Big 12 Football: 50 best players of all-time
By Randy Gurzi
player. 851. . S. Longhorns . Earl Thomas. 34
Big 12 Football best players of all-time: 34. Earl Thomas, S, Texas football
Had Earl Thomas played longer for Texas, he surely would have gone higher than this. Thomas was a redshirt during his freshman season but then came on strong in 2008 when he finally got on the field. He had 63 tackles and two interceptions for the Longhorns and had the most pass defenses by a freshman in school history with 17.
He then got even better as a redshirt sophomore, and some of those pass break-ups turned into interceptions. Actually, a lot of them did.
Thomas remained active in taking down the ball carrier, registering 65 tackles, but he also had eight interceptions and returned them for a total of 149 yards with two touchdowns. He was an electric playmaker, earning Consensus All-American and First-Team All-Big 12 honors during his final season.
Texas was undefeated in his final regular season, in large part due to the defense on which he set the tone. They didn’t finish the year with any losses, however, they were handed a defeat in the BCS National Championship Game against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
After that game, Thomas declared for the NFL Draft and was taken 14th overall by the Seattle Seahawks. He was a leader on that defense which became known as the “Legion of Boom,” and Thomas ended up winning a Super Bowl with Seattle following the 2013 season. Thomas hasn’t had great press in recent years but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he was one of the best the Big 12 has ever seen.