The NFL Trade Deadline with Vernon Davis

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work marketplace. Empower your business and hire the world's most in demand developers, designers, project managers and more at www dot up work dot com. Hello everyone, I'm a dd Kinkabala, joined as always by the fabulous Mike Yam and we are here for NFL explained By the way. I love when you call me fabulous and I did catch it on NFL Now the other day when you were promoting the podcast. It did make me smile. Belladitia. This week,

we're all about the trade deadline. We are knocking on the door for I think a time of the season that gives anxiety to some players, maybe more so in other sports, but certainly in the NFL. When you think there's a chance you could be on the move, there's some upheaval in your personal life, which you know, what is a great segue to this, Mike. You know that I love trivia. What do Doug Flutie, Carson Palmer, and Jimmy Garoppolo all have in common? You know, normally you

ask questions and I don't know the answer. When I hear the trivia music time, I know this one. Quarterbacks. Here we go, quarterbacks, fruit quarterbacks who were on the move. We'll keep with the theme of today's shill quarterbacks who are no longer with their teams and they've been shipped out of town. Yeah, trade deadline exactly. They were all

traded on the NFL's trade deadline. You know, Mike, there is just a lot more to learn about trades and trades in general, and why the NFL treats the whole trade deadline differently than perhaps the NBA or Major League Baseball, So I think this is a really good opportunity to dive into that as fans think about the makeup of their team's rosters. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. Not to mention, I think getting the perspective from someone

who's been traded is always unique. I actually reached out to a couple buddies that played in the league, and none of them were actually traded, which also speaks to sometimes the lack of movement that the NFL has, which we'll get to. But Vernon Davis is going to be stopping by a little bit later in this show. Certainly pumped too to hear your conversation add with him. But as you made reference to trade deadline coming the Tuesday after week number eight so this season, four pm Eastern time,

November two this year. And I think there's actually a lot of different ways we can dissect this. But the first question is like why even have a trade deadline? I think understanding trades is one thing, but add why even bother? Well, first of all, the NFL is indeed a deadline league. People like having deadlines a b Well, people, okay, that's you know what, Mike, That's a much better way to phrase it. People do need deadlines in the NFL is certainly a league that needs deadlines too. I think

the timing of this deadline is tremendously notable. You know, it used to be week six. It was moved back to week eight starting in two thousand twelve. But even though there is a movement, there are agents that wish that trade deadline would be moved back even further. I don't necessarily see that happening. And I'll give you a

few reasons. Number one, the NFL loves the idea of competitive bows and parody, and the trade deadline being where it is effectively prevents teams that are winning from stacking their rosters as the playoffs get closer. The flip side to that is it prevents teams that are sitting at whatever one in six from having a fire sale. And did I do the math on that right, No, I didn't. It would have to be one in seven unless the one in six team was on a by then it

would make sense of some money. We'll make the numbers work either way. Well, I read well, and we'll got to that because we will have to talk about making the cap numbers work. But in any case, when you think about the competitive balance here, the way the NFL does its schedule is obviously you play your division mates and then you're matched up against another division out of

the conference. So let's pretend, Mike that I'm an a f C North team and this year I have to play the NFC East and I end up playing the Eagles and the Giant in in September and October. But let's say you another a f C North team play the Eagles and the Giants in December, when both of them are already out of it and both of them have basically gotten rid of all their great players. Well, then I'm not playing the same type of team that

you are playing, and that's not particularly fair. I think it's a really good point, and I think the reality is that competitive balance is a really important distinction to d D because the NFL has done a tremendous job. Look no further than this season. I mean, every single Sunday or Thursday or Monday, we're getting results with these razor thin advantages and edges. You know that that old

cliche the game's battle of inches. Well, in a lot of ways, it's kind of proved to be that way, So it is really important to try to maintain that competitive balance. I think it's also notable to say, you know, you talked about this before, that we don't necessarily see the same number of trades in the NFL that we do maybe in baseball. So let's get into why that is. You have give me, give me one idea. There's multiple reasons,

but go ahead and throw one at me. Look, the biggest one you got to say, is this hard salary cap in this idea of limiting the amount of dollars that you can allocate for your team, and it is different. You know, I spent a long time in my career covering in the n b A. You don't necessarily have to worry about that. If you've got a team owner that's got some deep pockets, you know that soft cap is something that is okay as long as your team owner is willing to pay a luxury tax at the

