After being out of the league for two seasons, Thomas is looking to return
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, former Ravens safety Earl Thomas III is ready to continue his NFL career.
Former seven-time Pro-Bowl safety Earl Thomas, who last played for Baltimore in 2019 and who turns 33 in May, said today that he wants to resume his NFL career this season. “I’m ready,” Thomas texted. “I’m in shape. My timing is on point – I’m proud of that.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 22, 2022
Thomas hasn’t played the past two seasons. His last appearance on the football field took place in August 2020, where he struck teammate Chuck Clark during the Baltimore Ravens training camp. Two days after the incident, Thomas was released for conduct detrimental to the team.
“We have terminated S Earl Thomas’ contract for personal conduct that has adversely affected the Baltimore Ravens,” the Ravens said in a statement.
Two days before the incident with Clark, Thomas also skipped a meeting to get his car washed. Sports Illustrated’s Mike Silver also reported Thomas was late and/or missed meetings the season prior.
“This goes back to the beginning of his tenure with the Ravens because it was bad [in 2019,] too,” Silver said. “He was late, he missed meetings. [The Ravens] warned him after he got fined repeatedly. Look, at some point this is going to be conduct detrimental, which would affect your contract. That was last year. And things picked up right where they left off [in 2021’s] training camp, and not in a good way. A couple of days before the altercation with Chuck Clark, [Thomas] had complained that he needed more time in between practice and meetings, and then explained that he was late to meetings because he had to get his car washed that day, which is a creative interpretation of that. So, things were bad and then he blew a red-zone assignment in practice on Friday, and teammate Chuck Clark reacted emphatically, throwing his helmet—he was upset. Earl Thomas essentially said, ‘It’s cool,’ and Clark said it’s not cool, you need to go to meetings and walk-through and maybe you’ll get it. So, that’s how the fight started.”
Thomas, who turns 33 in May, will be looking for his third team, after playing nine years with the Seattle Seahawks before playing one season with the Ravens in 2019.
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