Shawne Merriman Talks With Super Bowl Champion Vernon Davis About Key Injuries So Soon In The NFL And DWTS.

the feedback has been amazing, so I appreciate that. But today we got one of my former teammates, my brother, my college teammate University of Maryland term squad, Vernon Davis, Mr. Dancing with the Stars Vernon Davis. Uh. And we're talking about some of the injuries that's happened this past week, and it's been catastrophic. I don't think we've seen anything like this in the National Football League in a very,

very long time. And the question for me has always been this, does the preseason have something to do with it? I've always been a big fan of less preseason games, maybe two at the most, but having no preseason games doesn't have anything to do with the injuries just piled up the A C L injuries that killing injury injuries or is just is this football? We're gonna talk to Vernon Davis about that a little bit, uh and see what impact No Wall season have on some of these injuries.

But also too, we're gonna talk to him about the Dancing with the Stars. I can't wait, man, Uh A lot better than me. Anyway, let's get it. Yo. You've been like all over the place. It's been crazy, uh seeing you on Dance with the Stars. And somebody asked me the other day, they said, yo, you see your boy Vernon? When they first announced it, they said, do you see your boy Vernon on Dance with the Stars. I said yeah. They said, how do you How do

you think he's gonna do? I said, yo, if it is anything like he running a seven route, he probably gonna win that day. How are you feeling, man? I feel good, Man, I feel good. No complaints. UM, putting a lot of work in. I'm learning the dancing is a it's a lot of dedication, man, just like football. So it's just it's going really well. You know What's what's crazy about that? So long time ago, some years ago, Um,

Michael Strahan. I wanted to go see him while he was on set and I was back there in his trailer and I just want to stop by and say what up to him? I've seen him in a while. And he looked at me. He just kind of he mean, he looked tired. I said, Yo, what's up man? You good? He said, Sean, let me tell you these awesome real hours. I said, what do you mean? He said, he was there that day alone for like six hours practicing. Is how how crazy has that been? Because he didn't go

into details, but how crazy has it been? Uh, practicing for that? Yeah, it's it's it's extremely crazy. It's like, uh, it's foreign to me because I've never had a dancing background and I don't know anything about dances. So when you get these new sequences, sequences, you have to learn them within a week. So you're, you know, as you know, how we play football, we don't have our stuff together.

We're kind of going panic mode. So it's it's a little bit of that and just those hours, like you said, those those hours, four to six hours a week, and when you're in that studio, man, you're just going back and you're you're going through as fertine that you're going back, you're doing it again, You're doing it again. So it's like you're constantly on your feet and your legs are extremely tired, and you just you want to get off your feet, man, and get rest. That's all I don't

want to do is get some rest. What's what's been like the hardest part so far? Um? Is it? Is it? Learning routine? Is it? Um? Like? What's what's the hardest part? Just to pick up that? There's been kind of like the most difficult so far. I would say the posture, uh, um, the gestures that you make with your hands and your arms, that's extremely hard because you can get if you get the routine, you got it, But then trying to hang on and remember those different gestures that you have to

make within those routines. It's just it's tough, man, extremely tough. So years ago, like right when I retired, my publicist at the time had said my name came up with Dance with the Stars, and she said should I submit you?

And I said, hell Na, you know me like you know I just because for me, like straight like straight hand had put such a fear in me in those hours right, like you know, I mean, like I don't mind putting in a time, but like normally when you put in that much time, like I want to be good at something. That's so like that's the reason why don't play golf. I don't play golf because I know people who have been playing golf for ten fifteen years

and still suck. They're not good. And I'm like, dude, if I go and i'm if, I'm if I'm doing this for four to six hours a day and I'm doing this over and over again, I still suck. Man, I'm gonna be pissed. That's a good way to look at it. I never thought anything like that. You're right, but like you look good man, like I was. I was talking to some of the boys. I said, Yo,

did you see Verne the other day? I said, talk, he looks he looks good man like you came out the gate and I was like, man, I thought that, um, you have something happened with the devoting on the point of something right. And initially, like early on m yeah, they said her leg and hit the ground, and they give us a few other tips. But you know, all that stuff we were working on and when we're rehearsals. But like I said, you those little things that you work on. Man, if you if you're not a dancing

you don't got it. It's kind of a foreign to you.