end of the season. And then, of course you've got a league like Major League Baseball where you can get these mammoth mega deals and not have to worry about it. Because Baseball doesn't have a salary cap, so the trade deadline as a whole is just less busy just because of the restraints that NFL teams have, and managing that

cap is a very hard mathematical equation. It needs to be put into place, you know, Mike, you say that, and it's very interesting who you talk to, because I actually talked to an agent who has been a part of a lot of negotiations over the last few years leading up to the trade deadline, after offseason whatever, and he kind of pooh pooed this idea, and he said, if you want to make the mathwork, you can make the mathwork. It's kind of like what we saw in

the movie Draft Day. But on the flip side, I talked to a team executive who's really in charge of managing his team's cap, and he was saying that there are not a lot of teams that have flexibility, especially when you're looking for somebody who's a high priced player. Look at what just happened a couple of weeks ago, Mike with a former Defensive Player of the Year in

Stefan Gilmour. How many teams could maneuver things to have the cap room to acquire a player of that caliber with a salary like that, not that many and so the Panthers were indeed able to make that happen. But I don't know how many other potential suitors there would have been who could have done that. It's a great call, and you know, I just remember even being here in the San Francisco Bay area heading down until you buy a stadium before the season had started, and there was

obviously this big back and forth among fans. Hey is it Trey Lance, is it Jimmy G. What are you supposed to do? Hey, we should go and trade Jimmy Garoppolo. Well, the reality is, you know, at the beginning of the season, as you made reference to a d D, there's not many teams that have the room to take on a salary cap hit. And if I'm not mistaken, it's like, well into like the mid twenty millions is what Jimmy

G would bring to the table. So you know, there's not a line of teams that you can say, Okay, let's just make this work. And because it's the quarterback position, and Daniel Jeremiada I think does a great job on NFL Network when he's evaluating not only players, but talking about sometimes the cap hit that some of these players will will cost their teams, and they value at certain positions. Now, the quarterback, you know, is the most important position on

the field. That position is going to allocate a larger number. So when you're plugging and playing and trying to build your roster, you're gonna allocate according to position in a lot of ways, and some of those spots just have higher value. But you know what, it's not only the cap, it's also that there's no like huge feeding system. You know, if you're if one quarterback goes down, what are you doing? Basically?

So think about it. If let's pretend we're playing baseball, Mic and you are my first baseman, and I may really like you at first base, but I've got two unbelievable star first base prospects in my farm system. Well, I don't need three great first baseman, so I may as well move you In the NFL. Your fifty three is kind of your fifty three. There's not necessarily a feeding ground like that. There's not necessarily a place to plug somebody in, and you never know what can happen

on the injury front. I'm thinking about before this season the Pittsburgh Steelers, James Washington seemed to be a receiver who was sort of an odd man out, a tremendously talented player, especially down the field, but with Deonte Johnson and Chase Claypool and Juju Smith Schuster, you know, James Washington just felt like there weren't a lot of snaps to be had, and he or his representation approached the

Steelers about trade. The Steelers didn't want to do it, and then lo and behold, Juju Smith Schuster gets hurt and his loss for the year. The Steelers need James Washington. Had they moved on from him, then where would they be a d D. To be clear, you're not going to trade me. I'm a locker room guy. Not only do I put up historic numbers every single season, and I'm always in the m v P conversation. I'm good in the locker room. Oh come on now, Mike, don't

you know that anybody is tradeable? I knew a coach who once said that he'd considered trading his wife if he could get two first round picks. Sounds like the

happiest of marriages. By the way, when I hear something like that, although two first rounders is sort of a king's ransom there, we know, how if you're throwing in Aaron Rodgers, right, if it's Aaron Rodgers and two first rounders, well then uh, but then maybe it is something that you need to consider, you know, a d The one thing that's I think we've done a pretty good job of on this podcast is give people answers. And there's one question that we can't answer with the trade deadline

basically a week away. Who's on the move? We don't know who that player or players are going to be you, But when we come back, we'll give you a sense of some of the big name guys as we go down memory lane who worshipped and maybe it was a surprise to not only those players but those fan bases. And add your conversation with a guy who was traded

