"Welcome home, Vernon!" read a sign greeting the Denver Broncos in San Francisco for Super Bowl 50.
The tight end played more than nine seasons for the 49ers, helping them reach Super Bowl XLVII. On Sunday, Davis returned to the Bay Area with his new team. Add in that he landed on his 32nd birthday and the whole situation feels a little bizarre.
"At first it seemed surreal, and I just had to gather myself for a moment and just think about the opportunity that I have here," Davis told the Broncos' official team website. "It's an amazing opportunity, it's going to be a great experience -- I can feel it -- and I'm just very, very thankful that I had a chance to get traded to Denver for this particular reason."
Now returning to the Super Bowl, in city he called home for a decade, Davis has a chance to try to snatch that elusive ring.
"It's very special, because before I left here, I knew it was for a reason," Davis said. "There had to have been a purpose for me going to Denver, and I just kept that faith and that belief and I knew that it had to be something good that would come out of it. We're back here and it's just like I imagined: We're in the Super Bowl."
Make sure to watch Super Bowl Opening Night live Monday on NFL Network at 8 p.m. ET.
