In a day and age where professional athletes increasingly use their platforms to espouse divisiveness and political agendas, Saints linebacker Demario Davis stands apart.
He stands apart from all that because Davis uses his platform to talk about God.
You can be forgiven for not knowing about it. If Davis had been talking about police brutality or trans rights, you most certainly would have heard more about it. But, for the last two weeks, Davis has used his time with the media to talk about the miraculous healing power of prayer and how God can intervene in the lives of those who hold him dear.
A fact Davis and his wife know all too well after their daughter, Carly Faith, suffered a terrifying epileptic seizure before the season opener.
Here’s the story Davis shared with the media before the first game of the season.
“On Friday, my daughter, she’s 4 years old, she had her third epilepsy seizure attack,” Davis told reporters before the Saints win against Tennessee. “She started to foam at the mouth. It was her worst seizure. For 30 minutes, she seized, she wouldn’t come back, and we had to call the paramedics.”
“We got to the hospital, and my wife told me my daughter stopped breathing in the car twice. So I’m, of course, praying …” Davis continued. “They gave her a bunch of medicine, the seizure stopped, she’s laying there, and at this point, you start to fear there could be development issues, it could mess with her brain. You know, she stopped breathing, there was no oxygen to her brain, you start thinking, ‘Could her speech be slurred?’ or worse.
“So we prayed, and we prayed. My wife and I had to stay overnight at the hospital. In the middle of the night, probably about 3 o’clock, I heard a knock. And the knock was my daughter. I prayed for her.
Tamela Gill-Davis and Demario Davis attend the 12th Annual NFL Honors at Symphony Hall on February 09, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
“I prayed, ‘God, let this just be an attack from the enemy and let him have overplayed his hand, and let my daughter come back stronger than before.”
It seems that the enemy had indeed “overplayed his hand.”
“I heard my daughter talk in the middle of the night,” Davis said. “She woke up talking clearer than she was talking before. Anyone dealing with epilepsy knows it usually takes a few days for them to come back. They’re groggy. But she was talking clearer than before.
“And I started saying, ‘Praise God, praise God.’ The next morning, my daughter was just so sharp. … My daughter’s already sharp, but she was sharper than before.”
The star linebacker then put those miraculous events in perspective, emphasizing how God’s help is readily available to those who “lay it before the Lord.”
“When we leave this game,” Davis continued, “we go back to being regular people. And regular people are living life, and people are waiting for a knock. And the word says Jesus is knocking at the door. All you got to do is get up.
“And I just want people to know, if you’ve got stuff going on in your life, lay it before the Lord.”
Davis followed up that incredible message with another after the Saints victory over the Panthers on Monday Night Football.
“Well, I wasn’t going to preach today, I wasn’t going to do that,” Davis told reporters. “But if I didn’t, then I would not be being obedient. I told the Lord today that if I went back to the podium I would make sure to praise Him the proper way. The last time I was up here, God did an extraordinary work through me.
“With that, I owe proper praises to God. It had very little to do with me and everything to do with Him. So I have to be obedient.”
Davis spoke about the reaction to his original message of faith from the week before.
“The knock at the door was answered, and God came in and did a wonderful work in my family,” Davis said. “The reality is when you see a message that strong, there’s a lot of people who are out there hurting. There’s a lot of people waiting on a knock.”
The strong public response compelled Davis to illustrate why it’s important not just to practice Christianity but to preach it, to reach those who would otherwise not hear God’s call.
“That’s what we’re to be doing as Christians, that’s what we’re to be doing as believers, is sharing the Gospel, preach the Gospel,” he explained. “The word says, ‘For I am unashamed of the Gospel. For it’s the power of God to bring salvation to all who believe.’
“And that’s what the world is needing … People are hurting. People who are going through present-day situations who need healing need God in their life, and only the power of God can save them.”
Davis closed by strongly encouraging others to spread the Word in any way they can, anywhere they can.
“Preach the Gospel,” he said. “Share the Gospel. In our schools. Our schools need God. Share the Gospel in our courtrooms. Our courtrooms need God. Share the Gospel in the hospitals. Our hospitals need God.
“I can’t be the only person who believes our nation needs salvation. So share the Gospel.”
If any of the reporters present felt that Davis could be deterred from his message of faith, they got their answer.
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