As a strategic person, Vernon Davis knew what he wanted to do after football. The 14-year NFL veteran realized he was creative while a sophomore at the University of Maryland. He changed his major to art studio and a classmate told him he was “pretty good” in the genre.
“I stepped back and said, ‘D—? You think so?’ ” Davis told rolling out. “That’s when I fell in love with the world of art.”
Davis’ love continued in the NFL as he became a two-time Pro Bowl tight end for the San Francisco 49ers.
“When I was in San Francisco, I enrolled in a class at the Shelton Theater of art in downtown San Fran,” he said. “It was an art class, and I just fell in love with it even more I was like, ‘Wow, this is great. This is awesome.’ So I started to pursue that whole entertainment space in the world of creativity.”
Once he retired, Davis got an acting coach under Tasha Smith’s TSAW company. The former Super Bowl champion worked with his acting coach three days per week and three hours per day doing activities and breaking down scripts. He filmed the movie he worked on with his acting coach in Colorado and then received a script from former football player DeShon Hardy for a movie called A Message From Brianna.
The horror film made it to the American Black Film Festival in November. After he worked on that film, he got a call to do “Dancing With the Stars.” Then, a call to do another movie.
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