Buffalo Bills: Sean McDermott has no ill feelings towards Vontae Davis

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott declares his respect for Vontae Davis, despite the two-time Pro Bowler’s decision to suddenly retire at half time of the Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

It is often stated that if anything can go wrong — no matter how ludicrous — the Cleveland Browns are the go-to franchise. However, there is a justified argument that the Buffalo Bills are not far behind them.

We are all familiar with a playoff drought which, until last season, was the longest active streak in all four major professional sports leagues in North America. And even when things go right for the Bills, it still seems to go wrong, with the four consecutive Super Bowl losses being the prime example.

And in terms of ludicrous, who can forget what happened during Super Bowl XXVI. More specifically, when Thurman Thomas lost his helmet and missed the start of the opening series.

With all this in mind, let’s look at Vontae Davis‘ decision to suddenly retire at half time of the Bills’ Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. As crazy as this was, you just know that on some level Bills fans were not entirely surprised, probably thinking “of course this could only happen to us”.

There is no denying that Davis let his team down, and as you can imagine, his colleagues were less than impressed. As reported by Andrew Joseph of USA Today, Lorenzo Alexander said:

"“Never have seen it ever — Pop Warner, high school, college, pros — never heard of it, never seen it. It’s just completely disrespectful to his teammates.”"

Despite the understandable general frustration of the Bills players, it seems this feeling has not extended to head coach Sean McDermott. Perhaps aided by having a day to reflect, he shared his thoughts on Davis’ retirement, as reported by Mike Rodak of ESPN:

"“I got a lot of respect for Vontae. He’s a good person. I certainly appreciate the way he worked when he was in here, but we’re moving forward as a football team. … You develop some personal relationships with these young men. You always want the best for them. It’s not a deal where we wish him anything but the best. We wish him the best. He’s had a heckuva career.”"

Certainly, there is a lot to admire about McDermott’s gracious and mature comments. It’s arguably safe to say Rex Ryan would not have been so compassionate in the same scenario.

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(In fact, Ryan did make a point of commenting on what Davis did. As reported by Ryan Talbot of NewYorkUpstate.com, the Bills’ previous head coach said it was the ultimate disrespect and a joke.)

Regardless of McDermott’s reaction, can an argument be made in defense of Davis? If he knew it was time to retire, that’s fair enough, but surely he should have at least played the second half and then retired?

Well, at least one person is sticking up for the two-time Pro Bowler and essentially said “good for him”. Sean Gregory of Time wrote:

"So many people fantasize about saying “take this job and shove it.” Davis got to live that dream. But just because he’s an NFL player, he’s a pariah?"

Gregory makes a decent enough point. However, even he conceded that the cornerback should have at least waited until after the game before he retired.

Ultimately though, Davis is at peace with his decision and the reality is there is nothing the Buffalo Bills can do, but accept it and move on. In fairness, this is something McDermott will be stressing to his players:

"“There’s no need to address it (with the team). We’re moving on. That’s what a team does. This is not going to become a distraction for us.”"

What’s your take on Davis’ sudden decision to retire at half time against the Chargers? Did he let the Buffalo Bills down, do you respect him, or do you apply both opinions? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.