This week’s Faith, Family, & Football feature is: André Davis, Former Brown, Bill, Patriot, and Texan.
André Davis is a 9-year NFL veteran playing 9 seasons for the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, and Houston Texans. He was drafted in the 2nd round (47th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft.
André is currently living in Myrtle Beach, SC with his wife and 2 sons. When asked about his transition process Davis said, “Transition away from football has been tough, but I’m surrounding myself around the right type of people who are helping me to succeed. Right now I'm being mentored by my financial advisor, Scott Pyle of Pyle/Cunningham Wealth Management and I am COO of an app development company called AppyCity (http://www.appycity.com/).”
Davis is also a capital partner with a real estate investment & development group called Carolina Holdings Group. He’s remained very active in his post football career both mentally and physically and is looking forward to finally building his own house as builder and contractor. “There is a lot going on in my life right now, but just like my playing days, I've got to keep my priorities in order. Nothing has changed! My priority is still Faith, Family and Football (career, business, etc...).”
NFLPE would like to thank André Davis for taking the time to share his Faith, Family, and Football.
PE: Why is faith important to you?
Davis: Faith is important to me because it guides the way that I live. The fact that God left an instruction manual for us to follow, through the Holy Bible, helps me to know what is truly important in this life that He has blessed me with. The faith that I have to know that everything in the Bible is true, allows me to learn from past mistakes and to see how God instructed people how to deal with their issues. The same issues people deal with today are some of the same issues people dealt with in the bible 2000+ years ago. The wisest man to ever live, King Solomon, wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." So, I say all that to say this, my faith is the one thing I can truly count on because my faith is rooted in the one thing that never changes, and that is Jesus Christ.
PE: Tell us about your family and the impact they’ve had on your life?
Davis: My father and mother were both deeply rooted in their faith and they made sure that my brother, sister and I were going to be in church every Sunday. They gave us every opportunity possible to make sure we heard the name of Jesus Christ and what He had done for us. Because of this, they helped me become a very humble and confident man who totally understood where all my strengths and abilities came from.
PE: What does being a father mean to you?
Davis: Being a father means a couple of different things: 1. It means understanding the responsibility that God gave me to lead my family. 2. Being the best husband that I can be to my wife. 3. Being an example for my kids to show them what a man of God looks like, and finally 4. Being hands on with my children to not just tell them I love them but to show them as well.
PE: How has your faith and family helped you develop off the field?
Davis: My faith and family is what I am about. Football was something that I did and it was only for a season of my life. I thank God every day for the blessings that He provided through playing the game of football, and the platform He gave me to give Him the glory. My faith has helped me in my identity to know that I am a child of God, first, who happened to play football and not a football player who happens to be a Christian. My family helped me by keeping me humble and keeping me steady. Never get too high with the highs and never get too low with the lows.
PE: How do you balance faith, family, and football?
Davis: The way to balance these three titles is to keep them in that exact order at all times; Faith, Family, Football. Your Faith will determine who you are in your inner being. Your family will always be there because that is who God blessed you with. Whether you get along or you don't, you can't change family.
Football is the best sport in our country and I am honored to have been able to play at the highest level. During my playing days, as long as I kept my relationship with God first, everything else seemed to fall in order. I found myself being able to be a better husband for my wife, a better father to my kids and a better football player on the field. As a retired player in my 30's, the transition from football to the "real world" has been challenging. However, by faith, I have the hope that my life and career to come can and will be better and more gratifying then the career that I just left.
PE: What advice would you give to student athletes and current professional athletes in regards to their faith, family, and football?
Davis: Don't ever forget who blessed you with the abilities you have. Take the time to give God glory through your performance on the field. Always remember that you are representing more than just yourself when you are on and off the field. Enjoy every moment you have on that field of play, because you will never know which play might be your last!
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