Earl Thomas will skip Seahawks minicamp and probably much more

Put yourself in the shoes of Thomas

Think of it this way. You’ve been a sales rep for eight years at the ABC Company, and you’re the top salesman there, have been since you started. You go to the industry conventions every year, and if you don’t win Salesman of the Year, it’s that guy Eric with the guys at XYZ. You hit the bar one night, and find out Eric just got a big raise. Big, like twice as much as what you’re getting. You get a little upset, but figure your boss will fix that as soon as he hears about it.

So you talk to the honchos, Pete and John, and they tell you they’ll address it after this next big sales campaign. Too many moving parts”, or some such corporate speak. You think, that’s cool, I know they’ll take care of me. But then you find out that Eric isn’t the only guy making bank. Nope. There are five other guys at five other companies with better deals than yours. And none of them have your numbers. One of them just got hired by the competition, and they gave him a hiring bonus bigger than your annual take.

So tell me exactly how happy you’d be to work your butt off all year, all to make your company more successful than ever. And maybe they’ll give you a better deal at the end. It worked for your friend Kam a few years ago. Then again, Rich missed some time at the office, and the next thing he knew, he was talking to the competition down the coast.

When you put it into the context of real people, real situations, it starts making a little more sense. Yes, we’re still talking about millions of dollars, but it’s all relative. That’s exactly what Thomas is saying. Don’t take my word for it; read for yourself exactly what he said.