Chapter 1: What mindset helped Vernon Davis transition from NFL to acting?
When I understood how important it was to be selfless and do things for the sake of the team, then I became a better, not just a better player, but a better person overall because that shifted over to life. That gave me a lesson and I'm extremely grateful for it.
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, and today I am honored to be with one of my GOATs. We're talking about from gridiron greatness to red carpet flair. He's a Super Bowl champion, a savvy entrepreneur, a rising Hollywood star. He's an author. He's a musician. He's a comedian. I'll talk a little bit about that in a minute.
I don't even know all the great things that this man does, but here's what I can promise you. Everything he does... he does with purpose. So get ready for a bold conversation with the fearless, the versatile, the unstoppable Dunbar High School's own, my guy, Mr. Vernon Davis. Vernon, how you doing today, brother?
I appreciate it. Good to be here. Good to be here. Doing well.
I am the honored one, man. So, you know, I was telling you offline, All the accolades you have. Truly honored to be here with you. But I've told everybody, one of my best friends in the world is Algie Crumpler, tight end at University of North Carolina, the Falcons, the Titans, the Patriots. The best hands I've ever seen. or Vernon Davis, man.
Like, you are one of the folks that truly redefined the position. And I tell cats now, like, my son coaches football, and I said, if Vernon Davis, if college Vernon Davis played in college football today, he would rewrite every history book that there is known because you were that guy, man. Like, you were getting cover four and cover three when that's not what colleges were doing, brother.
Yeah, you're taking me back, man. You got me thinking about it. Those are the fun days. I remember just trying to figure it out. That's when I was trying to figure it out. And you're right, they were switching coverage on me. A lot of it had to do with my speed, me being able to go from 225 pounds to 250 pounds and keep my speed. That was a shock to me as well.
Yep. Yep. Yep. Well, Vernon, man, like I love asking everybody when we start about your, because that thing that's deeper than your why. And I know that that purpose and passion is a pillar for you. One of your core values. If I were to say Vernon Davis, what's your, because man, like what's that engine that's keeping you pursuing all the great things you're doing.
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Chapter 2: How does Vernon Davis define success beyond sports?
And when I understand that, I understand that pressure is nothing. It's just the word. It's just something that's there. You can't even see it.
Yeah.
Yeah. And, you know, you talked about your speed, that 4-3 speed that you had at tight end, man. But what people also don't know, I'm going to say the casual fan or the people that don't watch, man, if you go back and look at every snap that Vernon Davis played, college, pro, you name it, bro, you were an elite blocker as well, right? Like you were very precise in everything that you did.
You were not only a star, but you were also an ultimate teammate and team member as well too, man. Like, so knowing that you had to not just catch every ball, but also lead by example by going and blocking those fast DMs or those edge rushers coming off, man. Like, what was that like for you as well?
Yeah, for me, it's just, of course, being a playmaker and a pass catcher, you want to catch passes you don't really want to block. And that was the attitude I had coming into the league. But when I understood how important it was to be selfless and do things for the sake of the team, then I became a better, not just a better player, but a better person overall because that shifted over to life.
That gave me a lesson, and I'm extremely grateful for it. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. So, you know, you're a person who transitioned from football to life outside of football really, really well, man. Like, again, I go back to one of your core pillars of being purpose and always making sure that you are that example for people. What how did those traits of football transfer off the field for you?
Because the football is, I mean, when you go, oh, my man, it's just you learn so much from the game. everything comes from love. It comes from, uh, humility. It comes from, um, navigating. Maybe you, I have panic disorder and, uh, and, um, anxiety when I was playing the game of football. I connected more with God.
And just when you find all those different experiences in the game of football, you find that those things can transfer over to life. Even the consistency and repetition. Like I give the story about me being the last person on the football field for 14 long years. And you might think like, wow, that's crazy. Vernon's playing at a pro level. There's other pros out there. Why aren't they doing it?
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Chapter 3: What lessons did Vernon learn about pressure and failure?
And I would sneak away from practice and I would go down and I would be in these improv classes. There was a girl that worked with the 49ers organization. She came to some of my classes to kind of see me work. Yeah. And... I was like, this is what I really want to do. I was horrible at it at first.
Of course, everyone, when you first starting out, it was just, you don't have, I look back at my old footage and I'm like, gosh, man, that was awful. That was so bad. But I find that the more you do it, the better you get. Like even just watching myself, like I'm just, I'm getting really good at the craft and I'm here to stay. I'm not here to leave. I'm not going to leave. I'm here. And
I've embraced it. People don't know what I'm doing. A lot of people probably don't know what I'm doing or who I am in the space, but at some point in time, they're going to understand and they're going to know because they're going to see me in something and they're going to be like, man, that brother's good. I know that because it's happening now. You know, a lot of people... I had a...
I was a part of this film festival called Indie Night Film Festival that's put on by Dave Brown, which is the assistant and manager of Jamie Foxx, right? He does this all over the United States. And we did it in Oakland. He came. I had a film called... What is the name of the film? It's called... Gosh, I've done some stuff. It's called Masquerade.
So we were like the... We were... We had the highlighted film. And... He saw it. And then I'm sitting there, I get a text from him. He's like, brother, if ain't nobody told you, I'm gonna be the first to tell you, you got a career. He's like, you got a career. And I was just smiling because I, you know, a lot of people don't know the level of commitment.
You know, I've had an acting coach for five years. We work every Tuesday and Thursday. We work. We either reading scripts or we studying Shakespeare. We doing something. We just working, right? So what that does over time, it just, it creates something in you. You know what I mean? So if I'm where I'm at right now in five years, imagine where I'm gonna be at in 10 years. Right.
