Demario Davis nearly quit football in 2016 at age 27, citing pain in every joint during his lone season with the Cleveland Browns, who finished 1-15 that year. On Dec. 17, 2016, while wandering a Buffalo-area hotel lobby ahead of a Browns-Bills game, Davis — then dealing with plantar fasciitis — picked up a brochure for a foot-detox treatment and met Alexis Luczak, a doctor of naturopathic medicine and physical therapy.
The initial 30-minute appointment stretched to three hours and became a long-term relationship. Luczak and chiropractor Jose Tienda have become Davis’ primary providers; Tienda bills himself as “Dr. J,” a concierge chiropractor who focuses on NFL performance and recovery. The pair work year-round with Davis, and largely during the season.
Now back with the New York Jets, who selected him in the third round in 2012, Davis is preparing for his 15th season. He is 37 and, according to the team account, displays energy often associated with younger players — one of his personal trainers said he “has the body of a 24-year-old.” Davis ranks eighth on the career list for most games played at his position with 227 and would move to fourth if he plays every game this season. He has missed only one game because of injury — a pulled hamstring with the New Orleans Saints in 2024.
Davis attributes his turnaround to his spiritual beliefs and a year-round commitment to his body. He described having “two full-time jobs — playing football and preparing and recovering from football.” A six-person team travels to him from California, Arizona and Texas to deliver treatments and therapies that Davis said keep his body in peak condition. Luczak is typically with him Sunday morning through Tuesday; Tienda works with him six days a week for about 20 hours.
The treatments Davis receives range from traditional acupuncture to high-tech procedures. The list includes Tecar Therapy, which uses radiofrequency energy to reduce pain and facilitate tissue regeneration; cupping and scraping; dry-needle therapy; sessions in a hyperbaric chamber; red-light therapy, which uses near-infrared light to stimulate cellular activity and blood circulation; and Pulse Electromagnetic Field Therapy (PEMF), a non-invasive modality that uses electromagnetic energy to help the body heal faster. By his estimate, Davis said he spends $500,000 to $1 million per year on body training and recovery.
“My body is my company, and the brand that comes from playing the game is my company,” Davis said. “If I don’t reinvest in the engine of the company and the brand of the company, I just don’t think that’s wise. I just try to be a good steward of what’s been given.”
