SANTA CLARA, Calif. – When Colin Kaepernick made his stunning debut as an NFL starting quarterback last November, performing so prolifically that he would supplant Alex Smith atop the San Francisco 49ers' depth chart and spark a Super Bowl run, Vernon Davis played a pivotal role, catching six passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Three days after that productive Monday Night Football performance in a win over the Chicago Bears, the Niners' talented tight end enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast. Then famine set in: Over the final six games of the regular season, Davis caught a grand total of six passes for 61 yards without reaching the end zone.
During that perplexing stretch, Lennay Kekua was less invisible than the former Pro Bowler.
Yet Davis never turned negative, displaying the maturity and perspective the sixth overall pick of the 2006 draft lacked early in his career. Back then, the player who former Niners coach Mike Singletary notoriously sent to the showers during his
Read More »from There's no 'I' in Vernon: Davis' mature outlook has fueled the San Francisco 49ers' success





