Tag: Thomas Davis

Cam Newton explains why he believes Panthers are ‘avoiding his legacy’ in emotional video

Cam Newton feels as though the Panthers have been avoiding his legacy. He revealed why in an emotional video from Thursday.

The greatest Carolina Panther of all-time isn’t feeling the love from the Carolina Panthers.

On Thursday’s episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton, Cam Newton was asked about the organization’s trip to Munich, Germany from this past weekend. The visit featured a handful of former Panthers players representing the franchise as ambassadors—including Steve Smith Sr., Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly.

That group, however, did not include Newton—who says he was not invited overseas.

A visibly bothered Newton then stated that the Panthers do not have any images of him up at their home of Bank of America Stadium, something he painfully learned while returning to the building for a seven-on-seven tournament last year.

“We went into the Panthers’ facility and . . . you mean to tell me that one of the greatest Panthers to ever play ain’t up nowhere? Nowhere. I’m talkin’ nowhere,” he said. “Who brought it to my attention? My son. So as a man, when you have to explain to your son . . . ‘Daddy, where’s your picture?’

“Then you know what the tour guide person said? ‘Oh, if you go up on the second and third level, Cam’s all over the place. I seen Jake Delhomme. I seen Thomas Davis. I seen Luke Kuechly. I seen Julius Peppers. I seen Steve Smith.

“At this particular point in time, the question was ‘Oh, we don’t know if Cam’s retired yet.’ News flash—I’m never gonna retire. I know I’ve played my last piece of football. It don’t matter to me to officially retire. I’m in a happy place.”

He also claimed that he reached out to the Panthers in the past about doing a live taping of his show involving himself, old teammates and current quarterback Bryce Young—but to no avail.

Newton led the Panthers to three NFC South titles, four playoff appearances and their second-ever Super Bowl appearance. On top of being the franchise’s all-time leading passer, he’s also the only Panther to win Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year.

His last down came in 2021.

[lawrence-related id=702110,700334,699623]

Son of Georgia football legend commits to Notre Dame

Four-star linebacker recruit, son of former All-SEC Georgia Bulldogs safety commits to Notre Dame

Thomas Davis Jr., who is the son of former Georgia Bulldogs safety Thomas Davis Sr., committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Davis Jr. is a four-star linebacker recruit in the class of 2026.

Davis Jr. plays for Weddington High School, which is located in Matthews, North Carolina. Davis Jr. is the No. 164 recruit in the class of 2026. He is the No. 10 linebacker in the country and the No. 11 prospect in North Carolina.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker announced his commitment to Notre Dame via social media.

Davis Jr. appears to be taking a different path from his father, who played at Georgia in the early 2000s. However, there is still plenty of time left for Georgia to recruit Davis Jr.

Thomas Davis Sr. was selected to the All-SEC first team in 2003 and 2004 and earned a consensus All-American selection in 2004. Davis Sr. was a first-round NFL draft pick and had a long career in the NFL primarily with the Carolina Panthers. Davis Sr. made three Pro Bowls and earned the Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2014.

Panthers great Luke Kuechly looks back on his emotional reaction to concussion in 2016

Panthers great Luke Kuechly sobbed uncontrollably after sustaining a concussion in 2016. He looked back on that moment this week.

To some, it may have been before his time—but the retirement of Carolina Panthers great Luke Kuechly actually came right on time.

The former linebacker joined this past week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, hosted by NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. When touching on the difficult conversation about concussions, which had an impact on the careers of both Kuechly and Earnhardt Jr., Kuechly talked about when he knew it was time to walk away from the game.

“I love everything about football,” he said. “I love the offseason, I love training camp, I love OTAs, I love being around the guys, I like flying to games, I love playing football, I love to practice. I get to wake up every day and put sweats on and go hang out with 120 of my boys and play football and lift weights and hang out.

“But I knew . . . I got hit a few times the previous couple of years. I got hit a couple times that year, I had some other stuff that was bugging me and I just remember after one game, late in that season, I was like, ‘Man . . . I just can’t do it anymore.’ I can’t play how I want to, I can’t be as physical as I want to because stuff was starting to happen and I just remember I got home that night and I’m like, ‘Can’t do it.'”

Kuechly retired at the age of 28 due to the effects of his concussions. His career ended up spanning eight seasons—a Hall of Fame-worthy tenure decorated by a Defensive Player of the Year award, five First-team All-Pro nods and seven Pro Bowl selections.