in Vernon Davis from the Niners to the Broncos. It actually ended up not being the worst thing in the world, because he's got some blaing on his hand because of it. But can't wait to hear some of the things that he had to tell you. I don't know if he was necessarily happy or sad about it. We'll get into it with him how he found out, if he even suspected it, and whether he did the happy dance or

if all he could think about was crap. I have to pack up all my stuff now, because we all know moving is such a pain, no one legs to move. Build the team that will build your business. With up work, you can find top developers, designers, project managers and more who can start today so your business can succeed tomorrow. Higher at home or an hundred and eighty countries around the world to find the right talent for whatever your business needs. Up work the world's work marketplace. Learn more

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shipped out of town. It's something that has happened. A DD will get to that in just a second here. But I think as we were trying to explain why you don't necessarily see a ton of trades around the trade deadline in the NFL compared to some other sports, Bill Belichick a couple of years ago back in actually gave some really good context as to why that is. Well, we brought up baseball before right in the comparison that there's not necessarily a feeding system, the cap is not

hard like that. Belichick actually talked about getting a player up to speeds, so listen to this is what he said. It's so hard to get a guy ready in a short amount of time. I don't know that much about base ball, but maybe you take a third baseman on this team and put him at third base on the other team and let him hit. How much is there

involved in that? I'm sure there's some, but it's not like playing left guard and having twenty different protections and two dozen running plays and a dozen different defenses you have to block on every week. It's a lot more involved, I have to say really quickly. Are you surprised that Belichick is making football sound way more intellectual and smarter than baseball? Uh? No, but I think he is onto something with his observation there, at least when it comes

to baseball. I think you can make an argument, even on the basketball side at dB. I think that that's very fair true, and that's why you may see a veteran player more likely to be traded at the trade deadline, someone who could get up to speed a little bit more quickly, but ultimately, Mike, it is very very hard in football for one player to be the absolute difference maker.

Unlike in basketball. If we're talking about the NBA right now, one guy in you're starting five can make an enormous difference. One guy in you're starting twenty two. In the NFL is not necessarily completely changing the way you play. Could not agree with you more. Talk about this all the time and the NBA, one single player really can be the difference. And while you can make an argument you got the quarterback, you've got a chance to win. In the NFL, there are a lot of moving parts, especially

in front. I mean, if an offensive line can't get it done, or you know, from a defensive perspective, you can't get enough pressure on your opposing quarterback. Like, there's a lot of moving parts the NBA, that one on one isolation game sometimes can put you over the top. But all of these factors aside. You know, Ded, we actually have had notable trades for big name players around the deadline, and I do want to throw out a

couple of those players. Leondard Williams, speaking of defense, is one of those guys who remember was the six overall pick back and a couple of years ago in twenty nineteen, traded from the Jets to the Giants. Not a good thing for him, and you made reference to it when we were teasing Vernon d of his packing is never fun. Uh, didn't necessarily have to pack. I don't think to to move too far if you are Leonard Williams from that perspective, Golden Tate the wide receiver, remember he was at the

time the leading of receiver on that football team. Goes from the Lions to the Eagles back in eighteen. Jimmy Garoppolo, I know we've made reference to him a couple of times in this show. And Bill Belichick Patriots to the

Niners in exchange for a second rounder. Sodd. You're seeing some of these names of some players who have actually had a pretty good impact on their respective teams post that trade, like Carson Palmer when he moved from the Bengals to the Raidiers, still for the first and second round picks. Right, Roy Williams, wide receiver, you know, Lions to the Cowboys. You know you think about the impact that some of these guys are able to put together.

What you think about the extra guys to the ancillary guys. So you're talking about major, mega trades. What about the herschel Walker trade was back in he went from the Cowboys to the Vikings. There were eighteen players along with

draft picks and of don that. So think if you're like the third string tight end and you're just showing up to do your job and play special teams, and all of a sudden you're telling your wife up, we gotta back up, and we're leaving all of a sudden, and you're just like, I didn't even know anybody on any team new that I existed, you know. And it's that's across the board, right and every single sport when

you're trying to make some of those numbers work. When you were having that conversation with you know, I don't know whether it's agents or other players around that time, the life stuff that gets involved. How difficult has is there like any perspective that you got from any of that group about just how difficult it is to be on the move when you're not necessarily like the star player in a trade. Actually, Mike, this is really funny.

