Seahawks’ Earl Thomas appears to give his own team the finger as he’s being carted off the field
Seattle defensive back Earl Thomas appeared to have a message for his team Sunday after suffering a season-ending injury.
The six-time Pro Bowler delivered that message with his middle finger.
Thomas held out throughout the offseason and skipped some practices because of a still-unresolved contract dispute with the team but has played in all four of the Seahawks’ games this year.
“I need to make sure my body is 100 [%], and I’m investing in myself. If they were invested in me, I would be out there practicing,” Thomas said. “But if I feel like if I have anything, even if it’s something small, if I got a headache, I’m not practicing.”
Against Arizona on Sunday, he sustained a lower left leg fracture while defending on a touchdown pass from Arizona’s Josh Rosen to Chad Williams in the third quarter.
As he was being carted off the field, Thomas made an obscene gesture with his finger that appeared to be aimed directly at the Seahawks bench.
“We play a very, very emotional game,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “I think sometimes you have to allow people to have their emotions. I don’t think nothing of it. I think he has a long road ahead of him if it is the injury he is expecting.”
Coach Pete Carroll later told reporters he wasn’t so sure the gesture was intended for the Seahawks.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Carroll said. “It’s a big stadium. I don’t know where it was aimed at.
“Earl was extraordinarily poised on the field. For what just occurred to be so clear and so resolved to — he knew what happened. But he was so poised and giving back to the players and all of us. So I don’t know what happened after that.”
Twitter: @chewkiii
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