Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas is not a man of many words but the time has come for him to speak.
Thomas penned an essay for the Players’ Tribune, “Here’s What’s Actually Going On,” explaining the reasoning behind his holdout.
“Right away, I want to make something clear: I don’t like doing this kind of stuff,” Thomas began.
The Seahawks star safety was absent from the team’s offseason workout program and has yet to report to training camp. Thomas believes his side of the story needs to be heard.
“I’m in a situation where I feel like I really have to say something,” Thomas continued. “Not just on behalf of myself, but also for the other players around the league who are currently in the same position as me, or who will be in the future.”
Thomas discussed the short career span of many NFL players and the physical, mental and emotional strength required to “survive” in the league.
“If you’re risking your body to deliver all of this value to an organization, then you deserve some sort of assurance that the organization will take care of you if you get hurt,” Thomas explained. “It’s that simple. This isn’t new, and this isn’t complicated.
“It’s the reason I’m holding out – I want to be able to give my everything, on every play, without any doubt in my mind.”
Thomas’ message isn’t new, he posted something similar on social media this summer.
Working out all offseason to stay in shape, Thomas is ready to play football – for Seattle or a new NFL team. But he is standing strong behind his plea to get what he believes he deserves.
Whether the Seahawks give in to his demands is a whole different story.
"Yeah, I was not surprised to hear from Earl Thomas," said Brock Huard, former Seahawks player and current ESPN host. "He's one of the most emotional Seahawks that we've gotten to know in the last eight or nine years, and I knew eventually he'd not be able to sit and keep quiet."
"While I understand where he's coming from, I agree very little with some of his perspective because unfortunately for Earl, he's got one more year left with $8.5 million dollars and the Seahawks were clear from early on they were not going to extend him."
Huard noted that football is a tough game on players' bodies, and said he believes Thomas' argument for more job security may come up in future collective negotiations with the league.
"The game retired me like it does most people," he said. "Closed the door on me, and I do appreciate Earl. I know some of my commentary sounds pretty harsh or anti-player. I understand where Earl is coming from, this is a brutal business. This is a business that ripped his shoulder apart, a business that broke his leg, a business last year that had him in the training room dealing with hamstring and knee and toe and all sorts of injuries he battled through."
He also discussed NFL contracts relative to other major league sports.
"I know, I hear it," he said. "NBA guys make $40 million, baseball makes $20 million -- these football guys have unilateral contracts. They're one way, they can get cut if they don't perform ir get hurt. But there's also 53 football players, and about 12 that ride an NBA bench. And the top 12 NFL guys in this building, they're doing just fine"
KING5's Michael Crowe contributed to this report.
