New Orleans Saints Linebacker Demario Davis shared his faith at a press conference on Sunday following his team’s 16-15 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Davis told the media to “buckle up” at the outset of his remarks because what he was going to say was “a little untraditional” for a postgame press event.
“Revelations 3:20 says, ‘See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him and eat with him, and he with me,'” he said. “I want to tell you all about a knock that I heard this week. A lot of people don’t know this, but on Friday, my daughter, she’s 4 years old, she had her third epilepsy seizure attack. It’s my same daughter who survived retinoblastoma.”
Davis said that late last week his daughter suffered her first seizure in nearly two years and that it was the most serious one she’s ever had.
He said that when he got to the hospital his wife told him that his daughter had stopped breathing twice while being transported to the facility.
“So, I’m of course praying, we get to the hospital, they give a bunch of medicine that makes her seizure stop, she’s laying there,” he said. “And at this point, if she seizes for 30 minutes, you start to fear, there could be development issues that can mess with the brain. You know, she stopped breathing. If there was no oxygen going into her brain, you know, you’re starting to think about her speech being slurred or anything or worse.”
He said that he and his wife prayed for their daughter and that she woke up at about 3 a.m. in the hospital and started talking and that her speech was more clear than before she had the seizure.
“The next morning, when she got up, my daughter was so sharp. She was able to talk to me and her mom, I mean, clear conversation. I mean she’s sharp for a four-year-old, no stuttering, all her words clear,” he said. “And my daughter, like I said, my daughter’s already sharp. She was sharper than before. And if any of you were able to have a conversation with my daughter, you wouldn’t know anything had ever happened.”
Davis said that NFL players are normal people just like everyone else once they leave the field and they deal with problems in life just like everyone else.
“And people are waiting for a knock. And the Word says who Jesus is, He’s knocking at the door,” he said. “All you’ve got to do is get up. And so on the way, I’m nervous, but I’m praying, and I’m trusting, and I’m believing. And I’m not asking for my daughter to make it through, I’m asking that she’s better than before.”
“And God gave me just what I asked for, plus some. I was blown away. And at that point, I knew the game was going to take care of itself. My knock had already been answered, and I just want people to know if you’ve got stuff going on in your life, lay it before the Lord. Lay it before the Lord and trust. And be expecting of a knock. Because the word says what you have to do is, you have to get up and open the door. And your blessing is going to be there,” he concluded.
WATCH:
"I didn't ask for my daughter to make it through, I'm asking that she's better than before… God gave me just what I was asking for plus some. I was blown away."
Demario Davis tells a beautiful story about his faith and family 💛 pic.twitter.com/H1puxwpJpy
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 10, 2023