Playing Ball by Vernon Davis

Author:Vernon Davis [Davis, Vernon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2024-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

I’m a 49er

THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ER BRASS FLEW ME OUT OF JOHN F. KENNEDY International Airport in New York the next day, right after the NFL Draft. I headed to the airport and was immediately on my way to the team. It was my first time flying first class too, so I was sitting nice and happy up front on the plane. It was a surreal moment in time for me, but I couldn’t really feel it all yet. It was unraveling minute by minute. I was sitting there on the plane in my window seat, telling myself, Wow! I’m on my way to San Francisco in first class.

As soon as I landed on the other side, the 49ers had a security escort to pick me up from the airport and take me to wherever I needed to go, including my hotel. He was a middle-aged, white man who was designated to pick up the new players as they came in. So, he picked me up and drove me straight to the 49ers’ football facility. I can’t remember the escort’s name, but he was a really nice guy.

I didn’t even have a chance to go and put my things down at the hotel before meeting up with everyone at the 49ers’ facility. I just remember walking into the bathroom—where the players’ lockers were—and grabbing my San Franscico 49ers helmet and staring at my image in the mirror. I just couldn’t believe it! It was a dream come true.

The first person I met when we arrived at the facility was head coach Mike Nolan. He was with Norv Turner, the offensive coordinator; Dr. John York, the owner; Pete Hoener, my tight end coach; and a few other 49ers staff members.

At the time, the 49ers hadn’t built their new stadium yet, so the facility was pretty basic and not really up to par with the architecture and technology they had at some of the newer NFL facilities that we would visit during the season. One of the top ones was definitely the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys’ facilities, either old or new, were always top-flight. I can say that right now: The Dallas Cowboys always had a great facility.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The San Franscico facility looked nice to most people. Even to me, it was the nicest place I had seen at the time. Of course, I would go on to see a lot more nice facilities during the actual football season. But still, me flying out there to San Francsico after the draft was beautiful, it really was. One of the perks was that they had catered food for the players every day, with a chef cooking you special meals. You could order whatever you wanted to eat. I loved that too!

Actually, there were a lot of NFL facilities that were newer and nicer than the 49ers’. I wouldn’t exactly say that San Francisco’s facility was old school, but we didn’t even have a cafeteria that first year. We all ate outside under a tent because the weather was always so nice out there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.