 
Thomas named to 2012 Pro Football Weekly All-NFL team
Jan. 11, 2013 AUSTIN, Texas – Former Texas Longhorns safety Earl Thomas has been named to the Pro Football Weekly/ Professional Football Writers of America 2012 All-NFL team, it was announced on Thursday. Thomas started all 16 regular season games for the Seattle Seahawks in 2012 and tallied 66 tackles (42 solo), three interceptions including one returned 57 yards for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills, nine passes defended and one forced fumble. In Sunday’s NFC Wild Card Playoff game, Thomas recorded four tackles, one interception and one pass defended in Seattle’s 24-14 victory over the Washington Redskins. Said the voters about the Seahawks’ 2010 first-round pick: “The lightning-quick Thomas’ ability to provide consistent blanket coverage from sideline to sideline is one of the biggest reasons behind the Seattle defense’s great success.” Thomas’ play this season also earned him a trip to the 2013 NFL Pro Bowl – his second straight. He will be joined by fellow former Longhorns Derrick Johnson (LB - Kansas City Chiefs), Jamaal Charles (RB- Kansas City Chiefs), Henry Melton (DT – Chicago Bears) and Phil Dawson (K – Cleveland Browns). Thomas, the fourth defensive back in the Mack Brown era to be named a Thorpe Award finalist (nation’s top defensive back), started all 27 games of his Texas career, posting 149 tackles, eight TFL, 10 interceptions, 33 PBU, five forced fumbles and a blocked punt.
Thomas was a consensus first-team All-America selection and Thorpe Award finalist in 2009 after notching 77 tackles, five TFL and 16 PBU. He also broke Texas’ longest-standing school record with eight INTs, eclipsing the mark of seven that was originally set by Noble Doss in 1940. The mark was tied four times but never broken until Thomas accomplished it in 2009. He also had two interception returns for TDs in 2009 which also set a UT record. Thomas registered 72 tackles, two interceptions, 17 PBU (No. 1 on UT’s all-time freshman list), three TFL, four forced fumbles and a blocked punt en route to Freshman All-American honors as a redshirt freshman in 2008. This year’s Pro Football Weekly/ Professional Football Writers of America 2012 All-NFL team is almost evenly split between 14 AFC selections and 13 NFC selections and is characterized by an overflow of “winning players,” as evidenced by the fact 21 of the 27 selections participated in this year’s playoffs. To view the entire 2012 All-NFL team, go to ProFootballWeekly.com |
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