This is reminding me of earlier this year, and again I'm sticking with I'm just sticking with the a f C North year. But Joe Schobert, who was a linebacker with the Browns for a long time and then was playing down in Jacksonville, was traded to the Steelers just before the start of the season. And he's a I Megan, they have a young child. Uh, they have a baby.

And Megan took to Twitter or TikTok or somewhere on social media and basically made a joke of being traded after they had just bought their first house together with a baby, while her husband was already gone to his new team, so she had to pack up her house, manage the child, figure out where they were moving, do the whole entire thing by herself. And she basically made this joke like the NFL does this and they're not

sending me wine. And a few weeks later, she tweets a picture of herself with like a case of wine or you know, six bottles of wine, and she goes, thank you Steelers. So I guess somebody from the Steelers decided to take pity on her and send her reinforcements. Those are the best reinforcements you could possibly have that will get you through some rough packing moments, for sure, and some tense moments as things are trying to get

loaded out onto that truck, well for sure. But you know what I think would be super super interesting is the trades that almost happened at the trade deadline and then didn't. And I bring that up because I have a friend, Peter Schaefer, who is one of the smartest, most accomplished NFL agents and has been at this game for a long time in the NFL, and I was picking his brain a little bit about some of his best stories. And actually one of his best stories is

about our good friend Joe Thomas, says. We all know Joe Thomas, a likely future Hall of Famer, played his entire career in Cleveland. Joe felt very strongly about the organization and the city and felt loyalty to the Browns, although considering how much losing he did and how many quarterbacks he had to play with, one questions why he did. But he did, and so he would never actively seek a trade and he didn't want anybody to know that

he wanted to be traded. But their him of time when he and his agent had a conversation and he heard that there was some potential interest out there for him, or there was always interest, but that maybe the Browns would be willing to move him at the right price. And so Joe said, well, I don't actively want to trade. I don't actively want to go, but you know, if you want to see what's out there, there are certain

places that I could potentially listen to. So let's fast forward and the Denver Broncos same year that Vernon Davis was traded at the trade deadline, John E. White was kind of a mover and shaker that year in two thousand fifteen, and so the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns and Joe Thomas's agent all sort of had these conversations about whether Joe Thomas should go to Denver. And you know, Peter Shaffer told me that these conversations started

maybe a week before the deadline. As they got closer to the deadline, both teams were a little bit more willing to give. And you know, Joe was again like very adamant, I'm not looking to be traded, but if this is the best thing for all sides, Denver would work for him. And so it almost got done, and then it ultimately didn't and Peter didn't even he doesn't even remember what exactly blew up the whole thing, but they worked right to the wire, couldn't get a deal done.

And I was just stunned at the idea of Joe Thomas potentially going to Denver, protecting Peyton Manning's blindside and winning a Super Bowl, which would be a completely different identity than Joe Thomas, who spent his entire career with

a Brown's team that was just kind of levable losers. Yeah, it's you know, it's wild too, because you think about a legacy that a player has when they spend their entire career in one spot, and you see that more often than not in the NFL, and I think in other sports there's somewhat of a jealousy from some of the other players that don't always get to do those

type types of things. Like you know, you think about you know, Dirk, for example, in a Dallas Mavericks uniform for a long period of time, Jeter and Baseball wearing that Yankees uniform. There's something special about being able to be a city's person. You mentioned some of the deals that that were at least one deal on Joe Thomas that didn't get done as they're creeping too that deadline and adety. I can't even imagine what the truck was

actually filled like. From a Vernon Davis family perspective, coming up, something tells me that Vernon Davis wasn't the person who was actually doing the packing when he was going from the Niners to Denver. We will hear your conversation with Vernon Davis coming up next on the NFL Explained podcast. Coming up next, I'm stop Bowl Champion Vernon Davis. I want to explain what is like he traded in the NFL.