It's gonna you're gonna kind of revert back to it, and it's just one of those things that you just have to get over time with with some of the similarities man in um kind of the mindset, right, because every everything that I do, even out of football now, I try to look at, Okay, how how can I take whatever I learned on the field and during my course of of playing football and translated to something else, Like what are some of the similarities you see and

being in the youth what you learned on the field now to to doing what you're doing now with Dance with the Stars. I think just uh, just putting the time in that hard work and dedication kind of like what you're doing, you're having that religless approach to be successful. I think that's the biggest thing with with anything in life. Man, if you if you have a good work ethic, you're

gonna you're gonna excel in anything that you do. Everything that you touch is going to prosper because there's there's not a lot of people that can have that same work. You know, a lot they don't want to put in the work, the time, uh, that it takes to be

really good at something. So like I said, if you if you have that, if you're one of those guys that we want to Field was the last one to lead and always working on the on the craft and working on the little things, you're gonna put that whatever it is that you're doing, you're gonna be successful. You know, it's funny you said that, man, because you know, we both grew up in the same area, PG County, and then you grew up in Washington, d C. Right now,

right down the street. And I always say this, man, like when we grew up and how we grew up, that it puts something in you that we're not losing, you know what I'm saying, Like our work ethic and our approach to certain things. We we have a different outlook on life, man, and we take everything we do serious because of where we came from, and that that starts when you're younger and your upbringing and what you

had to do in order to get there. Man. So just you know, kind of talk about that because I tell people all the time, like Man Vernon, we grew up like fifteen fifteen, twenty minutes apart, and you know, meet knowing your family, knowing when you grew up and knowing knowing you since you were like what fifteen fifteen sixteen, like you know, uh in high school? Um? What has that done to uh? To have the approach and mindset

and and some of the things you're doing now. And it's not just you know, dance with the stars, it's you know, the movies you shot. You just shot a movie and some of the other things you got going on. Yeah, yeah, I think like you said, growing up when we grew up PG CAT, the d M, b DC, Maryland and Virginia. Um, it's just during that time, especially us with with with thirty five, thirty six years old, during that during that time, it was tough. You know where we came up from

the neighborhood. It was we had a lot of negative influences in our lives and we had to those those challenge of times and make it to where we are in to day. And believe it or not, we all have things that are broken in our home. Right. You have broken from your from a family perspective. I had things that were broken, but those things are they equipped us with everything that we need in order to go

out and be successful. You know, every time everything that you do from the podcast to business, you think about those things that you've been through and you put them into what you're doing that because you don't want to go back to that. You don't want to see that. You don't go back to that because if you if you did, and it catalyzed us to two different heights. And that's what I love about the past. And and

you know, just the culture of how we grew up. Yeah, And I always say that, man, that I don't have a whole lot of fears in my life because what we've been through and what we grew up, because we've already seen it. We've already seen some of the worst circumstances you can possibly see. So I don't have a

lot of fear. I would say one of my biggest fears is going back man, like you know, being in a position to to lose it all or being a position to um expose yourself to those circumstances the game, man, I'm and and that that's why my hustle and you know, even though you're so far from it, you just can't see yourself being back in those situations. Um, and it's

it's why they're daily grind. Man's why you know, wake up the sixth clock and to wake up six thirty am and just roll out of bed and you want to go because that's the only speed you got. Yeah, yeah, I agree that, yeah, yeah, And there so one one another thing. I'm not gonna let you off hooked man. And I tell people all the time, I said, dude, me and Vernon has some of the most classic battles in college. Uh, it was practice practice for me. When me and you was going one on one all the

time was worse than the games. You know, mean because we're do the one on one past coverage and I had to run with you in those damn seven routes. If you took off and ran a nine router or fly straight down the field. I'm like, dude, you had to be on your horses every single day. And I'll turn around and we go one on one pass Rusty and I'm going against steffon high and I'm like, listen. When I got to league, people say all the time, like, how did you come out, rookie defense, rookie in all

this side. I said, dude, listen, you don't have any idea. I was going against Vernon Davis every single day, and man, that just that that just made you better. And by the time you got to the game, it was easy. Man. You talked about making you better. Man, you knocking me on my tailbone probably twenty times a day. I had to keep getting them. But I would laugh, bat because everybody did. Practice would stopped. Your practice would literally stop.

When when man, you start going one of the ones, and people were just watched because and I would look outside the gate and you had some of the students like lining up outside the gate trying to look to that little green thing they had blocking the fence, whatever hole they can find, and watch y'all one of once. Man, And I just I wish that one of these days I can go back and just get some of that footage. And I said, dude, this this happened every single day

of the week. It was just straight up competition all the time. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was, man. It made me better though. Man. When I got big, man, I was ready for every anything. I was ready for anything. Man. It was it was great. Hey, hey, speaking of the league, man, I know you've been crazy with the you know, the practicing and really what you're doing now in the movies and everything else. But as far as the NFL, this weekend do was was one of one of the biggest

weeks we've ever seen. This many injuries. Um, you had like Nick Bosa going down, Anthony Barr went down, Say Kawan Barkley went down. Um Sutton wide receiver for Denver Broncos went down. All these guys went down with season ending knee injuries. And you know somebody who I know who works crazy hard on the off season, right, I mean your your workouts has been crazy since the day

I met you, since you were in high school. And I'll tell people now until this day that, uh, the most freakis athlete that I played with and and got a chance to see. Do you think that the priest and that having no preseason games have effects on these injuries guys getting hurt because there were no preseason games. Oh yeah, I already knew what it was gonna be.

