Earlier this week another football player was taken from us too soon when Vontae Davis died at age 35. Davis last played for the Buffalo Bills in 2018, when he abruptly retired in the middle of the second week of the regular season.
Davis gained national prominence as a member of the Illinois backfield, where he earned All-Big Ten first team honors in 2007 and 2008. Here he is on the Fighting Illini’s 2008 media guide:
Davis was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft. He played in Miami for three seasons before a trade to the Indianapolis Colts. Here’s Davis on a 2013 Colts vs. St. Louis Rams program:
Interestingly, Davis signed this cover with #21 even though he is pictured wearing #23. He wore #21 in Miami and would go back to that number for the Colts in 2014.
