Georgia football: 30 greatest players of the Mark Richt era

• SEC Champion (2002)
• Consensus All-American (2004)
• First-Team All-SEC (2004)
• Second-Team All-SEC (2003)

Thomas Davis may be best known today as being a leader in the middle of the Carolina Panthers defense. However, his time in the SEC as a star safety at Georgia should not go unnoticed. He comes in at No. 8 on the greatest Dawgs to ever play for Mark Richt.

Davis played all over the field in high school in Cuthbert, Georgia. Though a tremendous athlete, playing at such a small school had Davis overlooked in the recruiting process. Shockingly, only Georgia offered him a Division I scholarship out of high school. Man, did Georgia do its homework on this small-town kid or what?

Davis played in 14 games as a true freshman in 2002. Georgia won its first SEC Championship under Richt. In 2003 as a true sophomore, Davis would be named Second-Team All-SEC, playing somewhat of the strong safety/inside linebacker that would become commonplace in later defenses under Richt.

With a stellar sophomore campaign under his belt, Davis broke out in a big way in his true junior season in 2004. He not only would be named First-Team All-SEC, but would be named a consensus All-American. While defensive lineman David Pollack was the superstar in front of him, Davis was a big reason the Dawgs finished that season 10-2 and ranked in the top-25.

Davis was both a playmaker in the Georgia secondary and a sure tackler at safety. He had 272 career tackles in his time with the Dawgs, forcing nine turnovers and recovering nine fumbles. No wonder he had such lofty NFL Draft stock after his junior season in Athens.

Because of him being such a highly touted NFL prospect, Davis would forgo his senior season with Georgia. He entered the 2005 NFL Draft, where he would be the No. 14 overall pick by the Carolina, the team he stars for today.

Since turning pro, Davis had made three Pro Bowls, two All-Pro teams and was named the 2014 Walter Payton Man of the Year. Simply put, Davis is one of the five greatest players in Carolina football history. Let’s not forget the amount of devastating knee injuries he has had to overcome in his professional career. He’s easily one of the toughest players in football today.

Unfortunately, Davis’ reputation in the NFL took a huge hit this past offseason, as he was popped with a four-game performance enhancing drug suspension. Davis is 35 years old and may have a few years left of ball in the tank. That being said, he’s not making it to Canton on account of his 2018 PED suspension.

All that aside, Davis was an unforgettable player under Richt in Georgia. He is the most gifted playmaker in Georgia’s secondary for its former head coach. Maybe even more impressive was his ability to not only effectively transition to linebacker at the NFL level, but thrive at that position under Panthers defensive-minded head coach Ron Rivera. Davis is truly a Georgia great.