Earl Thomas immediately created an iconic image of the relationship between people who want to play football for a living and the front office when he gave the finger to Pete Carroll as he was being carted off the field in his final game with the Seahawks. And he's kept that same energy, saying he has no regrets about the way his time with Seattle came to an end.
"I don't regret my decision," Thomas told ESPN. "If my teammates felt like it was toward them, I regret that part. But I don't regret doing that to Pete."
Thomas' relationship with the Seahawks was strained at that point. He had started the season as a holdout, hoping for the guarantee of a new contract with a team he helped take to the Super Bowl. Thomas suffered a season-ending injury shortly after making the decision to play, saying that he opted to come back after talking to Carroll and hearing that the coach was fighting to get him a new contract. His injury came before anything was signed, leaving his future in jeopardy. In that moment, he felt that Carroll wasn't being genuine about his concern for Thomas while he laid on the field with a broken leg.
"I gave Pete the middle finger because I felt like he wasn't being honest with me," Thomas said.
Carroll, for his part, said that he understood Thomas' desire to lash out.
"This was an earth-shattering moment for a kid. He's trying to play this game he loves, and all of sudden this happens again," he said. "He knew exactly what happened to him, so he went right to what it's going to take to get back."
We're sure if someone played that clip for Thomas, he'd have a response ready.