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Explore KIDTA today and take control of a safer home. Visit KIDA dot com slash Safer Home today to learn more. That's k I d d E dot com slash Safer Home Today. We are here with my old friend and a fourteen year veteran of the NFL, Vernon Davis, who played for three teams, who has won a Super Bowl,

who is now poised to win an Academy Award. He is a seasoned actor and I'm thinking that playing for multiple different teams and having to be a different person for different teams kind of prepped you for this life as an actor. Vernon, Yeah, I mean it's um. I feel like everything that you go through in life always prepares you for the next moment, whatever that is going to be. And in this case, it's been football. Football has been my journey, it's been my life, It's been everything,

and I learned some valuable lessons throughout the journey. Okay, so we want to talk to you about one very very specific moment in that football journey. You, my friend, the day before the trade deadline in two thousand fifteen, somehow find out that the longest tenured player on the San Francisco forty Niners, you were going to leave town. And what I read is that you were actually very very surprised by this. So can you tell us were there any inklings at all? Why were you so surprised

and how did you find out? Let me tell you. So this time I went down. Let me take you back, right, So we we just finished the game, I believe, yes, No, I vividly remember we were playing the St. Louis Rams, the old Ramps when they were playing in St. Louis, So we just finished that game, and I believe I led the team in receptions that day. So go home, get up. That next morning, I see my phone. I got a text from Trent Balk, the general management of

the San Francisco forty nine. He said, when you get this, come in and see me. So automatically already knew what it was because I heard stories about me going to another team and this and that, but I wasn't quite sure. So I go in and sit down in front of him. I was like, I sit in front of him, I take a deep breath. Am I being traded? He looked at me, and I looked at him. He said, yes. At that moment, let me tell you, I felt like

everything was spending so fast. I saw my whole entire career with the San Francisco for you now to just go back so fast. And it was very, very heartbreaking to hear that I was being traded. It's like one of those things like when the team that you've been playing with for so long they want to get rid of you. That's that's how you feel. They just want to get rid of you. They don't want you know more, And uh, it's only right to feel that way because

I'm a human being. I mean, we're humans, and humans have feelings, we have emotions. But I sat there and we kind of went through some of the teams that were interested in me, and the Denver Broncos came up at the time, and uh, I was like, okay, I guess I'll be going to Denver, right And you know, I had done my research after that meeting, and you're just kind of looking at the teams, and to me, I felt like Denver had a great chance of winning the super Bowl. And as we all know, I was

right about that winning a Super Bowl year sixteen. Back and leave stadium where where I was sent out. Wait, but okay, so Vernon take me back then. So when trump Bulky called you in, he was saying, we do need to move on from you. But he didn't already have a trade partner. He allowed you to have some

say in where he sent you. Well, he had like three teams that he was showing me, and it was like it was kind of weird, you know, in my opinion from what I've heard, you know, what guys get traded, they're going you don't really have any say, so in this case, it was almost as if I had an opportunity to pick with team I wanted to go play with. Do you think that was out of respect for the ten years you'd given the forty Niners? I think that's

probably out of respect, you know what I mean? He was they were being They wanted to be uh kind and you know, just kind of you know, part ways and the spirits. What can you tell U you the other two words? She wasn't? I think one team was Miami and another team Gosh, I can't remember because it happened so fast, but it was Miami and it was Dimmer. Those are the two teams that I remember. Did you ask him? Why did you say? I've given you ten years of my life. I just caught more balls than

anybody else? Why? What was your what's the decision on this? What He's like? We just feel like we want to go in another direction, That's all he said. He kept it short and sweet. I feel like we want to go in another direction, all right. That just feels like a guy saying to me, it's not you, it's me. When he said that, I had this little tip just like and they landed in my right hand. Oh who did you call? Who did you call first? You walked out of Trent bal Key's office, Who'd you call first?

And the time I called my kids mom, and then I called my grandmother, called my brother, um. Yeah, And I was just letting you know hey and moving on and being traded, and that's how it all went down. And then how many days after that converse ation did you find out you were actually going to Denver? I knew right away that. Oh okay, so you had the meeting. He said who do you like? You said Denver and he said, okay, it's going to be Denver. Yeah, it was kind of he was saying who do I like?

But he was kind of pushing, really pushing Denver on me because they were that John Elway was, you know, he was really he was very interested in bringing me in. So it was almost as if that was the team, you know it was, that was the TEA made sense for for me, it made sense for everyone. I mean, I guess it just worked out that way. Okay, So how quickly before you got into plane to go to Denver?