While continuing to navigate through the topic, Kuechly then recalled the very emotional (and nationally-televised) reaction he had to a concussion back in 2016 . . .

He’d call it a career three years later.

[lawrence-related id=705301,704339,691269]

Notre Dame interested in son of UGA legend Thomas Davis

Notre Dame football is targeting Thomas Davis’s son, who is an elite recruit.

Class of 2026 four-star recruit Thomas Davis Jr. is gaining significant interest from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, according to Collin Ginnan of On3. According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Meter, the Irish have a 94.7% chance in nabbing the recruit.

Davis Jr. is a keystone of an awesome defense at Weddington High School in Matthews, North Carolina. He plays with four-star recruit Trajen Odom, committed to Ohio State, junior four-star defensive lineman Aiden Harris, and four-star edge rusher Andrew Harris. Regardless, Davis Jr. has made a name for himself, racking up 123 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups, and two sacks, earning a 90 rating on 247Sports and ranking as the seventh-best player in North Carolina.

UGA fans should recognize that name, as his father Thomas Davis Sr. was a stalwart linebacker for the Bulldogs in the early 2000s. In his three years at Georgia, he was selected to the First All-SEC Team in 2003 and 2004 and earned a Consensus All-American selection in 2004.

Davis turned a great college career into a solid pro career. After being drafted in the first round by the Carolina Panthers in 2005, he played in the league for 15 years as a solid rush linebacker and made three Pro Bowls. He earned an All-Pro selection in 2015 and was a crucial part of the Panther’s Super Bowl run in 2015. He also established himself as a leader, earning the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2014 and the Bart Starr award in 2016.

It’s great for Davis Jr. to have a mentor and a connection like Davis Sr., and if Georgia were to recruit him, they’d have significant leverage.

Thomas Davis: Expectations for Panthers ‘should be very high’

Good luck on trying to sell Panthers legend Thomas Davis on a slow rebuild.

Good luck trying to sell Thomas Davis on a slow rebuild for his Carolina Panthers.

The former linebacker, along with fellow franchise great Jonathan Stewart, recently joined NFL network national reporter Cameron Wolfe for a chat from training camp at Bank of America Stadium. Wolfe asked Davis about the expectations for the Panthers, who finished at a league-worst 2-15 this past season.

“I think the expectation level should be very high for this football team,” he replied. “And for me, in particular, I’m excited to see the quarterback play. [Dave] Canales was with Geno Smith in Seattle, watching him, watching the maturation process. Then he goes to Tampa as the offensive coordinator. Watching what he was able to do with Baker Mayfield—a guy who we had right here. Didn’t see those same kind of abilities, and Baker became a Pro Bowl-type by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and got the big contract.”

Canales previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, when Smith broke out for a career campaign of 4,282 passing yards and 30 touchdowns along with a league-leading 69.8-percent completion rate. He was then hired as the offensive coordinator in Tampa, where he guided Mayfield to his bests in completion percentage (64.3), passing yards (4,044) and passing scores (28).

So Davis believes Canales can certainly work his magic on Carolina’s second-year quarterback Bryce Young.

“And now, he has the opportunity to work with a young kid in Bryce Young,” he added. “Just seein’ the maturation process from Year 1 to Year 2 under Dave’s tutelage, that’s one of the things that I’m really excited about. Because we know that Bryce Young, being the No. 1 overall pick a year ago, we know that this kid is talented. But it’s all about surrounding him with the right core of people.”

[lawrence-related id=700169,700070,699718]

Panthers great Thomas Davis explains the ‘Cam Newton Effect’ in heartfelt tribute to former teammate

Thomas Davis talks Cam Newton’s impact on the Panthers organization: “We had more fans at our Fan Fests than are coming to the games right now.”

For Thomas Davis, it’s a matter of when, not if, the Carolina Panthers honor Cam Newton’s legacy.

The former linebacker and franchise great joined his old teammate on the latest episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton. Co-host Omari “Peggy” Collins asked Davis about how the Panthers organization and the City of Charlotte should celebrate’s Newton career when he ultimately retires.

“When that time comes, when he makes that decision—we’re gonna celebrate him in a big way, man,” Davis replied. “Nobody brought more to an NFL city than Cam Newton brought to the Carolinas. Nobody has done more for a single city and for a single organization than Cam Newton has done for the Carolina Panthers.

“And whether he understands that or not, whether he looks at it the way he should it should be looked upon . . . when you walked into a Fan Fest and you see a man with the ability to completely control an entire crowd. We had more fans at our Fan Fests than are coming to the games right now. That was the Cam Newton Effect. That’s what he brought to the city.

