Superbowl bound Forty Niners star credits curling with helping his mindset

Vernon Davis is heading to the Superbowl. Doubt he'll take his curling broom with him, but he will take the life lesson that the roaring game has taught him.

As Davis' San Francisco 49ers get set to tangle with the Baltimore Ravens in Superbowl XLVII in New Orleans, the 6 foot-3, 250 pound tight end is enjoying a bit of a renaissance as a player.

He credits the game of curling with helping him find the right attitude to become a total team player, telling AOL Fanhouse Columnist Lisa Olsen:

He's not kidding. Anyone who's ever tossed a stone or two knows how, like golf, curling can have you feeling like a conquering king with one shot, and a penniless serf the next.

With a chance at a Superbowl ring on the horizon, San Francisco's rise to an NFC championship has many ingredients involved. One of those key ingredients has been Davis' maturity as a player who can deal with not being a prime receiving target but, instead, one who focuses on helping his team through the unsung chores, such as the sometimes thankless job of blocking for a running back or providing pass protection for rookie quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Curling's tendency to bring you back to earth, along with then-coach Mike Singletary's epic tearing down of Davis for selfish play, helped Davis redefine the type of athlete he was going to be.

"Embarassing," was the term Davis used in Olsen's Sporting News column when he described his first experience with curling, and falling on his keester on his first slide.

Davis has had an affinity for the game ever since he gave it a shot a number of years back. Instead of ridiculing a game so foreign to him, he decided to try it out and liked it.

He professes to still play it on occasion and has hosted a charity bonspiel in San Jose, as well.

Perhaps if the 'Niners win the big one on February 3rd, Vernon Davis can raise a broom in triumph. And put The Lombardi Trophy on the prize table at his next charity spiel.