Don Davis: Losing the World and Gaining My Soul

CBN.com Pound per pound, Don Davis has thrown a lot of his weight around as a linebacker in the NFL. He’s played for four teams, led the Patriots in 2005 with a career high 25 special teams tackles and has performed on the NFL’s biggest stage three times.

Recently, 700 Club producer Andrew Knox sat down with Don Davis to discuss his career.

Andrew Knox: Don over the course of your career, you’ve played in three Super Bowls, you’ve won two Super Bowl championships, but how do those victories compare with your relationship with Christ? 
 
Don Davis:  Now I understand what Jesus meant by it. What is it for a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? That Super Bowl ring is meaningless, it’s meaningless.

A surprising perspective from a man whose NFL career nearly ended before it began. Don didn’t get picked-up in the 1995 draft, so he entered the NFL as a free agent. He tried out for two teams only to get cut by both. So Don worked as a shoe salesman for a year and then was picked-up by New Orleans.

Along with a spot on the Saints roster came the parties and the women. But Don was married. He was so wrapped up into being a professional football player that he thought he could get away with behavior he knew was wrong.

Davis:  I was learning to become more and more of a hypocrite. I knew how to speak and go to the chapels and speak to young kids about not doing drugs and alcohol -- all these kinds of things. I knew all of those things to say, and I cleaned up fairly well to where some people would have no idea. 

Don’s marriage ended in divorce. His career with the Saints ended too.

Davis: What? At week 10, like all of a sudden, they [Saints' manager] said we need to release you, we need the roster spot. It was that point, I drove back from New Orleans all the way to Kansas ... 14 hours, crying. What am I going to do with myself? Life is over. That was the lowest point of my life.

But Don got a call from the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, and after signing, Head Coach Tony Dungy made quite an impact on Don, showing him what it meant to be a Christian.

Davis: This coach here doesn’t yell, he doesn’t curse, he doesn’t drink, and he’s got a great family. Wow!

Coach Dungee’s faith continued to inspire him and about that time, Yanette walked into Don’s life.

Yanette Davis:  And we met through mutual friends. The first thing that they said to me was, 'I don’t know if you should get involved with him,' and, 'That’s not what you’re looking for.' And these were my friends looking out for me. So it was a little scary at first.

Yanette was hesitant but gave Don a chance. At the same time, a talk with the team chaplain brought Don to a realization.

Don Davis:  I didn’t know if I was going to heaven. So the chaplian said, 'Would you like to have a relationship, would you like me to introduce to you for the first time Jesus Christ, so you can have a real relationship that will radically change your life?' Absolutely. And that was the day I gave my life over -- I gave my heart over.

Don has never looked back. He and Yanette are married and have two daughters. He’s also the strength coach and chaplain for the New England Patriots and serves as a pastor at Living Waters Church 

Andrew Know:  You also seem to have a real fire inside of you.

Davis: It’s funny because I feel like I  am a real passionate person, but I’m especially passionate about the Word and about the Lord because I know what it is to walk in darkness. I know what it’s like to try to fill that void, and I know what these athletes are going through. I understand the pressures of the NFL and trying to perform, and trying to compete, and trying to stay sharp, and I know of the way of doing that and keeping your foot in the world too.

Yanette Davis:  When people say to me, you really tamed the lion. I say, 'No, I didn’t do it. It’s the Lord who did it,' and that’s what you have to remember. You can’t tame the lion, only God can.

Super Bowl championships are the pinnacle of success for an NFL player. But Don says his rings matter little, compared to what God has in store for him.

Davis: When we die, if this is it, if this is the best that life and eternal life and everything can be is right now … then we’re in for a sad existence. But see this is not it, there are riches, fullness of joy, treasures forever-more as the Word of God says, and that’s in eternity. We think of our best day, the best day I’ve ever had in life, pales, not even close to one day in eternity.