Shortly after Seahawks safety Earl Thomas broke his leg in an early December victory over the Panthers, he tweeted that he had a lot running through his mind “including retirement.”
He said the next day that it wasn’t just post-injury hyperbole and that he was taking things one day a time. During a Tuesday interview on The Rich Eisen Show, Thomas said emotions were heavy at that time but that he still feels “kind of the same way” about possibly walking away from the game because of doubts about fully recommitting himself to the demands of professional football.
“Yeah, I’m kind of enjoying just waking up in the morning without the pressure,” Thomas said. “Peace is starting to return to me, bro, and I think that’s my ultimate goal in life. I just want to have peace. But I can say when I went back to the [Seahawks practice facility] the other day, my competitive juices came right back. I don’t know, man. I’m kind of caught in between right now. ... I’m never going to step on a football field half-heartedly. When I go out there, I want to be out there with my balls hanging -- don’t want to say my balls hanging, but just -- no fear, that’s a better way to say it. But if I have any doubts, I don’t want to play the game.”
The Seahawks would probably like to know how he’s feeling before free agency and the draft, but that still leaves plenty of time for Thomas to ponder all sides of the question and come up with a decision about his plans for 2017 and beyond.