Vontae Davis’ brother Vernon posts an emotional tribute to the former NFL star almost three weeks after his mysterious death: ‘The perfect image for the most amazing soul’

Vernon Davis has posted an emotional tribute to his late brother Vontae, almost three weeks after the former NFL star’s shock death.

Vontae’s body was discovered on April 1 when a housekeeper arrived for work and spotted the former cornerback slumped motionless on the floor of his gym at his home in Southwest Ranches, Florida

Detectives opened an ongoing investigation into the 35-year-old’s unexplained death but their initial findings did not point towards foul play. 

There was no evidence of a break in and nothing was disturbed at the $4million mansion in the swish South Florida enclave where Gisele Bundchen, Dwayne Johnson and fellow football star Tyreek Hill have homes.

Vernon took to Instagram on Thursday night to post a picture of his brother with the song ‘Missing You’ as the soundtrack. 

He captioned the post: ‘The perfect image for the most amazing soul! Absent from the body but present with the Lord. Love you brotha!’ 

The two brothers both enjoyed successful NFL careers, Vontae suiting up for the Dolphins, Colts and Bills and Vernon winning Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos.

Former first round pick Vontae played for 10 seasons but shocked the sport in 2018 by removing himself from a game at halftime and declaring that he was ‘done.’

Explaining his abrupt retirement, he told reporters his body had been worn down by multiple injuries and surgeries, adding: ‘Reality hit me fast and hard: I shouldn’t be out there anymore.’

Vontae also revealed he was worried about the risks of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE ), a devastating brain injury caused by repeated blows to the head.

His ex-wife Megan Harpe suggested in a text message to DailyMail.com earlier this month that he was suffering from the condition.

‘Yes he had CTE … there is definitely a story here,’ she said, without elaborating.

Reported symptoms of CTE include memory loss, depression, paranoia and suicidal thoughts. A recent study identified the disease in more than 300 deceased NFL players, including Patriots tight end-turned killer Aaron Hernandez.

Speaking about the mysterious death of his brother earlier this month, Vernon told DailyMail.com: ‘I couldn’t have asked for a better little brother.’

The 40-year-old said in an exclusive interview that his brother appeared to have collapsed or slipped moments after he stepped out of a sauna. 

‘This thing definitely caught me by surprise. I just don’t know what to make of it,’ said Vernon, almost lost for words as he paid a heart-wrenching tribute to Vontae.

He added: ‘I’m leaning on the detectives to figure it out but right now we have no answers. They are going to run tests and they said they’ll get back to us.

‘It could be as long as a month, a month and a half, until we know anything.’

Vernon said his brother was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder while growing up but appeared to be in good health and had never mentioned anything about a brain injury.

‘Maybe that’s the case, maybe it’s not. We don’t really have an answer to that because there is no way to see into our brain while we live,’ he said.

‘Vontae never really showed a history of using drugs or anything like that.

‘I was at his house two weeks ago and he had the massage therapist there. He had a stretch therapist, a chiropractor, you name it.’

Vontae had spent much of the past year embroiled in legal troubles including a divorce and a $1m lawsuit stemming from a horrifying February 2023 DUI crash in which he slammed his Tesla into a stationary truck then fell asleep on the roadside.

However, the former athlete had also embarked on a string of new projects, including a luxury chauffeur business and a TV documentary charting how he and Vernon overcame their poverty-stricken childhood to become gridiron heroes.