Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Buffalo Bills cornerback Vontae Davis quitting at halftime couldn’t have been more ironic to anyone other than Bills and Tennessee Titans enthusiasts. Well, primarily those Titans supporters who were old enough to call themselves Houston Oilers supporters.
Editor in Chief “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley gave his take. I tweeted this on Sep. 17, 2018:
Jan 3, 1993, Bills down 28-3 at halftime with backup QB: Comeback to win 41-38
Sep 16, 2018, Bills down 28-6 at halftime with rookie QB: I QUIT!!!!!!!#NFL #Bills #VontaeDavis— Joshua Huffman (@TNYooperJoshuaH) September 17, 2018
Flashback to that 1992-93 AFC Wild Card contest. The Bills were vying for their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. They held home-field advantage against an Oilers team that defeated them 27-3 during Week 17. What Buffalo didn’t have: starting quarterback Jim Kelly. Kelly suffered a knee injury during the previous game. Star linebacker Cornelius Bennett was also out.
The Bills entered halftime down 28-3. Buffalo’s woes peaked after an interception return extended that deficit to 35-3. Future Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas exited with a hip pointer. Buffalo was down to a backfield with backup quarterback Frank Reich and No. 2 running back Kenneth Davis.
An Oilers radio announcer made the following call:
The lights are on here at Rich Stadium, but you might as well turn them off…this one is over
Greatness was about to take place. Buffalo scored 28 unanswered points to finish the third quarter down 35-31. Buffalo completed the comeback with a 41-38 overtime victory. This 32-point comeback victory remains the biggest comeback in NFL history. An ironic side note: Reich was the backup quarterback for the 1984 Maryland vs Miami contest when he quarterbacked college football’s then-biggest comeback. Maryland turned a 31-0 deficit into a 42-40 victory. This record stood until the 2006 Michigan State vs Northwestern matchup. Michigan State overcame a 38-3 deficit to win 41-38.
Historians refer to Houston at Buffalo as The Comeback. Nearly 26 years after that milestone, they’ll refer to Vontae Davis quitting at halftime as The Retirement.
Most critics and players condemn quitting. Some people argued that it was courageous. The following excerpt is from USA Today contributor Martin Rogers:
Going out when your heart, and body and mind are no longer in it is not cowardice. It is the opposite. Davis felt it deep within, a sudden realization that he was done, washed up, not mentally ready for the challenge anymore. A lot of people feel it. Few have the guts to act on it, especially when it means leaving money on the table.
Later in the article:
Davis isn’t a hero, but he’s also not the bad guy. He was courageous enough to follow his convictions, to listen to the voice that told him to get himself away from the NFL as quickly as possible.
Fair enough. Cowardice is harsh. I’ll disagree on courageous. Let’s settle on something less dramatic .
Does anyone blame a 30-year-old injury prone cornerback for saving his body from three months of hits on a potential cellar-dweller? Had Davis postponed retirement until after the contest, hardly anyone cares. Just quietly sit out the second half. Calmly retire afterward. No need to leave that cloud of uncertainty over his former colleagues’ heads. It eliminates the drama.
Mishandled at best. Disrespectful at worst.
Look at what the Bills have become. It’s not just Davis quitting. They kept quitting on Tyrod Taylor. They’ve thrice quit on Nathan Peterman. They quit on Marcell Dareus. The Bills went from a consistent Super Bowl representative to a franchise that can’t remain committed to anything.
From never quit to quit at halftime. Quit after a bad game. Quit on someone when there isn’t a better option. All that quitting becomes quit winning games.
What can the Titans learn from Vontae Davis quitting? That Week 5 road contest won’t showcase anything close to those early-90s juggernauts. On the other hand, Reich entered this season as a first-year head coach for the AFC South rival Indianapolis Colts. Those twice-a-year meetings will always provide a resilient opponent. Nothing less than 60 minutes.
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Joshua Huffman was born and collegiately edumacated in Middle Tennessee. That said, Huffman spent 13-plus years with the type of Northern Wisconsinites and Yoopers who turn Nashville bars into alcohol wastelands whenever NFC North teams travel to play the Tennessee Titans. This makes him the NoBro of SoBros. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter.