And what were the like? Did you stay home and helped pack up your house or did you say, see you let me tell you stuthing They wanted to getting on the plane right then and there that day they went. But I said, whoa, I can't get on the plane right now. Let me go home. I got kids. I talked to my family, and I'll come the next day, the next night. So I went that very next day.

Wait a minute, So when you go home and you tell your then partner, the mother of your children, all right, I'm leaving see you, and she has to pack up the kids and find a new school and find a new place to live, or did you decide we're just going to stay. It was a crazy session. But this normally doesn't happen, but it happened to me because she didn't want to leave my side. So what we did, which is crazy, we said there, we talked about it, and she's like, no, I'm going with you. We're gonna

put the kids in my high academy. She's like, I heard the great school. We're gonna live in Long Street. We're gonna put the kids there. And when I left, she came a week later and next thing you know, the kids were old in Mouth High Academy. She did the whole thing, She packed up the whole household and moved with two kids, packed up the whole house. I hope that he shipped the car and I ended up buying a pickup truck. Well, I hope you appreciated that,

because no one likes moving. Tell me about the transition when you are learning a new scheme. I mean, you've been on Dancing with the Stars. Is it kind of like learning a new dance or is it totally or is it for everybody who can't see right now Vernon is showing us some fancy dance moves. What was the process of picking up I mean, you don't have an off season with this new team. You don't know your new teammates. You just plopped into a new locker room.

Did you even know anybody? It's a tough situation, you know what, Actually, when I walked in the locker room, I probably knew half of the team, But doesn't always work that way because I played for so long, and you know, I played for ten years and by that time you've seen just about everybody. So I walked in, I knew half of the team, and everyone knew me, and they were welcoming me. Payt Manning called me right away. Where you get here, I'll come, said, I said. I said,

all right, Payton, not be there. I can see soon as I get in, buddy. So yeah, I get there and next thing, you know, I don't know. I don't know anything about Denver. You know, I don't know about the snow there. But it didn't take long for me to find out about the snow. You know, three days there, I'm driving and it starts knowing it's coming down hard to next day, you know, I got ice all over my window. I'm out there scraping, and I'm like, oh, my fitness. I had to go to my neighbor's door.

I knocked on, do you have a scraper? I just moved here, and I got an ice all stuck on my window. Get up, and I had to go to practice. I'm struggling right now. I'm struggling. So I stayed in the hotel for about end up standing the hotel for about a week. And then I found something. I rented a house there, a lone tree. But it was tough. And then, you know, being in Denver, I had to

go through the climate change. I had my nose. I had nose bleed for maybe an entire month, right and what about the playbook was that really difficult to pick up. Oh my goodness, let me tell you something, girl, Yeah, that was extremely hard. I didn't think about it before I wrapped the Denver. I didn't think about it, I said. Normally, for an offensive player to really grasp a playbook and get it to like when you know it like the

back of your hand, it takes months. It takes months, takes up an offseason, O t a s off scenes training, it takes training camp. So basically it takes from April from the time you arrived all the way up to summer camp to really know that playbook the way you need to know. So that's April, May, June July. That's like two three months, you know what I mean. But I'm getting dead way through, so I need at least two months to digest this playbook to get it the

way I know it. You know, especially in an effic system like Peyton Manning, because you know Peyton, he has his stuff that he likes to do and it comes with him. I mean, everything that he's running, he's been running for years, and you know he's like a general when it comes to those meetings, he he pretty much takes over the offensive coordinator sits down and he's up there and he's offensive coordinated. He's the most impressive quarterback

I've ever said. So let's put this in perspective, because zach Ertz was just traded. He scored a touchdown with the Eagles, he gets traded, and the very next week he scores a touchdown for his new team, the Arizona Cardinals, and the ball in his gloves are going to the Hall of Fame. Because that never happened. From what you're saying, you don't feel that that's really that surprising that that's never happened. That is wild to me. Yeah, that was greaty.

