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Earl Thomas and the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks flip the next page in the countdown to the 2014-15 season on Thursday.

The Seahawks report to training camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center (VMAC) in Renton on Thursday and camp begins on Friday, as the Hawks start to prepare in earnest for their title defense.

Before reporting to camp, Earl sat down with Q13 FOX’s Aaron Levine to talk about his team’s mentality as they look ahead to defending their throne.

 

Among the most common questions posed to ET III this offseason regards how he is going about staying motivated with one Super Bowl ring already shining on his hand. But for Earl, who is nothing less than obsessed with being the best at what he does, focusing on the next step toward greatness has come naturally.

“When you have success like that, we’ve opened the door, but we haven’t opened that next door,” ET said. “Me personally, I took that challenge to be the best athlete, no matter what sport. Me taking that challenge, I can’t afford to be complacent, because I know that untapped potential is just around the corner, I just have to keep going.”

The offseason has been a busy one, filled with workouts and training sessions, but plenty of off-the-field activities as well. Back in his hometown of Orange, Texas, Earl hosted his football camp featuring youth players and budding Texas high school stars.

The days leading up training camp were exceptionally busy for No. 29. He attended the ESPY Awards where the Seahawks were named the Best Team in all of sports. The very next night, he was dunked in a pool of slime at Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards.

Once he headed back to the Emerald City, Earl capped his pre-camp tour on Monday night at KeyArena as he brought the Lombardi Trophy and represented the Seahawks at Championship Night before a Seattle Storm WNBA game.

No. 29 also linked up with fellow Legion of Boom member, Richard Sherman, who hosted a charity softball game last Sunday at Safeco Field, a little event that featured plenty of star power and attracted 22,000 fans.

It was just the latest event in the Summer of L.O.B. The Seattle secondary’s three biggest stars were all re-signed to contract extensions, and as the enforcer of the group, Kam Chancellor told Levine that each new deal was a point of pleasure for the whole group.

“It’s a big deal to us,” Chancellor said. “We look at each other like brothers, so we want to share and cherish all these moments together. We know what it takes to get to that moment.”

When ET signed his deal, the trio celebrated with a much-deserved night out, where they could finally let loose and reflect on the times—both good and bad—that made them the NFL’s best secondary.

“Warm feelings celebrating with the people that really busted their butt with you,” Earl said, describing his post-signing celebration. “The sweat, the tears, the adverse situations, the fussing with each other—we laugh about all those situations because we’re so competitive. And we know that we hold each other accountable and we push each other so much, that’s why we’re elite, that’s why we’re the best.”

Chancellor also took a walk down memory lane, thinking back to when he and the rest of the L.O.B. were bushy-tailed newcomers in the locker room, and how they came to form the relationship that ultimately led to dominance on the field.

“We all started, came out here as little snotty-nosed rookies, we didn’t know what we were doing, but we had that passion for football and that passion for camaraderie,” Kam said. “So when we came, that bond got real strong, real tight. That’s what allows us to be like that off the field.”

Now, though Chancellor is the oldest of the group at 26, the Legion will be the veterans of the locker room.

Earl is well-aware of his role on the team, and through OTA’s, mini-camp and training camp, he has felt the eyes of the newcomers looking up at the growing legend that is the Legion.

“A lot of young guys are looking at you, You just want to lead in the right way, whether you’re in practice or you’re just walking, because your presence is known. Especially when you have a lot of success early in your career,” he said. “Guys come in and they’re already talking about LOB, but they don’t really know who we are. So we definitely need to carry ourselves the right way. Then we have a lot of kids looking up to us in general. I’m very grateful God put me on this platform, and I’m definitely going to use it right.”

RELATED ARTICLES

• Earl Thomas on what makes the LOB so good (Q13 Fox, July 22, 2014)
• Chancellor recalls when LOB were rookies (Q13 Fox, July 22, 2014)
• Seattle Seahawks training camp returns (Seahawks.com, July 23, 2014)
• 11 Things You Can See at Seahawks Camp (Seattle Times, July 19, 2014)