We all knew what it was gonna be. You know you It's it's one of those things, Sean, And I tell everyone so when I was playing ball, I didn't really I never really felt like I needed to go into off season training with the team, even though I wanted to be a part of the team and get to consivate the relationship with the guys. But I it was something about being able to go in and show the coaches to hey, I know how to work, you

know what I mean. It was always a great on them that you know, you don't need to hold my hand anymore. But then there's a lot of guys. It's probably of the guys that don't really do that, you know.

Um and I know it sounds it sounds crazy, but when you take away all season training things that are mandatory for guys, right then you create you you you you put them in a place too to uh never susceptible to more injuries because they haven't been getting the proper treatment from the trainers or or they're they're not held accountable, um like they will usually be right like in the past, because they're free to do whatever they

want to do. So now guys go in not stretching the way they't only stretch, not having proper nutrition, not um seeing a cowproc then getting and seeing a massage there. You know, it's a business man. I tell all the young guys all the time, they said, they used to ask me all time, how how do you make it? Fourteen years and you get You've got better? You know what I mean. It's like your your average yards per catcher has gotten better. I was like, look, man, what

you do. You have to do it all the time. I've been doing this. I've been doing since I was since I was a rookie companist league. I gave my massage is three times a week. I said, the cow practice twice a week. I've not asked to be and I eat properly, and it's just the way to go. Now everybody was doing that. We would see all these injes Yeah, you know I agree with that, man, And I always said that, Um, I feel that you didn't

need four preseason game. I felt like you need to mainly for the younger guys and to get your time and change your possession, making sure guys when it's when it's time to substitute, coming on and off the field, the little things to get everybody right and keep everybody on the same page. But four preseason games always felt it wasn't really wasn't really needed, um because for one, it's just after you got out of your second third year. To me, it always looked at as a waste of time.

You know, most most vets. In the last preseason game, you only playing one series anyway, seven to nine plays, so you gotta get up and get ready, the same routine, the whole thing, but you're only going out there for seven plays. So mentally you're like, you're not even really getting up like you want to for the game because as soon as you get your motor going, you gotta shut it back down. So I always felt you needed

two prices games. I didn't. I didn't think that it was going to be all that great having no preseason games and on top of that, no joint practices, because it's one thing to practice or work out in the all season, and it's another thing to have real live game speed. So you know, just I just wanted because you work out, go, you go crazy to jem. I mean you you're you're on the field all the time and running roused from practicing, but that game speed is

something different. That's to me, that's why I think we're seeing some of these injuries. Yeah, you're right, it's different. Yeah, it's definitely different. Yeah, you know, I look at I look at some of these injuries, and um, you never had you never had any real big injuries right out now that I remember, right, you know, I don't think you. I never had surgery since I ever, which is another just freak thing that's just crazy to me. And still to this it's crazy to me, man, for the smight

of the work like that with no damn juries. Now I'm lightweight, jealous and not and not really shocked, but it's just crazy just you know this, previous athletes like that. Yeah, yeah, I don't even know. Man, it's crazy too when I think about it. Man, I've never been put to sleep. I've never been cut on. I mean I just oh man, I just never. And so what do you what do

you think it's gonna happen? Uh this year? Any any chance you get in the back around the game, because I know you got you have the movies going on. You just what the movies just came out of wh use the shot? Right? Yeah? I shot two movies. Um, I got picked up by BT hurt for film and actually I supposed we shouldn't moving on the same director called me. Um, she liked my working bt, so she called me how to do her movie The Rich and the Ruthless out here in l A. And it all

worked out right in Birdbank. So I'm like, yeah, I'll take it. So I'm just I just begetting calls and just you know, just putting stuff together from a content standpoint, and uh, it has been great, man, Just working the craft, just understand who's and um, just how to be an actor. You know. It's uh, it's crazy you said that because we were talking about that, like why we were playing. Remember we were talking about being able to get in the film. Um, you know, getting into the film industry

and acting and when when you got done. But just the craft of it. And I always try to have some kind of correlation from what I what we did on the football field to taking that new approach and getting into these characters. Um, you know, it's kind of separating yourself from who you are to the person that is on is on screen. And the fun the funny part is is that I wasn't I wasn't surprised at your first one you did, how good you did. I was more surprised at you jumped right into it because

it took. It took me a little bit to kind of step out of my comfort zone going to auditions and doing that stuff. And I just didn't feel comfortable at first doing that. But you gotta you know, you gotta work at it. Yeah, you do. You gotta work at it man. Now it's like it's like man when it's crazy. It's just like in the same correlation like

football sean. Like uh, like I've trained myself like so much to the where if I got to get emotion, like I cried now when I say the word cry and I'm beginning to cry, you know what I mean just from those movies that I've done. Is just the work that I've been putting in. It's just like it's like normal muscle memory that now. But but it's cool. It's cool to like go to those different places and and just see the growth of the time. So what what are you know? What are some of the things man?

