For a guy who has torn three ACLs, most of his football career has been a day-at-a-time proposition for Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis.
But after signing a two-year contract extension which will keep him with the team through 2017, those who know the 32-year-old linebacker best wonder if that’s enough time.
“Knowing him, it’s going to be, ‘We’ll see how I am’ every year,’” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said, via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review. “I know we’ve talked about he’s going to retire a Panther, well, maybe in three, four, five years, knowing him. As long as he stays healthy and continues to work at it, he’s got a great chance to extend his career.”
Davis admitted he’ll probably want to keep playing, but only if it’s for the team that drafted him in the 2005 first round.
The Panthers have had a number of high-profile players the last few years retire without leaving the team, such as safety Mike Minter, defensive end Mike Rucker and left tackle Jordan Gross.
But Davis has played with enough other long-time Panthers to know his situation was far from a given.
“Being here and watching Julius Peppers leave, watching Muhsin Muhammad leave and come back, and seeing Steve Smith leave, it’s hard to say what would happen in this league,” Davis said. “It’s a great feeling to know that I’m going to be able to finish my career where it started.”
But after coming back from everything he’s come back from, putting a date on when that might be is hard.