Steelers’ Mike Tomlin’s exchange with Panthers’ Thomas Davis puts loss in perspective

During and after the Carolina Panthers’ 52-21 drubbing by Pittsburgh on Thursday night, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin expressed his appreciation of and admiration for 14-year veteran linebacker Thomas Davis.

But the feeling was mutual.

In a candid moment shown this week on NFL Films’ “Inside the NFL” broadcast of the game, both Tomlin and Davis displayed their respect for each other, and their sportsmanship.

“Man, Thomas Davis is a grown-(expletive) man,” Tomlin exclaimed from the sideline during the game, according to the broadcast after Davis made a play. “Man, your (expletive) is running and hitting, old man!”

Then, Tomlin turned to his assistants on the sideline.

“Hey, did y’all see Thomas Davis come over here and wipe that guy? That’s 15 years! That’s some (inaudible) running and hitting! I respect the hell out of that.”

After the game, Davis and Tomlin shook hands and embraced on the field.

“Hey,” said Davis, “way to humble us. We needed that.”

“We’ve been humbled enough,” responded Tomlin.

The two have known each other a long time. Davis was very high on Tampa Bay’s draft board in 2005, when Tomlin was the Bucs’ defensive backs coach.

“He was a guy that had me on the board because I was a safety when I came in,” Davis said Wednesday. “I got to know him then, and over the years have really gotten to know him.

“He actually came to Charlotte this offseason and did a ‘Man Up’ conference with me.”

“Man Up” is a charitable program that encourages men to be role models to young males without fathers. Davis and Tomlin collaborated to expand the program from Pittsburgh to Charlotte last spring, making Charlotte the initiative’s first expansion city.

“It was very successful here,” said Davis. “I just think that really speaks to the guy that he is. And I think he’s a great coach.”

Davis said he has never thanked someone for humbling him or teammates before.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever actually had to do that,” he said. “But it is what it is. That’s the approach that I took from it. ... That’s what that game was. It was a humbling experience for this football team. It’s something we’re going to learn from and I feel like we’ve learned from it.”

Carolina (6-3) hasn’t lost a lot of games in that fashion in Davis’ career.

“I’ve never really seen a lot of games (like that),” Davis said. “I’ve never really been a part of something like that. But like I said after the game, it’s a humbling experience. But if you’re a true competitor, you want to come in and you want to bounce back. And you want to do something about it.”