NFL: Washington LB Thomas Davis Sr. to retire after season
After 15 years in the NFL, Thomas Davis Sr. will retire at the end of the 2020 NFL Season.
Davis is one of the former Carolina Panthers that came over to the Washington Football Team to play for his old head coach, Ron Rivera. Davis played eight seasons under Rivera in Carolina. Before joining the Washington Football Team, Davis played one season for the Los Angeles Chargers.
One thing that is for sure Thomas Davis Sr. has had a successful run in his NFL career.
Thomas Davis Sr. career stats and accomplishments
Thomas Davis Sr. has been named to three Pro Bowl teams and has made one NFL All-Pro team in his 15-year career.
One accomplishment that Davis is really proud of is winning the 2014 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. The veteran linebacker would also be named to the Top 100 NFL Players list for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 NFL Seasons.
Thomas Davis Sr. has played in 199 games in his NFL career. This week's Washington game against the Philadelphia Eagles will be Davis' 200th as a pro.
In those 199 games, he would record 859 solo tackles. He would force 18 fumbles and racked up 29 sacks at the linebacker position.
Why is Davis retiring?
Throughout Thomas Davis Sr.'s career he has been hit with the injury bug on more than one occasion. In the 2006 NFL Season, Davis would tear his labrum and would go three years before being injured again. In 2009 he would have a Grade 2 MCL sprain.
The major injuries sustained by Davis happened in the 2009, 2010, and 2011 NFL Seasons. In those three seasons the veteran linebacker would tear his ACL three times. In the 2016 NFL Season, Thomas Davis Sr. would break his forearm in the NFC Championship game. He would have surgery on his forearm the next day and played in the Super Bowl two weeks later.
Thomas Davis Sr. is as tough as they come, but the older a player gets the more time it takes to heal. An NFL career wears down a players body, especially a player that has had three knee surgeries to repair an ACL. Davis has played 15 years in the NFL which is way past the average length of an NFL career.
Hopefully down the road we see him being inducted into the NFL Pro Football Hall-of-Fame.