Panthers Pro Bowl linebacker and team captain Thomas Davis announced this afternoon via his Twitter account that he has been suspended for the first four games of the 2018 season for testing positive for a banned substance. The 35 year old, who announced earlier in the offseason that 2018 would be the final season of his career, said in a two minute long black and white video that he accepts responsibility for his actions, that he is responsible for the estrogen blocker which he put in his body and tested positive – Davis made a point to say that it was not an HGH or steroid which resulted in the positive drug test.
This is by far one of the saddest days of my NFL career. I never thought that this would happen to me. I’ve worked extremely hard to do things the right way on and off the field. Panther Nation please know that I am not a cheater. #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/zUppMfm6yk
— Thomas Davis (@ThomasDavisSDTM) April 6, 2018
This will be the second suspension for the 2005 first-round pick in as many seasons; Davis served a one-game suspension during the Week 15 22-19 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs after a crackback block on Packers wide receiver Davante Adams which resulted in Adams suffering a concussion. While Davis missed the contest, the Panthers relied heavily on Colin Jones, who started and played 42% of the snaps with Davis out of the lineup; Davis was expected to take a reduced role in 2018 as the Panthers tilted their scheme more towards 2015 first-round pick Shaq Thompson.
This will be the third Panthers defensive player to be suspended for a banned substance in the past four seasons; Wes Horton was suspended in 2015 and Charles Johnson missed four December games of the 2017 season before returning for the finale against the Atlanta Falcons, which would wind up being the final game Johnson played in a Panthers uniform when he was released in February.
“I’ve taken the same supplements for the last seven or eight years and never had any issues, been tested numerous times over the years while taking the same stuff,” the Panthers all-time leading tackler and seven-time captain Davis said in his Twitter announcement. “Unfortunately, this is some of the things that happen when you take supplements. I’ve never tested positive for steroids or HGH. This is not one of those situations. It ended up being an estrogen blocker that triggered a positive test for me.”
Davis has made the Pro Bowl the last three seasons, but his 52 tackles in 2018 were his lowest total in a season in which he played more than seven games; 2018 was expected to be Davis’ last season, but he hinted at the end of the video that that may not exactly be the case.
“Who knows? Maybe this isn’t my last year.”
Who knows, indeed.
