Panthers not content being in Super Bowl, want to win it all

All-Pro Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis vowed to do everything in his power to be able to play in the Super Bowl, despite breaking his right arm during Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

“The thing we’ve got to remember is what we’re playing for, and that’s to win it”, Rivera said Monday.

“Davis exited the game in the second quarter following a collision near midfield with Cardinals 6’7”, 281-pound tight end Darren Fells.

Rivera, who won a Super Bowl ring with the 1985 Chicago Bears as a linebacker, said he’ll rely on his former coach Mike Ditka, among others, for advice leading up the February 7 Super Bowl against the AFC champion Denver Broncos. “We’ll get it figured out, and I’ll be ready in two weeks”. “I believe in our training staff and I believe in the process”.

Davis said after the game Sunday he planned to play in the Super Bowl.

Thomas Davis has torn three ACLs, so he knows when something is wrong. He had several jarring hits that set the tone for the Panthers to build a 17-0 lead. He returned to the sideline in the second half wearing a sling on his right arm.

Davis is the most tenured of the Panthers, in his 11 year after leaving Georgia following his junior season in 2004 for the first round of the National Football League draft. They forced Carson Palmer into four interceptions and forced two fumbles in an impressive defensive performance.

Even as Carolina played it coy with the extent of the injury Sunday, anyone who knew Davis didn’t have to possess a medical degree to know that the arm was broken.

Right now, what the Panthers are is a championship team looking for the franchise’s first Super Bowl. “Some of my experiences in coaching have shown me that when you get into certain situations like the playoffs, there can be a little self-doubt where you think, ‘Did I do enough?”

The Panthers’ rise in North Carolina comes at a time when the Latino immigrant population in the state is on the rise too, continuing a trend that began to play out some two decades ago. It hasn’t stopped him yet. “I think they will have to take all of his jerseys away – all five of them, and even the ones at home”. “So he wanted us to enjoy the moment”, Rivera said. The fifth-year coach said he won’t have any more information on his status until after the meeting.