Because I try to help out guys who um, because I and I talked to guys all the time, either they're about to retire or they're thinking about retiring. And that that transition, man, that transition for most people as hell, and it's not that they can't do anything else, is that they have to figure out what they want to do. Man, So like when when did you start making up your mind? Like this is this is what I'm what I'm gonna do.

Because we we kept talking over and no, I'm like, hey, you got one more year, two more years, one more year. And I remember that day he was like, man, this is this is it? So how what was that transition? Like, I think you should start. I think it's a guy trying to figure out what you want to do. You

just starting at least five years before you time. For me, I've been playing little seeds here and then I started acting like six years ago, um over time, just doing things here and there, and I started doing business like seven years ago. Um so just learning and just educating yourself over time. Man, whether it's real estate, whether it's uh,

become the franchise z, all those things. You need to start now, because what happens when you're done you start now, what happens when you're done you just roll right into everything that you have going on, and it's be like you you didn't stop anything, you didn't stop a beat, You're still going. And that's what I that's when I've been able to do. Um. But but yeah, man, and if if there's any young guys I didn't need help, they can. They can give me a call. And I'm

sure you know they give you a call. We we can help him out, show out. You know. I love helping people anyway. So anytime somebody got questions, man, like my my ex teammates called me all the time asking me questions man about real estate and all that stuff. So I just I feel, you know, I'm it's nice to know that I can help them, and you know, my it's an honor. No, that's that's the best feeling in the world. Man. So what's next? How how can you got the voting going on? How can people vote?

What do they need to do? And uh what what? How how do they do that? I want to, you know, get the voting out there, man, so we can get it out there and get you get you on top. Yeah. So they can only vote during people vote, They can only vote during the during the show. Um. They can text vern into two five to three. They also go online at d w T S dot ABC dot com and vote and you can each platform you can vote up to ten times. So your phone num. You can

vote ten times on that one number. Then you can go in line with your email and vote ten times. So I'm encouraging people to vote for me and my partner Peter. Yeah. No, we we're gonna get it out there, man. And I still I'm still gonna put together We're doing the movie one of these days. I don't know how it's gonna happen and how we're gonna link up and put a project together, but I'm I'm banking on the

man back in uh back to make it happen. Man. Hey, man, it would be an honor, man, to be an honor. I would love to man, I would love to my brother. Man. I appreciate you for coming on, man, and good luck with that thing. I know you're gonna I know you're gonna kill it. Man. Want to encourage everybody to vote and represent for for DNV man the terms and always man, you're always killing it, always doing big things. Man. So I appreciate you. I appreciate youth. Good. That's not happy man.

So again, I appreciate my boy, my brother, my terrorping uh University of Maryland, brother Vernon Davis coming on. And you know one of the things I wish I would have brought up, and I doubt very seriously if he was going to uh talk about it. But Vernon would try to beat me in everything. We were so damn competitive.

He would try to beat me in every single thing in the weight room, if we were running stadium steps, whatever piece of jewelry that I bought it when I got drafted in two thousand five, when he got drafted the following year, he would go out and buy the same jewelry, if not better. It was a complete competition

all the way around. In fact, uh it was a few years that I broke the bench record for the most bench uh, the most squat in the in the gym, uh, the highest vertical, the biggest hand clean and vernon only goal was to make sure that he took all of my records off of the board. And he always wanted to make sure that he stood one step ahead of me at all at all times. So uh it brought

out the best competition in US. Um that we come from the same area, grew fifteen minutes from each other, and difficult circumstances, man, I tell you, in PG County when I grew up in the late eighties and nineties. Um, with crime and and and some of the worst things you can see growing up as a kid happened. Um,

so we have. And he obviously grew up in Washington, DC area, so we just always had a lot of common man and and really happy to see him now with Dance with the Stars and succeeding doing movies and other things. But we've been talking about this for the last you know, fifteen years, so to see this happen was great. Um, and I'm pretty I'm sure pretty soon he will have his own podcast to to have something just as much as I do, because the competition level

is that crazy. Uh So anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the show today. Uh, and don't forget to subscribe ratee me and uh keep turning in. We're gonna keep turning up and turning this thing in and um making it big. So let's go