Buffalo Bills cornerback Vontae Davis quit on his team during their 31-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last night. He literally retired at halftime with the Bills trailing 28-6.
"[He] pulled himself out of the game," Bills coach Sean McDermott said, per ESPN. "He communicated to us that he was done."
Davis, 30, later released a statement explaining his decision to walk away from the game. "This isn't how I pictured retiring from the NFL," he wrote. "But today on the field, reality hit me and hard. I shouldn't be out there anymore." Davis said he meant no disrespect to Bills players and coaches.
"I hold myself to a standard. Mentally, I always expect myself to play at a high level," he wrote. "But physically, I know today that isn't possible and I had an honest moment with myself. While I was on the field, I just didn't feel right, and I told the coaches, 'I'm not feeling like myself.'"
Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander told reporters that the move was "completely disrespectful to his teammates."
"Never have seen it ever," Alexander said, per ESPN. "Pop Warner, high school, college, pros. Never heard of it. Never seen it. And it's just completely disrespectful to his teammates. ... He didn't say nothing to nobody. ... I found out going into the second half of the game. They said he's not coming out, he retired. That's it."
The Bills, 0-2, will take on the Vikings in Minnesota next Sunday.