Last season, embroiled in a contract dispute with the Seattle Seahawks, Earl Thomas suffered a brutal broken leg and then flipped the bird toward his sideline as he was being carted off the field.
Now Thomas has found a new home, along with a huge increase to his bank account, after signing with the Baltimore Ravens in free agency.
Having done so, he’s finally admitting in public that the person he was flipping off was none other than Pete Carroll.
“A lot of frustration that day,” Thomas said, per Peter King of NBC Sports. “I was in a battle with the team, and I chose to play, and I was betting on myself. So when it happened, it just added to my frustration. I did what I did, and I saw Pete Carroll, and I just was like, ‘You won. You won.’ Just a very disappointing day.”
It’s hardly surprising that there was no real talk about Thomas re-signing with the Seahawks after that. Like Richard Sherman before him, he left the team that drafted him with a bitter taste in his mouth.