Vernon Davis played here in DC in the final four years of the Jay Gruden era, so he knows what hard times look like for Commanders football – which is why, as he told Grant Paulsen during Super Bowl media frenzy this week, seeing this year’s Commanders light it up brought such joy to him.
“I thought those guys would maybe win six or seven games, but they did something that amazed the world,” Davis said. “What they were able to do this year, offensively, defensively, and with the special teams, few and far between. They figured it out, put the little details into the organization. and they were able to find success in ways that no one ever expected.”
Davis won Super Bowl 50 in Denver with a former No. 1 pick and saw the 49ers turnaround under Jim Harbaugh, so he knows that it all starts at the top, and these Commanders did a great job of filtering organizational change and hitting a home run with Jayden Daniels.
“It’s a new everything, and that's what you need sometimes. It's not a bad thing that you change the structure; the foundation is everything, so if your foundation is bad, everything's gonna be bad,” Davis said. “But they were able to make a change and have a new foundation, and based on that, if they continue to grow it and evolve, as long as they keep all of the specifics there, everything that they implemented, it's gonna be great. So, I'm excited to see what this year coming is like for them.”
Davis played for the final Redskins team before the change to Washington Football Team, and now, we know Commanders is their name for a while – and he’s down with the name coming to life as the ‘sleeping giant’ that is the fan base has been awoken and alumni are being welcomed back.
“I saw the organization at its lowest, and being a hometown fan, I was able to see the years that they had – but what I've been able to witness this year is remarkable,” Davis said. “I'm excited about their journey, the future, and everything that they're going to continue to do to build a winning organization. It was awesome to see from the side I wouldn’t normally see, going to bars and standing around an audience who was rooting, yelling, and enjoying themselves. Being a part of that energy, you could tell they were behind the team and really wanted it. It was awesome, and amazing.”