“And I think this city absolutely embraced Cam, Cam embraced this city, and he talked about being an athlete and entertainer when he got drafted and he became that. He became one of the biggest names in NFL football . . . in athletics, period.”

Newton, the first No. 1 overall pick in team history, guided the Panthers to heights they hadn’t experienced prior to his arrival. While leading Carolina to three straight division crowns between 2013 and 2015 (a feat that was never accomplished by any current NFC South squad until that time), he became the first Panther to win the Most Valuable Player award and the Offensive Player of the Year award.

And while they fell short of the ultimate height of capturing their first Lombardi Trophy in that magical 15-1 season a decade ago, there’s no doubt Charlotte has never had anything like the “Cam Newton Effect” before or after his presence.

[lawrence-related id=700169,699623,699549]

Panthers host record 39 team legends at Back Together Saturday

Some familiar faces were in attendance for the Panthers’ Back Together Saturday event.

The “Back Together” in Back Together Saturday meant a little bit more for the Carolina Panthers this summer.

In addition to the 90 or so active players the organization currently employs, 39 franchise legends were in attendance for this morning’s training camp practice at Bank of America Stadium. Per Vashti Hurt of Carolina Blitz, the 39 attendees are the most in the team’s history of the event.

Those former Panthers are as follows:

  • Mario Addison
  • Steve Beuerlein
  • Tre Boston
  • Corey “Philly” Brown
  • Brentson Buckner
  • Matt Campbell
  • Vinny Ciurciu
  • Stephen Davis
  • Thomas Davis
  • Jake Delhomme
  • Kevin Donnalley
  • Dwan Edwards
  • Nick Goings
  • Deveron Harper
  • Roman Harper
  • Richard Huntley
  • Charles Johnson
  • Luke Kuechly
  • Kris Mangum
  • Brett Maxie
  • Justin Medlock
  • Dan Morgan
  • Muhsin Muhammad
  • Captain Munnerlyn
  • Cleveland Pinkney
  • Ryne Robinson
  • Mike Rucker
  • Don Sasa
  • Kawann Short
  • Jonathan Stewart
  • Dwight Stone
  • Quinton Teal
  • Charles Tillman
  • Mike Tolbert
  • Al Wallace
  • Wesley Walls
  • Will Witherspoon
  • Donnell Woolford

Before getting back at Back Together Saturday, the legends met up with each other at the stadium on Friday. Addison, who played for the Panthers from 2012 to 2019, spoke about the importance of the reunion.

“We need this. We need to do this more,” Addison said, via Kassidy Hill of Panthers. “People tend to leave the league and do their own things. Life happens. You have a family, have kids, and tend to never look back. But being able to come back and see all these guys in this environment—it’s like a (family) reunion. A football reunion…we need to share the stories for the younger generation can hear how we did it and how we paved the way.”

[lawrence-related id=700169,690398,699732]

Panthers greats Cam Newton, Thomas Davis talk Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud

Panthers legends Cam Newton and Thomas Davis answered an intriguing question about Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud.

What’s more likely to happen in 2024—Bryce Young becoming a top-16 quarterback or CJ Stroud hitting a sophomore slump? Well, that’s the question a fan just posed to Carolina Panthers greats Cam Newton and Thomas Davis.

As an extra to this week’s episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton, the two answered that very inquiry in a video released on Friday. Newton opted for the Young side of the argument, simply stating that there’s nowhere to go but up for 2023’s No. 1 overall pick.

Young, of course, turned in an underwhelming rookie campaign. He averaged just 179.8 passing yards per game with 11 touchdowns while helping lead the Panthers to an NFL-worst 2-15 record.

Davis, however, went a little deeper with his thoughts on Carolina’s situation under center.

“I just think that the additions the Panthers made this offseason will definitely allow Bryce Young to be who he is as a football player,” he stated. “He’s a guy that brought a lot to that Alabama team.

“People always talk about all the talent that they had around him. You go back to modern day, Bryce Young was a winner. Got to Alabama, got the opportunity to take the field, he’s a winner. It doesn’t matter who they had around him. He made things happen. And that’s kinda the mindset that the Panthers took going into that season thinking, ‘Hey, Bryce can go out and he can get it done.'”

Bryce certainly got it done for the Crimson Tide, who he led to the national title game during his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2021. And he did, to Davis’ point, have quite a bit of NFL-caliber talent around him in Tuscaloosa, including running backs Brian Robinson Jr. and Jahmyr Gibbs as well as wide receivers Jameson Williams and John Metchie III.

