Washington Redskins tight end Vernon Davis announced his retirement during the Super Bowl, and now that he has gotten a chance to speak about it in more detail, he says concussions were the reason for his decision to hang up his cleats.

“Just the simple wear and tear over time, especially those concussions,” Davis told Redskins Nation. “They can take a toll on you in the long haul. It’s just better safe than sorry. But if it wasn’t for that throughout the course of time, then I probably would have played for the next five years, at least. But I feel like I made a great decision as I move forward.”

Davis sustained five concussions during his NFL career, with the most recent example occurring back in Week 4 of this past season with the Redskins.

The 36-year-old made his decision known during a Super Bowl skit with fellow retired players Rob Gronkowski (who was a tight end himself) and James Harrison.

“It was extremely tough because I didn’t plan to do it in that fashion,” Davis said. “But it worked out the way it needed to, so I just let it go. It was an awesome skit.”

Davis played in just four games in 2019, logging 10 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.

The Washington, D.C. native, who played his collegiate football at the University of Maryland, was originally selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the sixth overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft.

While he was disappointing over his first three seasons, Davis broke out in 2009, hauling in 78 receptions for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns en route to his first of two Pro Bowl appearances.

He spent the first nine-and-a-half years of his career with the 49ers before being traded to the Denver Broncos midway through the 2015-16 campaign. Davis then signed with his hometown Redskins that ensuing offseason.