A photo caption on the front page of the April 23 Sports section incorrectly identified the subject as Vernon Davis. The person in the photo was D'Qwell Jackson. Vernon Davis, a tight end for the University of Maryland, is depicted here.
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In the Name of the Grandmother
On his grandmother's birthday two years ago, Vernon Davis did what only a college freshman would do. He had her name tattooed to the inside of his left arm.
(Toni L. Sandys - The Post)
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But what impressed the coaches who came to recruit him was the way he talked to them, the way he asked questions and smiled and listened, even to the Division I-AA coaches who had no hope of landing a player who already had two scholarship offers from major colleges in the 10th grade.
"I think I have a shot at getting him," more than one coach said to Jefferies.
Jefferies would reply: "I hate to burst your bubble, but Vernon is like that with everybody. He makes everybody feel good."
And this was Adaline, too. Never treat anybody as less than significant. You never know what they might someday become.
From the day Vernon walked into the Maryland football offices, Dahlia Levin, the team's academic specialist, knew there was something different about him. He told her about his sisters, what each liked to do, what made them unique. Then he told her they were "beautiful" and "gorgeous."
No, Levin, thought, this player was definitely not like the others.
She was amazed by his patience. Many of the other players brushed through their work or stalled as much as they could. Vernon plunged into his first English class, determined to impress.
"He got an A," Levin said. "I'm probably breaking a million rules by saying that but I never saw someone work that hard."
It was easy to see his passions. His face would simply light up. And Levin quickly learned that Davis loved football -- often staying for two workouts when only one was mandatory -- and he also loved art. She noticed the second passion one day while making routine class checks -- making sure the players were actually attending their classes. He came out of an art class and he was smiling.
This led to a series of discussions between them. If he loved art so much, why not become an art major? Eventually he agreed, focusing on drawing, painting and sculpting. And it became quite a sight -- the lone football player towering over the other students, dreadlocks spilling across his face, in a room filled with aspiring artists. Almost always he was the only athlete there. He didn't care. This was something new, something he enjoyed.
"Vernon has broken all the perceptions about athletes," Levin said. "I used to speak to his professors and they all sang his praises about how he was shattering their stereotypes."
She has one of his paintings. It hangs on her living room wall. It came from an assignment in one of his classes; he was asked to read an editorial and paint a picture based on what he had just read. Davis selected an editorial on Israeli-Palestinian relations. He painted a globe with flames coming from around Israel and huge, angry clouds looming above and from those clouds came a dove, a fierce glare in its eye, that appeared to be hurtling toward earth.
