DWTS Alum Still Doesn’t Have Answers About Brother’s Sudden Death

Heavy/ABC/Unsplash Vernon Davis talks about his brother's death.

Season 29 “Dancing With the Stars” alum Vernon Davis opened up about the death of his younger brother, Vontae Davis. The latter Davis, who was a cornerback in the NFL, died on April 1 at the age of 35, according to the NFL.

In an interview with Cheryl Burke on the August 19 episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Vernon Davis talked about the unexpected tragedy.

“I’m still unaware of what exactly happened because the reports didn’t come out yet. But you know there was no foul play, so it was probably due to something he put in his body. I’m not quite sure what it was. That’s the only thing I can think of, because he didn’t have any health issues,” he said.

Per NFL.com, a house assistant found Vontae Davis deceased at his home in Southwest Ranches, Florida, and called police. He played in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, and the Buffalo Bills before retiring in 2018.

Vernon Davis Wonders if His Brother’s Death Had to Do With CTE

During his interview with Burke, Vernon Davis was asked if he thought that his brother’s death was related to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more commonly known as CTE.

According to the Mayo Clinic, CTE is a “brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries.” Vernon Davis said that the family didn’t send his brother’s brain to the facility for testing in time to find out if his cause of death was related to the disorder.

“You have to send the brain down to Boston. I was going to send my brother’s brain to Boston, but you only have forty eight hours to send the brain. So yeah, but my brother passed away Saturday night and we found him on Monday,” he explained.

He went on to say that he’s not sure of the impacts of CTE, but that he’s happy that football leagues of all levels of play are starting to change some things for the safety of players. He specifically noted helmets with additional padding.

When asked about the possibility of CTE in an interview with the Daily Mail, Vernon said he didn’t know if his brother had CTE.

“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,” he told the outlet in an interview that was published on April 3, 2024.

“Vontae never really showed a history of using drugs or anything like that. I was at his house two weeks ago and he had the massage therapist there. He had a stretch therapist, a chiropractor, you name it,” he added.

Vontae Davis’ Death Caught His Brother ‘by Surprise’

Vernon Davis was shocked to find out that his brother died.

“This thing definitely caught me by surprise. I just don’t know what to make of it,” Vernon Davis told the Daily Mail.

At the time of the interview, police hadn’t released too many details about the circumstances surrounding Vontae Davis’ sudden death. Vernon Davis did tell the outlet that his brother may have “collapsed or slipped” after getting out of a sauna.

“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,” Vernon Davis told the Daily Mail, adding, “it could be as long as a month, a month and a half, until we know anything.”

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