Vernon Davis

He joined Kellen Winslow Jr.. as the fourth highest tight end ever drafted after Ron Kramer, (Green Bay, fourth overall in 1957) Mike Ditka (Chicago, fifth overall in 1961), and Riley Odoms (Denver, fifth overall in 1972).

Vernon Davis (born January 31, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL).

Rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Davis was listed as the fourth-best tight end prospect of the class of 2003.

At Dunbar, he was teammates with future Cleveland Browns kick return specialist and wide receiver, Josh Cribbs.

In track & field, Davis recorded a personal best of 10.7 seconds in the 100 meters, and was the DCIAA champion in the high jump with a jump of 6 ft. He was also a member of the 4 × 100 m (43.68s) relay squad.

Davis played tight end and safety, but he also played wide receiver, kick returner, linebacker, and defensive end for Dunbar High School.

In his senior season, he caught 21 passes for 511 yards and five touchdowns, despite missing three games with a deep bone bruise below his knee.

He also caught three two-point conversions and returned two kick offs and two punts for touchdowns.

As a junior, he had 35 receptions for 385 yards.

Davis enrolled in the University of Maryland, where he majored in studio art and played for the Maryland Terrapins football team.

In 2003, Davis saw the most consistent action of any true freshman, playing in all thirteen contests.

He had five receptions for 87 yards (11.8 avg) and led the kickoff coverage unit with eight solo tackles.

In 2004, he played in almost every game, starting at H-back against Northern Illinois, Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.

He finished second on the team with 27 catches for 441 yards and had 16.3 avg and three touchdowns.

He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins, earning first-team All-American honors in 2005.

In 2005, Davis was a consensus All-American and All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team selection.

He was a finalist for the Mackey Award, given to the nation's top tight end.

He started every game, leading the team with 51 receptions and the conference with 871 receiving yards (17.1 avg).

His six touchdown catches rank tenth on the school's season-record list.

His 51 receptions also rank tenth on Maryland's annual record chart while his 871 yards rank fifth.

He was graded 82.5% for blocking consistency as he registered 67 knockdowns, including 18 blocks down field and had eight touchdown-resulting blocks.

Davis was heavily involved with working out in college.

He set school strength records (in spring of 2005) for a tight end in the bench press (460 pounds), power-clean (380 pounds), index (824 pounds) and squat (685 pounds).

He finished his college career with 1,371 yards on 83 receptions for 16.5 yards per catch, the best average of any first round tight end ever and more yards than other previous high first round tight ends such as Tony Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey, Kyle Brady, and Kellen Winslow II.

He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the sixth overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Davis was selected sixth overall in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.

He was the top tight end prospect in the 2006 NFL Draft, partially due to a strong performance at the scouting combine.

He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds.

Davis also broad-jumped 10'08", nearly a foot farther than the next-best tight end, Marcedes Lewis.

Vernon's first reception in the NFL was a 31-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Alex Smith, against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 on September 10, 2006.

He added a career-long 52-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers on December 10 with a short catch followed by a long run.

Davis played in ten games in the 2006 season due an injury he suffered on September 24, 2006.

In 2009, Davis co-led the NFL in touchdown receptions and consequently earned his first of two career Pro Bowl selections.

In the 2011–12 NFL playoffs with the 49ers, Davis caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Alex Smith against the New Orleans Saints, referred to as "The Catch III".

In 2015, he was traded to the Denver Broncos, where he won Super Bowl 50 with the team over the Carolina Panthers.

Davis then signed with the Washington Redskins in 2016, where he played until his retirement following the 2019 season.

Davis attended Truesdell Elementary in Washington, D.C., and later attended Paul Public Charter School for middle school.

However, Paul did not have a football team, and thus Davis played for neighboring MacFarland Middle School.

He went on to attend Dunbar High School in Washington.

He was a letterman in football, basketball, and track & field.