as well.
A well-respected man off the field, Davis has been a veteran leader for the Saints defense that ranked a respectable 13th In the league in points allowed at 21.3 per game. The Saints are 26-6 over the past two seasons, but have fallen short of the Super Bowl. For the 31-year old linebacker, that’s the one thing missing from his NFL resume. He will continue to pursue the ultimate goal for any NFL player in his 9th NFL season in 2020.
