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For the first time in his NFL career, Earl Thomas will be going into a season as a member of a team other than the Seattle Seahawks, as he signed a lucrative multi-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens earlier this offseason.
But Thomas still has a bad taste in his mouth from his final days with the Seahawks.
In Week 4 of the 2018 campaign, Thomas was carted off of the field during a game against the Arizona Cardinals as a result of suffering a broken leg. As he was being taken off the field, he threw up a middle finger to Seattle's sideline, with the gesture directed at head coach Pete Carroll.
Why? Because Thomas didn't feel Carroll's concern over his injury was genuine, and now, almost one year later, Thomas does not regret his decision to flip off his now former coach.
“I don't regret my decision,” Thomas told ESPN's Josina Anderson. “If my teammates felt like it was toward them, I regret that part. But I don't regret doing that to Pete. … I gave Pete the middle finger because I felt like he wasn't being honest with me.”
Still, Thomas acknowledges he may have hurt his chances of returning to Seattle due to that incident.
“I think my time just ran out,” Thomas said. “Pete and the front office didn't value me like they used to, and I just talked to Coach Carroll, and he was saying how he was trying to get me in the plans of getting a new contract. But I got hurt the next week. I think I hurt myself too by my actions getting carted off the field.”
Thomas had a tremendous career with the Seahawks, making six Pro Bowls and earning three First-Team All-Pro selections. Most importantly, he was a part of a dominant Seattle defense that won a Super Bowl during the 2013-14 campaign.
