Just two weeks ago, former Bulldogs LB Thomas Davis suffered what most people–including the Panthers head athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion–thought would be a season-ending injury.

“I remember saying to [assistant athletic trainer] Mark [Shermansky], ‘I cannot believe this guy’s season is going to end right now,'” Vermillion said. “We were going to win the game, you could tell the way it was going. But I could not believe this guy, what he’s been through, that it’s going to end right now.”

Davis has seen a lot of injuries in his career. In eleven NFL season, he has torn his ACL three times, and every time, he battled back.

It’s hard not to pull for a resilience like that, and Davis wasn’t going to let injury keep him from his first Super Bowl.

“First off, to be able to do what he’s doing takes a special guy,” Vermillion said. “Not everyone can do what he’s doing. He’s not going to go through what he’s gone through and not get this opportunity.”

Despite the odds and undergoing surgery on January 25, Davis took the field tonight against the Denver Broncos, and it wasn’t just for show.

In the first half of Super Bowl 50, Davis collected four tackles.