Thomas Davis chose his current profession for many reasons.
He's good at it. It pays well. It's something a good percentage of American men would love to do.
Now, as the Carolina Panthers' linebacker readies for his 12th season in a brutal and unforgiving sport, Davis has narrowed his focus.
"My goal and my whole reasoning for playing as hard as I can right now, and knowing that when you get to 12 years, time is starting to wind down — we want to put a Super Bowl ring on Mr. Richardson's finger," Davis said Monday.
"That was a promise that I made to him, and I'm trying to stay true to that promise."
Davis couldn't recall, or didn't want to share when he made that promise to the Panthers' owner, only revealing it came in "a private conversation a while back." Of course, Davis nearly made good on it in February, playing every defensive snap in the Super Bowl just two weeks after breaking his arm in the NFC Championship Game.
The loss to Denver ended Davis's 11th season, which was also his first as Pro Bowler. After becoming the first known NFL player to come back from three reconstructive surgeries on the same knee, Davis has seemingly gotten better with age.
"I'm 33 years old, but I really don't feel that old," said Davis, who considers fellow linebackers Luke Kuechly (25), A.J. Klein (25) and Shaq Thompson (23) his fountain of youth.
"I just try to make sure that when I go to practice every day, or we're in the game, I'm trying to keep up with what they're doing and trying to see how I match up against some of those younger guys," Davis said.
Back in 2005, Davis was one of the younger guys. That's when the 22-year-old began his rookie year as Carolina's strong safety. But "it didn't turn out too well," and Davis lost his starting job after a 23-20 loss to the Saints in Week 1.
11 years and 114 starts later, Davis is the Panthers' all-time leader in tackles. You could make an argument his play, dedication to the organization and efforts in the community make him statue worthy.
But how much longer can he keep going?
"I ain't even thinking about ... " he said, interrupting a reporter he thought was asking about retirement.
That day doesn't exist to Davis yet. His energy is instead on what's ahead Thursday, against the team who prevented him from keeping his promise.
"It definitely means a lot to have the opportunity to play against the team that beat you in the Super Bowl, and they're the reason you don't have a Super Bowl ring," Davis said. "But at the same time, we have to understand that if we don't go out and we don't play well and Denver's able to win this game, we can't get down on ourselves and let that carry over into the regular season.
"Hopefully we're better going into Denver than we were in San Francisco."