Demario Davis1 is an extraordinary man with a big heart, in the NFL, whom I believe deserves recognition for his charitability and perseverance. Truly a man of God, he didn’t let the NFL put restraints his beliefs, instead using the situation as an opportunity to raise money for a hospital right outside his hometown, St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, MS. This eventually led to the Devoted Dreamers Foundation2, which he founded to create a better foundation for success of the future of America’s youth.
A Couple of Notable Incidents:
A little over a year ago, in September of 2019, the NFL’s Saints’ linebacker Demario Davis, was charged with a uniform infraction fine for wearing a headband3 under his helmet that said “Man of God” across the brow. Disturbingly, these days it is not uncommon to see once respectable patriotic players like Drew Brees were/are wearing the names of accused rapists, convicted felons, and women beaters proudly printed across their helmets4, paying tribute to these criminals for getting injured or killed in the duration of committing a crime.5 Brees has recently decided to stop using social justice BLM slogans on his uniform.6
Demario Davis was able to fight the fine successfully7, but before he appealed the $7,017 fine (uniform infraction), he was able to turn this situation into a positive8! He actually began selling the headbands9 and pledging 100 percent of the “Man of God” and “Woman of God” proceeds to St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi10, and even more incredibly, equally matched the donations to double the funds given to the hospital.
Priced at $25 a piece, he raised more than $60,000 in the first month, and equally matched what was raised for the hospital bringing the donations to $120,000 from the date of the infraction in September until the sourced article from Fox in October. He continues to sell headbands, and now facemasks11, that say “Child of God,” “Man of God,” and “Woman of God,” for the same price, however the proceeds now go to the non-profit foundation Demario Davis started to help America’s youth become successful young men and women through God, education, and athletics.
Unfortunately, in October of the same year, he got hit with another fine12 when he hit defenseless player, Jaguars tight end Geoff Swaim. Davis was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and because their helmets collided, Swaim left the game and was placed in concussion protocol. This time the fine was for $28,075, which is the minimum fine for the type of infraction incurred.
Demario Davis immediately took a knee and began to pray upon seeing the Swaim splayed13 out on the grass. He insists he didn’t intend to harm Swaim, which is consistent with his record of there being only five times where he was called for unnecessary roughness or illegal hits in 8 years and 120 game of his career.14
“First of all, I want to say my thoughts and prayers to Geoff Swaim,” Davis said after the game. “I know he was able to walk off the field, but you don’t know what the residuals are of something like that,” Davis said. “That’s very unfortunate so my prayers are with him and I hope he heals up well and recovers from that.”13
He followed that with a respectful acknowledgement to the dangers of the sport and the risks they take every time they go out on the field13, “Unfortunately, it’s a part of our game. It’s a bang-bang league and sometimes those hits do happen and we don’t like them. It’s just an unfortunate bang-bang play that just happened when we collided and I guess he came up on the bad end of it. My prayers and thoughts are with him.”
The Devoted Dreamers Foundation:
The mission statement of The Devoted Dreamers Foundation2 states on their site that they are, “Equipping the next generation of leaders with the tools to be successful, spiritually, mentally, and physically.”
Additionally, they give a look into his background that makes him even more respectable and inspirational. If children deem NFL players their heroes, this is the guy to choose. They explain, “Demario Davis has always been a very talented athlete and has excelled in a academia. However, in his teenage years of his life, judgement and poor decision making almost derailed his career before it ever began.
Growing up in impoverished environments led a young Demario to drugs, alcohol, gangs, violence and eventually jail.2
In 2008, while a student at Arkansas State University was led into a relationship with Jesus Christ by his team Chaplan. As the transformation happened in his heart, his life was transformed as well. He soon after realized that he had a heart to reach his fellow teammates and the Next Generation of leaders for the Kingdom of God. Demario wanted to impact generations the way that he was impacted through the Gospel.”2
Recognition Where Recognition Is Due
I absolutely commend Demario Davis for everything he has done to fight for what he believes in, the respectable ways he handles situations that could have been nightmarish, and for his efforts in molding our young men and women into productive, functioning members of society through God, education, and sports. He is truly inspiring. Honestly, I had never heard of him before seeing this meme, it intrigued me, and I felt compelled to do further research into the man fined for wearing “Man of God” under his helmet. This man went from zero to hero, thug to mentor15, and it is a beautiful thing.
It is always refreshing to look into a person’s background and find out that they are an outstanding individual, and I believe that he deserves recognition where recognition is due. There need to be less people spreading hate and condemnation for our country in the name of “social justice,” and more people like Demario Davis16, who try to make the world a better place, and I congratulate him on his $27 million 3-year contract extension16. God bless Demario Davis, #56 of the New Orleans Saints, and God bless his Devoted Dreamers Foundation.
Sources:
1https://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/players-roster/demario-davis/
2https://devoteddreamers.org
3https://www.foxnews.com/media/nfl-demario-davis-hit-fine-geoff-swaim-man-of-god
4https://www.independentsentinel.com/drew-brees-puts-accused-rapists-name-on-his-helmet-as-does-the-team/
5https://gettysburgian.com/2020/09/protests-erupt-in-professional-sports/
6https://www.toddstarnes.com/cancel-culture/nfl-player-says-he-will-no-longer-honor-blm-on-his-helmet/
7https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27803631/saints-lb-demario-davis-turns-overturned-headband-fine-charity
8https://www.foxnews.com/media/demario-davis-man-of-god-headbands-jump-as-he-announces-120k-for-local-hospital
9http://bit.ly/56manofgod
10https://www.foxnews.com/media/demario-davis-man-of-god-headbands-jump-as-he-announces-120k-for-local-hospital
11https://sleefs.com/collections/demario-davis-man-of-god-headbands
12https://www.nola.com/sports/saints/article_2b2eae88-f2a5-11e9-b039-07a9ebe108bf.html
13https://www.essentiallysports.com/jaguars-geoff-swaim-knocked-out-after-a-helmet-to-helmet-collision-with-demario-davis/
14https://saintswire.usatoday.com/2019/10/19/nfl-fined-demario-davis-saints-jaguars-geoff-swaim-injury-news/
15https://mississippitoday.org/2018/12/28/saints-demario-davis-rags-to-riches-and-then-some/
16https://www.nfl.com/news/saints-lb-demario-davis-signs-three-year-27m-extension-before-week-1-win