Background and career
Vernon Leonard Davis (born January 31, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins, earning first-team All-American honors in 2005. Davis was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the sixth overall pick of the 2006 NFL draft. In 2009, he 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, Davis was traded to the Denver Broncos, where he won Super Bowl 50 with the team over the Carolina Panthers. He then signed with the Washington Redskins in 2016, where he played until retiring 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 Davis played for neighboring MacFarland Middle School as a result. He went on to attend Dunbar High School in Washington. Davis was a letterman in football, basketball, and track & field. At Dunbar, he was teammates with future Cleveland Browns kick return specialist and wide receiver, Josh Cribbs. Davis played tight end and safety, but he also played wide receiver, kick returner, linebacker, and defensive end. In his senior season, Davis caught 21 passes for 511 yards and five touchdowns, despite missing three games with a deep bone bruise below his knee. Davis 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. Rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Davis was listed as the fourth-best tight end prospect of the class of 2003.
Selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl A member of SuperPrep's Elite 50 A Mid-Atlantic all-region pick by SuperPrep Second team All-USA by USA Today Ranked as the fourth-best tight end in the nation by Rivals.com Gatorade Player of the Year for the District of Columbia 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 6 in (198 cm). He was also a member of the 4 × 100 m (43.68s) relay squad.
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, Davis 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. 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. Davis 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 while his 51 receptions also rank tenth on Maryland's annual record chart while his 871 yards rank fifth. Davis 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). Davis finished his collegiate 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. In June 2025, Davis was named one of the 79 nominees for the 2026 class of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Davis was selected sixth overall in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers. 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). Davis 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 4.40 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 on September 10, 2006. Smith 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 missed six games due an injury he suffered on September 24, 2006. Davis sustained a hairline fracture to his left fibula, on a non-contact play against the Philadelphia Eagles, but returned on November 19 against the Seattle Seahawks. Davis finished his rookie year with 20 receptions for 265 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games and eight starts.
During Week 3, Davis was injured while attempting to catch a pass from Smith against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Davis sprained his right knee and missed the next two games. Despite his injury and the 49ers' offensive ineptitude, Davis bettered most of the numbers from his rookie season. Even though his yards per reception diminished, Davis finished his second professional season with 52 receptions for 509 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games and starts.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
