Thomas's career ended with a thud.
Earl Thomas might be proving in a negative way that it is not how you start but how you end. After his rookie season in 2010, the former Seattle Seahawks safety made the Pro Bowl five straight years and he was named First-Team All-Pro every year between 2012 and 2014. Twice during his career, he was named Second-Team All-Pro.
Thomas also was the player in the backend of Seattle's Legion of Boom that allowed everything that went on in front of him to happen. The safety had the speed to make up ground in coverage, and the ferocity to attack opposing ball-carriers and cause them to fear being hit by him. The LOB simply would not have been the same without Thomas.
Even in the final year of his career (the one season he played for the Baltimore Ravens) in 2019, Thomas made the Pro Bowl. But it was his personal decisions with both the Seahawks and Ravens that might be costing him a chance currently to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The safety has also had some off-the-field issues since he retired as well.
Former Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas not named a finalist for 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class
He was named one of 25 semifinalists for the 2025 Hall of Fame class, but on Saturday, Thomas learned he would have to wait at least one more year before possible induction in Canton, Ohio. He was not among the names of the 15 finalists. Neither was former Seahawks running back Ricky Watters.
Voters might be remembering how Thomas's Seahawks career ended and the fight he had with Ravens teammate Chuck Clark in the 2020 preseason and thinking Thomas does not deserve to be inducted. Much in the same way that after getting into the fight, Baltimore decided Thomas no longer deserves to be a part of their organization.
12s will recall how after being injured in Week 4 of the 2018 season and while being carted off the field, Thomas flipped his middle finger to the Seattle sideline. He had not gotten his way in a preseason contract dispute and he was mad. Unfortunately, Thomas's selfish action took place at around the same time Seahawks owner Paul Allen's health was failing. Allen passed away two weeks after Thomas was carted off the field.
The safety likely does deserve to make the Hall of Fame. He had too many seasons where he was among the best at his position in the league, and he was certainly a transformative player. The wish would he have not ended his career the way he did.
