Image courtesy of Gerald Herbert | The Associated Press
Saints Linebacker Demario Davis Hasn’t Forgotten Mississippi
Though he now plays for the New Orleans Saints, Demario Davis has not forgotten his Mississippi upbringing. In a Rolling Out editorial reflecting on his childhood, Davis wrote, “My life was shaped by my community. We looked out for each other and understood that we all have a role in lifting one another up.” His early experiences, including fond memories of watching football with his grandmother in Collins, planted the seed for his eventual NFL career. Brandon and Collins both instilled in Davis just how vital community is.
Though a long-time Saints icon, Davis has maintained strong ties to his home state throughout his career. In Mississippi Today, he emphasized, “I love my state. I am proud to represent Mississippi.” Unafraid of facing the reality of Mississippi’s flaws, Davis has taken his success in the NFL and turned his fame into an engine of positive change.
NFL Career
Davis’s career is notable for both consistency and excellence. The 36-year-old linebacker has accumulated 950 solo tackles and 45 sacks in his career, all while maintaining a remarkable streak of playing nearly every defensive snap for the Saints since 2018. In the 2025 season, Davis achieved a new career high with 137 tackles, despite a calf injury in a late-season win over the Tennessee Titans, with coach Kellen Moore praising him as, “a Pro Bowl linebacker each and every year. He remains a special player.”
Davis was selected as the Saints’ team winner for the 2025 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, a recognition for players who excel on the field and in the community. On the honor, Davis reflected:
“I am truly humbled to be the 2025 team winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Growing up in Mississippi, Walter Payton the football player was always someone I looked up to. As I got older, learning about the things he did in the community only increased my respect of him even more. Through my Devoted Dreamers Foundation, we are more committed than ever to develop youth to become dynamic young men and women who will lead this community into the future.”
Davis co-founded the Devoted Dreamers Foundation with his wife, Tamela. The Foundation’s keystone project is the Devoted Dreamers Academy, a program that offers after-school experiences and summer camps that teach financial literacy, leadership, emotional intelligence, and life skills to young people. Its mission, as described on the Academy’s website, is to “shape more than just bright students” and “raise world-changers.”
Community Engagement
Davis’s charitable impact is deeply rooted in Mississippi and extends to the Gulf South. In 2019, Davis turned a $7,017 fine for wearing a “Man of God” headband into a fundraising campaign for St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, raising nearly $40,000 through the sale of “Man or Woman of God” headbands. Davis’s donations helped St. Dominic (the same hospital where his mother once worked) expand their emergency services.
Through the Devoted Dreamers Foundation, Davis personally mentors young people weekly, guiding them in servant leadership and community involvement. His programs also include food and hygiene drives, in partnership with local nonprofits like Clover, benefiting families in need throughout New Orleans and Mississippi. As he told KAIT8 during his Walter Payton nomination announcement, “New Orleans is a city that hugs you; we’re just hugging the city back.”
Political Engagement and Social Advocacy
Davis has also focused on long-term systemic challenges in his home state. In a Clarion Ledger column, he wrote passionately about Mississippi’s prison system:
“Mississippi must do better. It’s true that our prisons are full of people who have made mistakes, and some have caused irreparable harm. But it is also true that people inside prison are our most broken — people we ignored for decades when they needed our help, only to bring down the hammer of justice when they finally broke. Enter a prison and you will see victims of horrible childhood violence and poverty, people experiencing mental illness and substance use disorder and trauma. You will see people sentenced as children. You will see all of humanity. We have a choice in how we treat these people.”
Davis’s advocacy extends beyond criminal justice reform to social and economic equity. In the aforementioned Rolling Out editorial, he addressed homeownership and generational wealth, highlighting the lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina and structural inequities two decades after the hurricane devastated the region:
“[Katrina] uncovered deeper, systemic issues that persist to this day—issues like the lack of access to proper estate planning, the challenges in securing housing after a disaster, and the failure of government systems to support those who needed it most. A staggering one-third of Black land in the South is considered heirs’ property, where families don’t have clear legal documentation of ownership. This lack of legal clarity prevents families from passing down wealth and makes it almost impossible to protect property from being lost, whether to a natural disaster or to inheritance disputes… As a Black man from the South, homeownership preservation has become an important issue for me. It’s not just about owning property, it’s about having stability, security, and a place where you can thrive. I’ve experienced firsthand how much that stability can change a life. And yet, too many people in America don’t have access to that kind of opportunity.”
Through his work with the Players Coalition and Devoted Dreamers, Davis emphasizes financial literacy and estate planning as tools to empower communities historically excluded from generational wealth.
Despite intense pressure from fans and the larger football apparatus, Davis continues to speak on national issues. During the 2020 protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, he described the nationwide protests against racism and systemic inequality as a call to action: “I spoke passionately in support of what I called ‘the worldwide protest of racism and the systematic suppression of black people.’”
He has also addressed football controversies such as Drew Brees’s comments on American nationalism, framing Brees’s ensuing apology as a model for accountability. As reported in Mississippi Today, Davis emphasized that his activism is deeply tied to his Mississippi upbringing and values.
Legacy
From Brandon, Mississippi to the Caesars Superdome, Davis has leveraged his platform to do tangible good and inspire community action. Though it seems retirement is on the horizon for Davis, his legacy will continue as he mentors students, donates to charitable causes, and advocates for systemic reform in prisons and land ownership.
