Grip on Sports: Earl Thomas’ Seahawk career ends with an injury – and a gesture of contempt
A GRIP ON SPORTS • How many of us have wanted to ride off into the sunset from our job, knowing we’ll never come back, and use the opportunity to let the boss know how we felt about how they treated us? Earl Thomas had that opportunity Sunday and, in front of the world, made his feelings known. Read on.
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• It’s no secret Thomas was ticked at the Seahawks. Whether he blamed coach Pete Carroll, general manager John Schneider, owner Paul Allen or Ted, the guy who hands out socks in the equipment room, we will never know.
But we do know how he felt.
He told everyone, using profane sign language, as he was rode off Glendale’s State Farm Stadium with his left leg in an air cast.
It was an ugly ending to a beautiful nine years for Thomas in Seattle.
In that stretch, he went from being a somewhat risky first-round pick – his size was questioned when he came out of Texas – to flourishing in Carroll’s scheme, playing a role that allowed the rest of the Legion of Boom to change the way much of the NFL played pass defense.
The Hawks were nearly unbreakable in a period of the game when passing offenses were nearly unstoppable. And Thomas played a large role in that.
But professional sports teams are numbers-driven businesses – just look at the way baseball rewards players, all determined by computer models and potential production – these days and Thomas was of an age the analytics tells general managers his worth is waning.
He is under contract. The Seahawks wanted value for that contract – either by his play or with an appropriate trade return. Barring the latter, they were – and are – ready to let him go.
Thomas knew all this. But he doesn’t want to be treated like a piece of machinery on a factory floor. He is a human being. He wants to be treated like one. He wants respect.
Nothing wrong with that. Admirable even. But he’s in the wrong business. Pro football is all about utility. Who can help the team win. If you can, you are important. If you can’t – and helping the team win includes fitting within a salary framework – you are out the door. Sentiment has nothing to do with it.
The hard-to-deal-with truth is Thomas has peaked as a player. He’s now been injured twice in the three years. His productivity will continue to decline. And yet he wants to be paid as if he’s going to be among the NFL’s best safeties for the next few seasons.
He very well could be. But numbers inform those whose jobs depend on such things he won’t. And that’s how rosters are built.
It’s hard for fans to put such concepts into perspective. They want their team to win, but they also have their favorite players. They buy team jerseys with numbers of the players they admire. They wear them. They cheer every great play. But as the years roll past, they don’t want to let go – not of the jersey or the player. Even if it is time.
The Seahawks determined last season it was time to let a lot of guys to go. And at some point it was determined Thomas wasn’t worth the money he wanted in an extension. That didn’t go over well with him (or those folks out there with a No. 29 jersey).
Sunday afternoon in Glendale, Thomas’ Seahawk career ended. All of the frustration from the past couple years came flooding out. His opinion of how he’s been treated surfaced in one gesture as he headed to the treatment room.
Many of us may have wanted to do the same sort of thing as we left places of employment for the final time. Heck, some of us might have done it, maybe in a more verbal form.
It’s just wasn’t shown on national TV. Over and over.
In reality, the Seahawk organization made a business decision pertaining to one of its employees. The employee wasn’t happy and expressed his displeasure. It’s an old story.
It’s an ugly old story.
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WSU: It was a busy day in Pullman yesterday. At least it was for Theo Lawson, but not for the Cougar football team, which didn’t practice. Theo has three stories, one on Washington State’s offensive attack, one on a former Cougar commit who is on his second go-round with the recruiting thing and one on WSU’s poll numbers. … The soccer team won again. It is 10-0. … Oregon State’s porous defense is the source of concern in Corvallis.
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, a quick thought about polls. Colorado is 4-0. It is ranked this week, 21st by the Associated Press. The Buffs’ four opponents have been – how can we put this nicely? – crappy. Colorado State is 1-4. Nebraska is 0-4. New Hampshire, an FCS school, is 0-5. And UCLA is 0-4. That’s 1-17. The Buffs have played well. They just don’t deserve to be ranked. … Washington does. Whether 10th is right is still to be determined. … Oregon’s defense played a huge role in the win in Berkeley. … California feels as if it lost a golden opportunity as well as the game. … Utah is in trouble. With a date with Stanford this week, the Utes could fall to 0-3 in conference play. … That could put them three games behind USC in the South and the Trojans aren’t about to commit 18 penalties again, are they? … Despite a 28-point win over Oregon State, Arizona State doesn’t feel fulfilled. … One of Arizona’s main issues: Khalil Tate isn’t healthy.
Chiefs: Spokane was playing the second game on the weekend and ran out of gas in the late going. Host Vancouver rallied for a 5-4 shootout victory. … Around the WHL, Riley Sutter was responsible for Everett’s win Saturday night in Kennewick.
Seahawks: Of course the game score matters. Seattle played poorly on offense (Russell Wilson was average to poor), the Hawks wasted opportunity after opportunity, gave Arizona every chance to pull away and still won, 20-17, on Sebastian Janikowski’s 52-yard field goal at the end. … Mike Davis was a bright spot with two touchdowns – and two naps. … Jarran Reed and Tre Flowers are getting better. … The Cardinals turned over the offense to Josh Rosen. That was good and bad.
Mariners: Another season is over. The M’s won 89 games (that’s good) but didn’t qualify of the postseason again (that’s bad). And they may lose Nelson Cruz, whose contract expired. … They probably should lose Kyle Seager, but won’t. Maybe his toe injury was worse than imagined and he’ll bounce back.
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• This is my last week as a 61-year-old person. It’s weird though. I don’t think I see the world any differently than I did when I was a 16-year-old person. Except I don’t read Mad magazine every month. Until later …