Vernon Davis, Former San Francisco 49ers Tight End

Last year Smirnoff touched down during the big game.

This year the vodka for the people is turning things up as they recruit throughout the season for the cocktail coordinator aka the best job in America. Smirnoff is here to fill the best job in America, the cocktail coordinator. If you have an unrivaled passion for the NFL, unmatched home gating skills, and cocktail playbook to match, check out Smirnoff's Instagram next week to learn how to apply. This is Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Now joining us on behalf of Smirnoff is a former NFL tight end, played with the 49ers, won a Super Bowl with the Broncos, and ended his career back home in Washington.

He is a Super Bowl 50 champion, a two-time pro baller, and that is Vernon Davis. Vernon, it's Zach Gelb. Appreciate the time. How are you? How are you guys? Thanks for having me.

Well, I appreciate you coming on. We'll talk about Smirnoff and what you're doing with the fine folks there in just a bit, but I got to start you off with the team that drafted you, the 49ers. They're now bringing Jimmy G back. They fixed his contract, and he's going to be quarterback number two. What do you make about the 49ers keeping Jimmy G on the roster? I think the 49ers keeping Jimmy G on the roster is a smart move by them because, look, you have two great quarterbacks, right? If one doesn't work, then the other one comes in. If he's not working, then you put the other one back in. So now you have your chances are high, right?

You have something good going on. So them bringing him back was a smart move for sure. The only thing that I'm curious about is how long of the leash it will be on Trey Lance because they gave away a lot of draft picks to go get Trey Lance, and you got a young quarterback that has only started two games in this league.

I wonder if he struggles early on, how long they'll be patient with him throughout the season. Well, it's okay because Jimmy G started his first two games. He only played two games before. Pretty much he was in the same situation that Trey is in now. He's a veteran now, and I think people are forgetting that.

Every player has to start from somewhere, right? Eventually, Trey is going to have to be the starter if he's not the starter this year, but I think they're making a smart move by bringing Jimmy G back in as an insurance policy and having Trey Lance run the show. Hopefully, Trey is the man all season long. We won't need Jimmy G, but he's there in case anything happens. So, with Trey Lance starting, do you think just naturally he'll be looking over his shoulder knowing that Jimmy G, even though he hasn't been great for the 49ers, he's had success and they've had some deep playoff runs with him? I think as a player, you don't really worry about the guy behind you. You know that someone's always going to be behind you, but the biggest thing that you do, the most important thing that you can do is outwork everyone. Hard work and dedication will get you the way you need to go, and Trey needs to understand that. He's done it all his life. He's always had someone behind him, right?

But he didn't think about that. Can't make it a bigger situation than it already is. It's just a part of competing competition. So, just play your game. Do what you can do. Stay confident.

Believe in your ability to go out and be effective and help the team win. Talking to Vernon Davis right now, what type of year do you think Trey Lance will have? I think Trey Lance is going to have a great year. I like his upside. I think he's very athletic. He's tall. He can throw the ball. He can run. He has a lot of tremendous ability to make plays, and I'm behind him.

I'm team Trey Lance. What's your message to the 49ers fan base? Because we know that's a passionate, loyal fan base, but you know how fans are. We think it's all or nothing after one game, and whenever you have a young quarterback, there's going to be some good moments and there's going to be some bad moments. Yeah, I think my message to the 49ers fan base is just stay with whoever they're going with. You're with Trey and you're with Garoppolo.

You really go in with a positive attitude rooting for both of the quarterbacks. Whoever's going to be the starter, then we're behind the 110th set. For right now, we're with Trey Lance. That's what we're going with. We're putting everything up on him because he's the guy that's going to have to take us to where we need to go, which is the Super Bowl.

We just rely and have faith and just know that he's going to get it done. I also wonder, and maybe you give me the player perspective on this, Vernon Davis. I'm sure you have some guys in the locker room that are team Trey Lance and then some guys that are team Jimmy Garoppolo because he's been an established quarterback in this league.

That dynamic in the locker room, how do you think that will play over? There's a lot of guys right now. I'm rocking with Trey. I'm rocking with Trey. Trey is good, but then there's guys who have been friends with Garoppolo since he walked in, right?

