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'God wasn't done with me': How New Orleans Saints' Demario Davis began to play his best ball in his 30s

Mike Triplett
ESPN Staff Writer

METAIRIE, La. – Demario Davis felt like he might be ready to “shut it down” five years ago.

The New Orleans Saints’ All-Pro linebacker, who has defied logic by playing his best football after the age of 30, said he was mentally and physically exhausted five seasons into his career with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns.

But Davis was conflicted because, as he put it, "God wasn’t done with me.”


Davis has always wanted his career to be about more than football. He has passionately shared his story of turning his life around after spending three days in jail for shoplifting as a freshman at Arkansas State and being expelled for a semester in high school for trying to steal a student’s wallet. And he believed football could provide a platform to inspire others.

“I’ll never forget the day he sat me down on the sofa and said, ‘I think this may be our last stop,’ ” Davis’ wife, Tamela, said of a conversation they had late in the 2016 season in Cleveland. “We had this shoe closet near our garage door that we had turned into a prayer closet and just kind of had our bibles and things amongst the shoes. And he went in that stinky shoe closet and he was just crying out to God. He always says he waved the white flag. ‘OK God, I’m done. But if you’re not finished with me, you have to renew me and give me the strength and the endurance and the mindset.’

“And God did what he did, and here we are.”

Since then, Davis has had the five best seasons of his career -- first after he was traded from the Browns back to the Jets in 2017, and then after he signed with the Saints as a free agent in 2018.

The 32-year-old ranks fourth in the NFL with 555 tackles over that span, and his 21 sacks are by far the most of any off-the-ball linebacker. He was named first-team All-Pro for the first time in 2019, then second-team in 2020. The Saints have had the NFL’s No. 1 run defense since he arrived.

More than that, Davis has emerged as New Orleans’ heart and soul, replacing Drew Brees in the role of directing pregame speeches. And he was the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year selection in 2020 for his efforts on and off the field.

Demario and Tamela have done charitable work through the Devoted Dreamers Foundation they started just one year into his career to provide education and resources to youth. Davis has also joined longtime friend Josh Norman to distribute water in Flint, Michigan, and supplies to migrant families detained on the Southern border.

Davis has been a leader in the NFL Players Coalition working toward social justice and racial equality, and his words made a big impact when a group of players and owners met to discuss the national anthem kneeling controversy in 2017.

He received an “In Pursuit of Justice” award from the Bronx Defenders for his efforts to support criminal justice reform in New York. He and former Saints teammate Benjamin Watson were leaders in the campaign for Louisiana to change its law requiring a unanimous jury for felony convictions.

Davis also turned a punishment into a good cause when he was fined for wearing a “Man of God” headband in pregame warmups. The NFL later rescinded the fine, but Davis used the attention to create a charity fundraiser for a hospital in his home state of Mississippi.

He even went back to school to earn an MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Oh, and he’s a devoted father of five.

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“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill