Demario Davis makes his living as an NFL linebacker for the New York Jets but lives his life by the Bible that has turned him at times into something of an amateur preacher.
Both were on full display on Sunday during, and then after, the Jets’ victory over the Cleveland Browns that ended a three-game losing skid for the Jets and ended a three-game win streak for the Browns.
Davis shared afterward that during the Jets’ chapel service on Saturday one of the verses shared was Proverbs 13:12.
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“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson runs with the ball as New York Jets linebacker Demario Davis defends during a game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 11, 2026. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
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Davis saw his team, its game against the Browns, and even what fans and people face every day, in that verse.
“I would go as far as to say this was a historic win for this organization,” Davis said. “When you talk about a team that’s coming in that has won three games, that type of momentum in this league is very hard to get and it makes it very strong and feels insurmountable at times.
“And you’re talking about a [Jets] team that was 0-3 or had lost the last 3 games. And when you’re going through that type of adversity, it can weigh on you. It can weigh on you emotionally. it can weigh on your faith, it can weigh on your belief.
“And it can weigh on an organization that has historically been disappointed.”
Breece Hall of the New York Jets kneels before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Oct. 26, 2025. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Jets fans in the congregation shout amen.
Jets 17.
Browns 12.
“We get the chance to experience that tree of life, which is victorious,” Davis said. “And the reason why that word is so important is because football is the greatest teacher of life. I’ll always say that.”
But, you see, the message Davis had from the Bible verse wasn’t written for the NFL. It may include situations in the NFL, but Davis understands it applies to everyone.
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Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions players pray after the game at New Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sept. 17, 2026. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
“Right now, people are fans of the game and watch the game, but they have life happening,” he said. “It could be a relationship. It could be a job. It could be something going on with the kids. It could be something that’s strange. And when you go through adversity, you want to give up.
“Sometimes you want to give up before you even start – before you even try. Like, I’ve been going through this in my relationship, I don’t I don’t even want to try anymore. I’ve been going through this in my job. I just got let go or I don’t know how I’m going to make ends meet. And you just want to give up.”
But here’s where perseverance pays off – at the tree of life.
“God wants you to know that when the enemy wants you to quit when he’s making your heart sick, when you’re going through hard times, man, if you just get to the other side, it’s a tree of life,” Davis said. “And that’s what I want this opportunity to represent is, just keep going for somebody who’s going through a hard time, somebody who’s going through something, man.
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The New York Jets were all smiles for most of their game against the Green Bay Packers until a late-game collapse cost them a 2-0 start. (Getty Images)
“God can work a miracle. Or he can give you medicine. And that medicine might be counseling a relationship. It might be just keep showing up at your job doing the right thing. You’re going to get seen. That promotion is on the way.
“It could be a relationship that you said you were going to let go and and y’all had some beef, a family member or something. Just reach out one more time. Just do something, keep doing the little things and you watch it process for you.”
That persistence, Davis implored, will get you to the goal, to the tree of life.
“Once you get to that that dream, that dream is fulfilled,” Davis said in closing. “It’s a tree of life. And that immense joy that comes from it, the same way that adversity was weighing you down, that joy lifts you up.”
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