Don't it never really happens like that, because it is that much of an adjustment. What about within the locker room, Like, was it hard to get to know you said you knew guys, but like to feel like family. Did it take a while or did you feel like all right, yeah, okay, let me tell you. It's a lot of pressure riding. I mean from learning the playbook, getting the playbook to getting acclimated and cultivating relationships with the team your new teammates. I mean it's a lot. I mean it's a lot

for a guy to take on. But sometimes it could be worth like in my case winning a championship with the Demo Broncos, it was definitely well worth it. But yeah, when you look back now, you said that you cried when Trent Balkie first said that they were moving on. How long did it take before you kind of got over that? Are you still mad at him? No? No, I don't, Holp Gergies, I'm not mad. I'm not upset.

You know, understand the nature of the business, and I know that things don't last, you know, they you know, everything, especially opportunities like playing in the NFL. I mean, you're not gonna always be on the same team. You're gonna go on and you know, maybe maybe you get traded, maybe your your career in something, it's gonna end. Everything has an expliration date, so you know, I just it took me a little bit time. Maybe after like a week, I was kind of over it and I was like, uh,

it's cool, it's cool. It's time for me to move on. If you're mentoring a young guy right now and he gets traded, what's your advice to him. First thing you do when you get to make sure you get everything that you need, especially the playbook. Make sure you get that right away. Start digesting that playbook as much as you possibly can, because that's always the toughest part is being able to really feel comfortable in the system, a different system, something you've never been in or seen before.

So just make sure you find a you know, some somewhere comfortable to live and um, just enjoy. That's that's pretty much the only thing, um that I can think of. You know, something I would even tell myself. Just continue to be happy, smile, make new friends, make new team needs, and do everything you've been doing and be the best you can be. But what about inside football here, who's the one person in the building you need to make

friends with right away? If you were tight in or wide receiver, the first person you need to go to before you hit on that get on that plane. You better get the quarterbacks number. That's fair. You better get that quarterbacks number, buddy. I'm trying to tell you, yes, yes, make sure now. Defensively, I think just being a just they're going they're want to reach out to you anyway,

the general manager, the president of the organization. They I mean, they started texting me right away, vernon very We're excited to get you, but I can't wait to get you here. They make it, you know, they go out their way to make sure they reach out to you. All right, super last one. We've seen these elevated different practice squads. Now the rules have been different the last few years, and teams keep picking up players that have played on

another team. When you were in Washington, did you have any qualms talking about what Denver or San Francisco did? Would you ever reveal what you knew about a previous to your new team? You know, just you know, just a little things like how do certain players play against certain positions? Like you know, they might ask we played Denver, if von Miller, we gotta go against vom Miller. Coach might coming to me and say, how what do we need to know about von Miller on this particular play?

I said, you might want to go inside because once the running back, if he's going this way, Von's gonna jump outside. He's gonna turn his butt out and he's gonna press with his right hand, so we have a chance to get that tight end on his upfield shoulder and just kind of just drop, you know, So a little little little things like little things, uh, little things but um, that's about it. But yeah, and you know,

I think that's the nature of this game. That's what makes this game what it is, right because guys come from different teams and now they're able to give us information. Now it's up to that team to be really creative and not give out what they're doing, you know, so they don't give their plays in their scheme away. But I think for the most part, teams are really good

like that. I know when I was playing with Washington before I retired, when you know, with Kirk Cousins, we would make sure we changed about signals from time to time, you know what I mean, so the guys couldn't figure us out. So we're really good about that. Awesome, great well, Vernon, I so so appreciate this time, especially coming straight off of plane from Rome. And like you said, it's all worked out. You got the ring, you got another few years in a fun city, and you got prepped for

a new career. Yes, Vernon Davis, you're the best. Thank you so so much. Thank you Pew is all I have to say, Mike after listening to Vernon Davis, Thank goodness your rap sheet tweet was fake because I'm not quite sure I could pack up this family and move across country and learn a new offense and do it

all in eight hours. And I think it does scream to what Bill Belichick was talking about as we made reference to earlier in this show, about how complicated sometimes these moves can be from a player's perspective, but really telling and very appreciative of earning given us some time and really explaining what it's actually like for a player to be dealt at that trade deadline. I know you and I both love hearing from a lot of people

that are listening to the show. We will do a mail bag episode at some point, so if you have some questions about the NFL that you want answers to at Mike Underscore, yam at a ki kabwala. I am keeping a running tab a deity of a lot of these questions, and I promise we will get to them at a later episode. But wherever you get your podcast, make sure you follow the NFL Explained Podcast not so mention.

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