And they're still friends with him. Of course, they're going to be team Garoppolo, right? But at the end of the day, what I think is even though there's some guys who are Trey Lance, team Trey, team Jimmy G, at the end of the day, whoever's in a quarterback, they're going to embrace the offensive linemen, the running backs, the wide receivers going to embrace that guy, even though they love Jimmy G because that's who they have to go with.

And they're going to forget about the experience that they had with Jimmy G until Jimmy G is back in there. That's what you have to do. It's part of having fun. It's part of being a football player. It's part of life right now. We're all about the moment.

We're living in this moment. We're going with what the coaches decide, and that's just what it is. They can't control it. It's out of their control.

They can't do anything about it. And the situation that Trey Lance has put in is also massive. I know we could be asking a lot for a matter of a young quarterback, but with the way that team's set up, with the running back room, and then you also have Deebo Samuel, who's a really good wide receiver, could also run the rock too. You have Kittle, the tight end. It's like, don't you just kind of ask Trey Lance to manage the game this year and just play turnover-free football, I would imagine, right?

Trey Lance would go out and be the best football player he could possibly be. Don't think about it. Don't be... Go with it. Make a decision.

Go with it. Trust your gut. And do what you've done. Do the things that got you here, right? That's why you tell him, though, you can't make him put his back up against the wall and just kind of tell him to play safe. That's not a way to go. You go out and you make plays.

You be a superhuman being that you've always been. That's what I'm telling Trey Lance if I'm his coach. Wrapping up with Vernon Davis right now on the Zach Gelb show, going to the last team you played for, Washington, but where's your belief level in Carson Wentz as he's now on his third team in his young career? I think Carson Wentz is a good quarterback. I think he's had a lot of ups and downs throughout his career. He started off amazing because I played against him during my time with the Washington Commanders. But I think Carson still has a lot of football left in him.

It's just about the timing. If this year is his year, it's going to happen. But I think he's a tremendous asset. I also know that he's a tremendous asset for this team. He's a leader.

He's everything that they need. Now it's up to him to go out and be the Carson Wentz that we know he could be. When you go through some tough times in your career, how do you block that out and not let that eat at you and then overtake your career? Yeah, I think going through tough times, you have to understand that you've always gone through tough times. Think back when you were a kid, when you first tried out for your Pop Warner, your Little League football team, and you didn't make it. Or when you were in high school, when you tried out for the basketball team, you didn't make it. Or maybe your position changed along the way. When you got to college, you had an injury, which was looked at as a setback, but it was really a setup for your success. Think about all those things that you went through before getting to this point. You've always had setbacks. So now, go into it knowing that you have nothing to lose.

You have everything to gain. And if Carson Wentz is one, if he's one of those guys, then I know he's going to do well. Let me take it to a team that you won a Super Bowl with, the Denver Broncos. Realistic expectations year one for Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett with that new duo? Yeah, I think Russell is good with any quarterback. This guy, he just continues to impress me. And the one thing that we need to understand about Russell is the work that he does during the offseason.

We see him with Sierra and going to red carpet events and all those things, but he's working the whole time. He's a leader. He's everything that you want in the quarterback.

And his synergy and camaraderie with any wide receiver is always outstanding. When I get to the AFC West, the Broncos, Raiders, you got the Chargers, the Chiefs, it's going to be a heck of a division. Who wins that division this year? I'm going to have to go put my money on the Chiefs.

You're not going to doubt them until someone takes them out, right? The Chiefs will go. Chiefs will do really well in the division.

I'm going with them for sure. Okay, before we let you run, tell me about the fine work you're doing with the folks at Smirnoff today, Vernon Davis. Yeah, so right now we have the cocktail coordinated contest, which is going to kick off on the 7th.

I'll be at the SoFi Stadium on the 8th. My favorite drink is the Cosmo Catch. It's all about making the perfect mix of drinks with the perfect mix of people.

And that's what we're doing. It's going to be amazing. If you don't know what's in the Cosmo Catch, it's Smirnoff 21 with some OJ cranberry juice and an orange wedge to top it off. It's amazing. If you haven't tried it, you need to try it because it's the best drink you'll ever have in your life.

Well, it sounds delicious. We appreciate the time. Thanks so much for joining us for a few minutes today. You're welcome, sir. Thanks for having me.