I would be extremely good because I'm doing something that most people don't even do. Even people who are great don't even have a coach at this stuff. Right. But why? But that's what I'm saying. Like some some people understand the essence of for me. I feel like. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to put my whole heart into it and I'm always have everything. I'm going to go above and beyond.
I'm had things that most people don't even think of. Right? Even if I can win an Oscar, I'm still going to have an acting coach. I don't care. I don't care. That's just how I work. That's something I learned from football.
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Chapter 4: How does Vernon Davis evaluate opportunities in his career?
So that's why I said, like, if don't nobody know, they're going to know at some point. They're going to know. I promise you that. I believe that.
Oh, I can promise you that too, brother. Like, one of the things I will say... If I don't know Vernon Davis played football and I'm looking at clips that you're in, man, like I would have thought that this is what you've been doing all your life because your timing is so impeccable.
And I don't think a lot of again, a lot of casuals understand acting in a serious movie, a comedy movie, a romance, like timing between delivering your lines and the interaction that you have with your the star that's with you. It is so important. And you've mastered that, dude. Your timing is unreal, brother.
I appreciate it, man. I appreciate it. I had a challenging role. The movies actually got picked up by Tubi. It was directed by Steven Spielberg's daughter, Destry Spielberg. It comes out at the end of the month. We actually got a premiere in New York on the 26th. But I was challenged, man. I'm not going to even lie. We filmed this movie last year, about a year and a half. But I played a role.
I don't want to give the film away, but I played a role that was extremely challenging for me. And, you know, I had to go somewhere that I've never been before and do something I've never done. But it was a challenge. But I got through it. I did it. I pulled it off. But when I left that...
When I left New Mexico after filming that movie, I had a stronger belief in myself that if I can do that, I can do anything. I can't wait for everybody to see the film. It's a great film. Comes out end of the month on Tubi, so excited about it.
I'll make sure that we air that at the release time too. That way we can get it all hyped up for you. That'd be dope. You got the role that I play, you're going to be amazed.
You'll be like, wow, this is crazy.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Man, a question I've always wanted to ask you since you do all these amazing things, right? How do you silence doubt of people that just want to see you as Vernon Davis, the former football player? Because even like I go through that sometimes where it's like, OK, now you're into podcasting. But we know make the leadership consultant or we know make the insurance agent. Right.
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Chapter 5: What role does selflessness play in Vernon's life and career?
But is that mind that you have, man? So again, football, acting, musician, you also have one of the best brilliant business minds that I know, right? As an investor, as an entrepreneur, what is like one of your decision-making frameworks, right? Because again, it's a question I've always wanted to ask you because you've done well in that aspect as well, brother.
Understanding people.
people can make or break you man it's like even when i look at the business i don't look at the business the product i look at the people who i'm working with are they loyal uh how how they talk you know how they talk how they operate how they treat other people yeah they got to treat people the way you you got to be in line with people who treat people the same way you treat them because life is all about how we treat people you know respect honor you know um
That's what I look for. That's what I look for when I'm working with anything. Anything comes with a person. Anything that we do comes with a person. So the person behind that thing, that's who I'm listening to. My grandmother always taught me that. It's always the people.
What's wild, you know, Damon John is one of my mentors, and he literally verbatim says that same thing, right? Like... I choose to invest in people. There's there's a bunch of products that are similar. There are a bunch of ideas that are similar. But what separates what he does is literally the people, the people.
And my grandmother, my grandma, I'll tell you a story. When I first got when I was first getting drafted, financial advisor came in from Florida and this dude sat on the couch. I used to always run people by my grandma because I knew she had wisdom. She's still here with us. She's amazing. She's like my best friend, man. We talk like we teammates. She's amazing. And she's so funny.
But she is unbelievable, man. She said that guy came in the house and sat on the couch after like 10 minutes. My grandmother, she looked at him, looked at me. She said, you a snake. Get out my house. You a snake. I said, I said, mom, mom, mom, wait, wait, wait, what's going on? Wait, wait, just let me talk to you. Hold on. She was right. She could smell it.
That same guy ended up ripping me off $500,000 and taking millions from other athletes. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Same guy. She knew it. She knew it. Grandma knew.
She knew. Grandma knew. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Vernon, you're also a guy of, I'll say, infinite wisdom, man. Like, talking to you, how cerebral you are. I'm very, very, very, very honored to have you, man. Like, if I were to ask you, what's the legacy you're trying to leave behind? Right? All the things you do for me. What's the legacy for Vernon Davis?
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Chapter 6: How does Vernon Davis apply his football discipline to acting?
For him, he tells me all the time, like, dad, I'm just proud of Vernon Davis. And I'm like, dude, what do you mean? He goes, all the success he had on the field, when you look at what he's done off the field, it's even more impactful because someone like me who could have never been an NFL player I can go pursue the things that he's doing and he's given me blueprints to be successful.
So I just want to tell you on behalf of my boys, man, like thank you for being that model and that blueprint because everyone, everyone can't be a superstar athlete, but, but you're giving people things that they can do off the field. And I personally want to thank you for that, man. Oh, thank you, man. I appreciate that. Thank you. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
All right, Vern, I'm going to do like my hot five, my quick five. All right. You ready for it? Let's go.
Hot five, baby. Let's go, baby.
All right. So I know you went to Maryland. What were some of the other schools that were in the mix?
University of Florida, Purdue, University of Virginia, and those were my top schools that I was looking to, looking at.
Okay. And so this was pre-NIL, so Maryland had the bag. That's what I just heard, huh?
They didn't have the bag, but I just wanted to know. I went to Maryland because I wanted to stay close to home. I had my siblings, and I wanted to help my grandmother out, so I just stayed close to home.
Totally messing with you. Totally messing with you. On a Vernon Davis cheat meal day... Or cheat meal, period. What's your go-to cheat meal?
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