Former NFL cornerback Vontae Davis passed away suddenly on Monday, April 1, and although an official cause of death likely won’t become available for another month, Davis’ wife believes she knows what may have killed him.
Davis died while at a home owned by his grandmother, Adaline Davis, in Southwest Ranches, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was found by the housekeeper unconscious in the gym and then later declared dead.
TMZ obtained audio of a 911 call made by a woman reporting she found Davis’ body. The heavily redacted call includes a dispatcher instructing the woman to locate a defibrillator and use it, but it remains unclear whether she complied.
Davis’ death brings up questions from his loved ones, but his widow has thoughts about his health.
Megan Harpe, a family law attorney and Davis’ wife of nearly ten years, made claims to the press that he was sick before his untimely demise but stopped short of saying what may have caused his death.
“Yes, he had CTE … there is definitely a story here,” Harpe reportedly wrote in a text message to Daily Mail.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, commonly known as CTE, is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head and can affect those who have suffered multiple concussions and blows to the head. Though CTE can only be diagnosed after death, it has been found in football players who have endured the physicality of the sport from every level, from junior high school to the NFL.
During his NFL career, Davis sustained multiple concussions and endured numerous violent hits to the head, likely contributing to a potential diagnosis of progressive degenerative disease. He had voiced concerns about the long-term repercussions of these injuries.
The former first-round pick played for three teams over his ten seasons in the league: the Dolphins, Colts, and Bills.
Despite being considered a valuable player, he unexpectedly retired from the game in 2018, citing his numerous injuries and surgeries as the primary reason for his early departure.
He said to reporters then, “Reality hit me fast and hard: I shouldn’t be out there anymore.”
Because an autopsy has not been presented, detectives are conducting an ongoing investigation into his death and seem to be leaning toward declaring that there was no foul play as there is no evidence of a break-in and nothing was disturbed.
Vontae’s brother, Super Bowl winner Vernon Davis, believes his brother appeared to have collapsed or accidentally slipped moments after he stepped out of a sauna.
He told Daily Mail, “This thing definitely caught me by surprise. I just don’t know what to make of it. I’m leaning on the detectives to figure it out, but right now, we have no answers. They are going to run tests, and they said they’ll get back to us.”
Adding, “It could be as long as a month, a month and a half, until we know anything.”
When asked about CTE playing a role in his brother’s death, Vernon said that he had no idea of any factor that might not have made this an accident.
“Maybe that’s the case, maybe it’s not. We don’t really have an answer to that because there is no way to see into our brain while we live,” the older sibling said, explaining that as far as he knew, his brother was well and never showed evidence of anything, not even drug use.
“I was at his house two weeks ago and he had the massage therapist there,” he shared. “He had a stretch therapist, a chiropractor, you name it.”
While Vernon says he did not witness drug use, Vontae faced significant troubles in 2023. In February, he was involved in a DUI crash, crashing his Tesla into a stationary truck before falling asleep at the roadside. This incident led to a $1 million lawsuit.
Alongside the legal issues, 2023 was also marked by a painful divorce for him.
Despite Vontae’s challenges, Vernon described him as “like a son” to him.
“We were four years apart, but I remember waking him up to do workouts when he was young and I was in high school. I made him do it because I wanted him to succeed even more than I wanted myself to succeed,” the big brother said.
He continued, “I’m proud of him for his great work ethic, for his ability, his discipline. For understanding the difference between being good and great at something and for putting in the work.”
The two brothers regarded themselves as “difference makers” within their family.
Their third brother, Michael Davis, was institutionalized after fatally assaulting a stranger with a sledgehammer in 2012. Meanwhile, their mother battled drug addiction, and their father, who had been shot multiple times by the third brother, struggled with alcoholism.
Despite these challenges, they supported each other as they worked to improve their lives and provided assistance to their 81-year-old grandmother.
Vernon said, “I could not have picked a better little brother.”