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American football player Vontae Davis has seemingly thrown in the towel half-way through an NFL game, telling coach Sean McDermott "he was done".
Key points:
- Some of Davis's teammates said they "lost respect" for the Buffalo Bills player after his shock decision
- The team's head coach said Davis was not injured
- Davis, 30, is an NFL veteran of 10 years
The Buffalo Bills cornerback pulled himself from the team's game against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday (local time).
In a statement tweeted by the NFL, Davis said "this isn't how I pictured retiring from the NFL," and that he "meant no disrespect".
"But today on the field, reality hit me fast and hard: I shouldn't be out there anymore."
"I also wondered: Do I want to keep sacrificing?"
He said he had endured multiple surgeries and played through injuries during his 10 seasons with the NFL.
Davis said the decision was overwhelming, but we was at peace with himself and his family.
The Bills' head coach spoke with reporters after the team's 31-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and explained that the 30-year-old Davis voluntarily left the game in the first half and did not return.
"He pulled himself from the game. He told us he was done," McDermott said, per the Buffalo News.
"When I get back there (to the locker room), we'll continue to communicate and get things figured out. I wish I had a better answer."
McDermott had no further insight on why Davis decided to stop playing.
The 10-year veteran was not injured, according to McDermott.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Davis changed out of his uniform and left the stadium at halftime.
'Completely disrespectful': teammates respond
Bills teammates were perplexed upon hearing the news.
"I don't have nothing to say about Vontae," linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said after the game, according to ESPN.
"I'm going to give him a little bit more respect than he showed us today, as far as quitting on us in the middle of the game.
"I never have seen that. Pop Warner, high school, pros. Never heard of it. Never seen it. It's just completely disrespectful to his teammates. … He didn't say nothing to nobody. I found out going into the second half of the game. They said he's not coming out, he retired. That's it."
Defensive tackle Kyle Williams told the Buffalo News he had never heard of anyone quitting like that.
"I think the only thing to say is he's where he needs to be right now," Williams said.
Safety Rafael Bush said he lost respect for Davis "as a man".
"To quit on your teammates when things aren't going so well in the middle of a game … that's definitely disrespectful."
Davis played just five games in 2017 with the Indianapolis Colts before suffering a torn groin muscle.
Last season marked the first in Davis's career that he did not record an interception.
Davis was a 2009 first-round draft pick by Miami and played three seasons (2009-11) with the Dolphins before suiting up for the Colts for the following six seasons.
He signed a one-year, $US5 million contract with the Bills this offseason.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: sport, american-football, united-states
First posted