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What the hell happened to Earl Thomas?

naija

By naija
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ztejas

ztejas 44,233

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Not sure he makes the hall. I think his inability to find a roster was a combination of him not being a locker room favorite and maybe losing a step. 

You can be the nicest guy in the world and extremely talented and find yourself out of the league faster than you can blink. The NFL is ruthless. 

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ztejas

ztejas 44,233

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3 minutes ago, naija said:

curious why you think he might not make it. injuries? missed time? pretty much all the speculative articles about who gets in written in the last 2-3 years had him on it.

He played just shy of 9 full seasons. That isn't very long for a HoFer - even with 3 first team all pros. He won one SB - played in another. 

He could make it but it certainly isn't a guarantee. 

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Surly Bevo

Surly Bevo 25,757

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Everything I have read about Thomas says he was always that usually quiet and seemingly somewhat prickly (until you really got to know him) teammate that was also ruthlessly and relentlessly competitive.  Here is a snippet from a much longer ESPN article about his Texas days.

Quote

In 2008, Gideon earned Texas' starting-safety role alongside Thomas, who for weeks hadn't said more than two words to him. So Gideon approached Thomas after a practice and asked if he had a problem.

"He said, 'Man, to be honest, where I come from, you're a white boy with a buzz cut, so I fill in the blank on what you think about me,'" Gideon recalled Thomas saying. "I told him, 'Hey, bro, that's not me. I grew up in a different part of the state, but I see how you play and how you work hard and I love you for that. I promise you, I want to play next to you and help you get where you want to be.

"From that point, we really trusted one another."

 

Quote

And the field was never a problem for Thomas, who proved undeniable from the moment he stepped onto the UT campus.

He wasn't afraid to let people know, either. Lamarr Houston, a UT teammate and eight-year NFL veteran with the then-Oakland Raiders and Chicago Bears, remembers Thomas, as a redshirt freshman, declaring in the locker room that he would start the following year.

Houston brushed him off with a, "Yeah, yeah, we'll see."

"We kind of got into it -- he was really serious," Houston said. "He was letting everybody know."

Colt McCoy -- the Texas QB in 2008 -- was struck by how a shy redshirt freshman would play an organ at a local church on Sundays, sometimes missing an involuntary workout as a result, then become a dominant force during nighttime 7-on-7 workouts in the summer. Thomas begged McCoy, who had the keys to the field gates, to continue one-on-one sessions with him covering McCoy's receivers, over and over, until midnight.

"He was going to be the best and nothing was going to get in his way," said McCoy, an 11-year NFL veteran now with the New York Giants.

 

My guess is besides his off field incidents as he began to bounce around a bit and lost a little bit of a step with age the drive was still there but he was having a hard time adapting to no longer being in his 30s what he was in his 20s and for whatever reason no longer had the luxury of anybody he connected with as understanding teammates.   He may or may not be an asshole but I'm guessing he was definitely perceived as one and right or wrong perception rules the day. 

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naija

naija 3,064

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7 minutes ago, FreeHorn said:

CTE. 
 

Two teams brought him in after the Ravens release and remarked how they didn’t feel like he was steady mentally. 
 

He has had some alcohol and anger issues resulting in some actions that have been kept low key. 

sounds like a bad ending waiting to happen.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 50,007

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Yeah crazy off-the-field stuff and problems with Seattle and Ravens has made it hard for Earl Thomas to return to the NFL...

"Earl Thomas held at gunpoint by wife in reported domestic incident"

https://www.knbr.com/2020/05/06/earl-thomas-held-at-gunpoint-by-wife-in-reported-domestic-incident/ 

"Jerry Rice Issues Warning to 49ers About Possible Earl Thomas Signing"

In an interview with 95.7 The Game, Rice warned the 49ers about jumping in and signing Thomas. “You’ve got to be very smart here because if a team like the Ravens let you go, it’s really making a statement where this guy — where his head is at right now,” Rice said. “I really don’t know him. I don’t know him at all. But for them to make a drastic move like that, I think it’s sending a message throughout the league that this guy, he has some problems.”

https://www.sportscasting.com/jerry-rice-issues-warning-to-49ers-about-possible-earl-thomas-signing/

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formermav43

formermav43 4,630

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48 minutes ago, naija said:

curious why you think he might not make it. injuries? missed time? pretty much all the speculative articles about who gets in written in the last 2-3 years had him on it.

Safety is a tough position for the Hall too. LeRoy Butler was 4 time first team All-Pro, 90s All-Decade team, and he’s still waiting to get in. 

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ztejas

ztejas 44,233

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14 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman were the true stars of the Legion of Boom. We love Earl and he was a great contributor - he is not a HOF caliber player and was not as good a player as those 2 guys.

Um. What? Earl was the best player in that secondary and was asked to do more than any of the other guys. Sherm was really, really good but Earl was the glue for them that made them such a nightmare to play against. 

  • Hook 'Em 4
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Revolution512

Revolution512 1,518

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38 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman were the true stars of the Legion of Boom. We love Earl and he was a great contributor - he is not a HOF caliber player and was not as good a player as those 2 guys.

Lol, the guy with the best range in the game wasn’t the true star? Fucking wow

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Nope

Nope 3,151

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1 hour ago, Macklemore said:

Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman were the true stars of the Legion of Boom. We love Earl and he was a great contributor - he is not a HOF caliber player and was not as good a player as those 2 guys.

Chancellor was a one trick pony who would have been viewed as a below average player had he not played next to Earl

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naija

naija 3,064

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1 hour ago, Macklemore said:

Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman were the true stars of the Legion of Boom. We love Earl and he was a great contributor - he is not a HOF caliber player and was not as good a player as those 2 guys.

no.

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  • 6 months later...
hpslugga

hpslugga 4,097

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On 10/17/2021 at 9:46 PM, ztejas said:

Um. What? Earl was the best player in that secondary and was asked to do more than any of the other guys. Sherm was really, really good but Earl was the glue for them that made them such a nightmare to play against. 

Consider the poster to which you’re responding.

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Texzilla58

Texzilla58 4,793

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When your teammates go to the HC and GM and demand you be cut for being a total dickhead you need to change your attitude. Most locker rooms tolerate huge amounts of bullshit, divas, women beaters, perverts, criminals in order to win. Would love to see Earl in Dallas on a prove it deal.

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