Enjoying the Process of Earl Thomas

Earl Thomas is in the process of becoming the future.

He was an extra pick Tim Ruskell fanagled out of the Broncos and then was never allowed to take.

whew!

Thank god it wasn’t Ruskell making the call. He would have peed his pants, hollered out Tim Tebow’s name, and fainted into a fetal position twitching every once in a while whispering, “Timmy,” only to fall gently back asleep.

John Schneider and Pete Carroll went with Thomas.

So far the the 14th pick is 2nd on the team with 30 tackles, tied for 1st on the team with 5 passes defended, and tied for 2nd in the NFL with 4 interceptions. He plays with with just enough cockiness to be cool. He becomes a tornado near the ball fighting through defenders disrupting play after play. At times this season, he has looked like the most dominant defender on the field.

Earl Thomas has arrived, and this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

E.T. combines his natural talents of speed and reaction time with a lunch pale work ethic. One of his most memorable plays this year came on an 86 yd touchdown pick against the Vikings. Thomas’ speed looks unreal in the following clip. It seems like the clip has been sped up for production. He looks like a cartoon character leaving a line of dumbfounded defenders and smoke. He looks like the future.

Great players learn a lot between failure and success. If handled with patience and discipline, failure is simply a beginning point and success the end. One cannot exist without the other, and the farther each man travels between the two, provided he reaches his goal, the more he learns about himself.

Thomas’ character is a combination of struggle, fight, success, and love. In 2005 Earl Thomas was just 16 years old when a hurricane destroyed his family’s home forcing them to seek shelter in a nearby hotel. Eventually the family found their way to his grandparent’s house where they resided during Thomas’ collegiate career. Thomas looked to be a consistent starter on a nationally ranked team during his first season at Texas until adversity struck Earl one more time. Unfortunately, Thomas found himself partly responsible for a play invoving Michael Crabtree
which prevented the Longhorns from securing a spot in the National Title Game.

I can’t help but wonder how many times Earl Thomas watched that play between his freshman and sophomore season and what he thought about.

The following year Thomas had 8 picks. Two were returned for touchdowns. The longest was 92 yards and highlighted the unrealistic speed Thomas possesses. At just nineteen years old, Earl Thomas demonstrated the ability to learn from failure rather than be destroyed by it. Most of us have the luxury of learning that lesson amongst our friends or family. Earl Thomas did it alone and on a National stage.

I can’t remember the last time a rookie has shown this much potential so early on. He has the character of Mack Strong, Galloway speed, Chad Brown intensity, and the talent potential of Wa… Wait a minute. It’s still a little early for that one. At this point, however, Earl Thomas is showing enough to be a strong consideration for Rookie of the Year honors. He is showing enough to be a Pro Bowl consideration for this and many years to come. He is showing enough that I just might have to buy his Jersey next weekend. He is showing us glimpses of a future that will cultivate one highlight reel after the next. Big hits and and many picks later, Earl Thomas will be the future.

Right now he is just in the process of it and already has my undivided attention. I can’t even begin to imagine what comes next.