Buffalo Bills cornerback Vontae Davis abruptly retired at halftime of Sunday’s 31-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, saying in a statement later that the reality had hit him, “I shouldn’t be out there anymore.”
Davis, a 10-year veteran, said he meant no disrespect to his teammates and coaches, but that physically he could no longer play at the standard he set for himself.
“[He] pulled himself out of the game,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “He communicated to us that he was done.”
After the game, Davis released a statement on social media.
“This isn’t how I pictured retiring from the NFL,” Davis said in the statement. “Mentally I always expect myself to play at a high level. But physically, today I know that isn’t possible, and I had an honest moment with myself.”
Davis said that he didn’t feel like himself on the field and told his coaches.
“And I asked myself, ‘do I want to keep sacrificing,’” Davis said in the statement. “And truthfully, I do not because the season is long, and it’s more important for me and my family to walk away healthy than to willfully embrace the warrior mentality and limp away too late.”
Information from Espn.com contributed to this report.
