Thomas Davis Sr.

Thomas Antonio Davis Sr. (born March 22, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL).

Thomas Antonio Davis Sr. was born on March 22, 1983, in Shellman, Georgia.

He attended Randolph-Clay High School in Cuthbert, Georgia, where he was a four-sport star in football, basketball, baseball, and track.

In football, he played running back, wide receiver, quarterback, defensive end, defensive back, punter, kicker, and kick returner at various times throughout his career.

As a junior, he averaged 30 yards per punt, had two kickoff returns, one punt return, and one fumble return for touchdowns.

As a senior, he earned Class AA All-State honorable mention by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia Sports Writers Association (GSWA) after rushing for 1,032 yards, leading the region in scoring with 108 points in the regular season.

He played college football for the University of Georgia in the early 2000s, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American.

Davis received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Georgia, where he played for coach Mark Richt's Georgia Bulldogs football team from 2002 to 2004.

Following his sophomore season in 2003, he earned second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors.

He was recognized as a first-team All-SEC selection and a consensus first-team All-American after his junior season in 2004.

In 39 career games, he was effective as both a rush linebacker and a free safety, recording 272 tackles, 18 for a loss, 10.5 sacks, three interceptions, six forced fumbles, and nine fumble recoveries.

He majored in consumer economics.

Davis was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft and played for them for 14 years.

Davis opted to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2005 NFL Draft as an underclassman.

He attended the NFL Scouting Combine and completed the majority of drills, but opted to skip the bench press.

Davis finished second among all linebackers who participated in the 40-yard dash, behind Texas linebacker Derrick Johnson.

On March 22, 2005, Davis attended Georgia’s pro day, but opted to stand on the majority of his combine numbers and only ran the 40-yard dash and participated in positional drills.

He improved his time in the 40-yard dash, finishing with a 4.52.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Davis was projected to be a first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

He was regarded as one of the top safeties in the draft and was highly touted for his versatility and ability to play safety or linebacker.

Davis was ranked as the top safety prospect in the draft by Scouts Inc. and ESPN and was ranked as the top free safety by DraftScout.com and the Chicago Tribune.

The Carolina Panthers selected Davis in the first round (14th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft.

Thomas was the first safety drafted in 2005.

On July 26, 2005, the Carolina Panthers signed Davis to a five-year, $10.60 million contract that includes $7.97 million guaranteed.

The contract has a maximum value of $13.20 million with incentives and performance bonuses.

Davis entered training camp as a safety, but also learned the linebacker position.

On August 15, 2005, it was reported that the Carolina Panthers moved Davis to outside linebacker after Brandon Short injured his foot during a preseason game against the Washington Redskins.

On August 20, 2005, starting strong safety Colin Branch tore his ACL during the Panthers’ 27–21 loss at the New York Giants in their third preseason game.

Defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac opted to move Davis back to strong safety as a replacement for Branch.

Head coach John Fox named Davis the starting strong safety to begin the regular season, alongside free safety Mike Minter.

He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Carolina Panthers’ season-opener against the New Orleans Saints and recorded five combined tackles during their 23–20 loss.

Davis struggled during their loss against the Saints and was demoted to backup strong safety behind Marlon McCree for the following game.

On September 18, 2005, Davis recorded two solo tackles and made his first career sack in a 27–17 victory against the New England Patriots in Week 2.

Davis sacked Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady for a ten-yard loss during the second quarter.

On December 4, 2005, Davis played as an outside linebacker against the Atlanta Falcons and was used as a quarterback spy to contain Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick.

Davis was instrumental in the Panthers’ 24–6 victory against Atlanta, making four combined tackles and being credited with half a sack.

In addition to football, Davis played baseball and ran track, where he qualified for the GHSAAA State T&F Championships for the 100-meter dash, placing 6th with a time of 11.1 seconds, and the 400 relay, finishing in 43.98 seconds.

In the agility tests, he ran a 4.54-second 40-yard dash, had a 355-pound bench press, 520-pound squat, 324-pound hang clean and 34-inch vertical jump.

Following short stints with the Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Football Team, he retired after the 2020 season.

Davis recovered from three ACL tears during his career.