That wasn’t the case for Young in 2023, where he was routinely failed by his unreliable pass catchers and less-than-stellar protection.

2024, though, has brought a revamped unit to the 23-year-old—who Davis believes is primed for a step forward.

“But it’s a little different in the NFL,” he added. “Nowadays, upgraded their offensive line, they brought in some very, very viable receivers to make sure that he has the opportunity to be successful. And I think the defense is gonna be what it is. The defense has been consistent for a very long time in Carolina.”

For Carolina’s sake, let’s hope Cam and TD are right.

[lawrence-related id=699957,698047,699568]

Panthers great Luke Kuechly asked about Bryce Young’s leadership abilities

Is Panthers QB Bryce Young too quiet to be a leader? Franchise great Luke Kuechly answered that question on Monday.

Not all leaders lead the same. Just ask, well, a leader.

Carolina Panthers legend Luke Kuechly hopped on Monday’s episode of Up & Adams. Host Kay Adams brought up the questions surrounding the leadership style of Bryce Young, who tends to be more low-key than your prototypical quarterback.

But Kuechly, who will be entering his third year as a Panthers radio voice, doesn’t seem concerned.

“I think when you look at leadership and what that looks like and what guys believe, I think you gotta be yourself,” he told Adams. “And I think ‘yourself’ naturally comes through as you get older, as you get more comfortable.

“That was one thing that all the older guys always told me, especially guys like Thomas [Davis]. I got to learn from a very good leader who was vocal. And he always told me, ‘Hey, be true to yourself.’ Whatever that true to yourself is, is who you need to be because guys on the team have been around long enough that they understand when you’re being who you are and when you’re putting on a front.”

A five-time First-team All-Pro, a seven-time Pro Bowler, a former Defensive Player of the Year and a future Hall of Famer, Kuechly was known to lead Carolina’s defense with a vocal and fiery approach. And even if that isn’t Bryce’s thing, Kuechly believes he’ll still find his voice.

“I think Bryce has to continue to be himself, continue to be comfortable,” he added. “I think that the vocal ability of Bryce just comes with time. You look at last season, how last season went—it was a struggle.

“But I always kinda go back to—what were these guys like in college? If you ask Will Anderson, ‘What was Bryce like in college?’ I don’t think there would’ve been any question if he was the leader of that team. There would’ve been no question if he was a guy that they felt like was vocal, a guy that they felt like was energy.

“I think Bryce is very intelligent. He watches a lot before he makes his move. I think he’s very thought-out, I think he does things on purpose. And yeah, he was quiet. But I think, moving forward, he’s gonna be fine.”

[lawrence-related id=699435,699370,698092]

Panthers great Luke Kuechly gives thoughts on 3rd-round pick Trevin Wallace

Former Panthers LB Luke Kuechly was asked about the team’s third-round pick Trevin Wallace.

Carolina Panthers radio voice Luke Kuechly may know a thing or two about playing defense in the NFL. So, team reporter Kristen Balboni asked him about one of their newest linebackers.

Balboni recently interviewed Kuechly as part of “The Panthers Huddle Offseason Special,” a 23-minute video released by the organization on Friday. While going over a few of Carolina’s 2024 draft picks, the future Hall of Famer spoke about third-round pick and former University of Kentucky linebacker Trevin Wallace.

“He’s athletic, he can run, he’s explosive and I’m curious to see kinda how they play him,” Kuechly said. “Can he rush? Can he come off the edge? Can you put him on a running back and just say, ‘Hey, cover him. It’s gonna be man coverage, use your athletic ability, give him a little bit of technique.'”

Wallace displayed that athleticism and explosiveness during his collegiate career with the Wildcats. Between 2022 and 2023, the 6-foot-1, 237-pounder recorded 14.0 sacks, three interceptions and a forced fumble.

Kuechly then likened Wallace’s situation to his own, stating he should have a pretty good mentor to learn from during his rookie campaign.

“So if I’m him and I’m comin’ in, I got two older guys to learn from,” he added. “Shaq [Thompson] is fantastic. And I think I was very fortunate to play with a guy like Thomas [Davis]. And now I think Shaq will probably look forward to the opportunity to help a young guy out. So I’m excited about him.”

Well, if you say so, Mr. Defensive Player of the Year/seven-time All-Pro/seven-time Pro Bowler.

[lawrence-related id=696070,691269,696150]