Remember me!!

By Steve O’Reilly

As the NFL Playoffs carry on into the Championship Games this weekend there is one man who may have gotten lost in all the shuffle. With so much going on and so many up and comers at his position it’s easy to see how, perhaps it was time we were reminded. A lot of talk over the last few weeks has been about Tight Ends. Many outlets have ran polls and articles about who is better, most of the conversation had to do with Rob Gronkowski with the Patriots and Jimmy Graham of the Saints. Occasionally someone would utter Jermichael Finley’s name in those conversations as well. Indeed the Tight End is looked at as a premier threat but rarely did you hear about Vernon Davis. Perhaps because he’s been in the NFL for 6 years and the aforementioned names are relatively new to the scene. Maybe it’s the gaudy numbers by Gronkowski or the flair for the big play by Graham, whatever it was after this weekends victory against the Saints, Vernon Davis made a statement!

Statistically speaking this wasn’t the best year that Davis ever had, that would be 2009. This wasn’t a season that Davis dominated the 49er headlines, that was mostly covered by their new Head Coach, smart and surprising QB play and a ferocious Defense. The 2011 season had been relatively quiet for the former 1st Round pick who was taken 6th overall out of Maryland in 2006, that is until Sunday.

I reached out to Vernon’s brother Vontae, the Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins about Vernon. Asking if there was anything he could say about Vernon that perhaps people don’t know.

“Growing up he was always emotional and really passionate in everything he did” Vontae told me.

In the Divisional game vs the Saints many people wondered if the Niners would have enough Offense to beat the record setting Drew Brees and the mighty New Orleans Offense. They would need a big game from their Running Backs, the Defense would need to hold up and their QB would need to play smart (ie no turnovers) but no one mentioned Vernon Davis. How can you forget about a freak of an athlete who runs a 4.3 and is built like a Linebacker with hands like a Wide Receiver? Well, we learned if you do he’ll burn you and with the game on the line he can get it done and show us the passion that his brother mentioned!

Opening the scoring in the NFC Divisional battle, Davis took a 49 yard TD pass to the house and he was on his way. Finishing the day with 7 catches for 180 yards and 2 Touchdowns he was the difference maker for the Niners. He was a big play machine that broke tackles, out ran defenders and in the biggest game in his career he stepped up big time. To culminate his big day, the Niners found themselves down with only 9 seconds to go. QB Alex Smith hit Davis with a 14 yard TD pass to send the Niners onto the Championship game vs the Giants and Davis into 49er playoff lore.

The Niners aren’t short on historical catches, from Dwight Clark’s “The Catch” to Terrell Owens’ “The Catch II” they can now add another historical moment thanks to Davis.

“You’ve got to call it ‘The Grab,’ ” Davis said of the catch. “We were down. I had to make it happen to take my teammates where we want to go.”

With all the talk about the other elite Tight Ends in the league, Vernon Davis reminded us that he belongs in that group too. As physically gifted as they come Davis could be the difference maker in the San Francisco passing game, if nothing else he has the New York Giants full attention!