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Ever since he was afforded the opportunity to return punts early in the preseason campaign, Earl Thomas has been waiting on his moment.

ETIII finally got his chance in Friday’s exhibition against the Chicago Bear at CenturyLink Field.

[Make sure you check out Earl’s new store at store.earlthomas.com for ET III gear!]

Like the two games before it, Earl looked solid on his first few attempts, but lacked the space to break through. But toward the end of the second quarter, after a Bears drive proved fruitless, Earl received the ball off a Pat O’Donnell punt at the Seahawks 25-yard line. Once again, it looked like No. 29 didn’t have much space to work with.

But with Chicago defenders closing in fast, the three-time All Pro juked and slipped through an opening on the left side of the field, and sprinted down the sideline 59 yards until O’Donnell tripped him up a little more than 15-yards away from the endzone.

“I dream about those type of moments,” No. 29 said. “I dreamed about this before it even happened. You want the ball in your hands you want to score touchdowns. I’m an offensive minded guy anyways. I started on offense.”

Earl’s big return excited both fans and coaches.

After the game, head coach Pete Carroll talked about the significance of the moment for his star player.

“He’s been working hard at it,” Carroll said. “It was a terrific opportunity for him. It was a good quick punt, the hang-time was not real long for him, so he got a good look at the coverage. We had a really nice scheme up front, everybody got on their guys and he hit it really cool. It was great to see that. We’re all in anticipation of Percy hitting his, and he did exactly what we hoped for. For Earl to get some space finally, and get a shot at it, he looked really good. He said it felt like Pop Warner, and back to his old days when he used to get to do that.”

ETIII’s big return was one of many things that went right for the Seahawks, who did not allow Chicago to score until mid-way through the fourth quarter and handily downed the Bears 34-6 on Friday night.

“Today was beautiful,” Earl said. “The magic just happened today”

Carroll was also quick to praise the efforts of his squad in its penultimate pre-season game.

“I really like this night to see that we come back here at CenturyLink and kind of continue where we left off last week,” he said. “We’re trying to just keep working at our game and executing well, and really the first groups again played really good football. We’re moving the ball on offense and making things happen. The defense is stopping them and getting off the field. We did a nice job on third downs on offense again this week, and the defense got off the field well enough to get us out of there.”

This “magic” started on the very first drive of the game, when Seattle’s first-team offense, aided by the first preseason appearance from running back Marshawn Lynch, efficiently marched down the field to put the Seahawks up 7-0 just over three minutes into the game.

On their first possession, the Bears looked menacing, and the the Jay Culter-led squad grabbed three first-downs, crossing into Seahawks territory in the process. But the Seattle defense stiffened and forced an O’Donnell punt from the 42-yard line. Earl lined up to receive the punt, and with no room to work with, called a fair catch at the Seahawks 11-yard line. Russell Wilson then took control, leading his team down the field before seven yards for the score.

“It’s fun to see,’’ Earl said about the offense. “They are growing up right before our eyes. They are just as good as us.’’

On the ensuing Chicago drive, ETIII and his defensive unit again stood tall against Cutler and the Bears first-team offense. Seattle refused to let Chicago step past midfield and forced another punt. This time, Earl found a small hole and exploited it for four yards, bringing the ball to the Seattle 17.

Already up 14-0, Seattle kept up the pressure on its ensuing drive. Thanks to an effective mix of pass and run, the Seahawks traveled 83 yards and 11 plays, capped by a 12-yard touchdown reception by Jermaine Kearse. Steven Hauschka’s extra point made it 21-0 with 7:10 left in the half.

On Chicago’s next  possession, a tackle by Byron Maxwell popped the ball loose and Earl pounced on it, appearing to have come up with a key fumble recovery . But upon further review, the refs ruled that the runner was down, giving the ball back to the Bears.

The reversal proved insignificant, however, as Chicago’s drive once again failed to make it past their own 40-yard line and the Bears were forced to punt to ETIII yet again.

That’s when Earl got his first chance to shine as a NFL return man.

No.29’s impressive 59-yard return set up an easy touchdown for the first-team offense that gave the Seahawks a 28-0 advantage.

While some fans cringed at the notion of their star defensive player becoming liable to rough tackles, Earl remains undeterred of the potential consequences of the role.

“I don’t have fear playing football,” he said. “I don’t have fear in life. God’s got me. I’m covered and I just trust it.”

The Hawks added another field goal before halftime, and at the break, the home team was up a staggering 31-0 over Chicago.

From there, Carroll made the decision to let both first-team units on the field for one series each to open up the half. Once again, Seattle shut down the Bears by not even allowing the visitors to gain a first down.

Then, after a job well done, ETIII and the rest of the first-teamers were able to watch their reserves hold down the fort. Seattle did not allow Chicago to make a mark on the scoreboard until Robbie Gould hit two field goals deep into the fourth quarter.

“Everybody is playing so well right now because we’re taking it so seriously,” Earl said. “We’re understanding where we’re at, but we’re building. We have great teachers as our coaches. We have great conversations in our DB room. We talk about life situations. We talk about being men. It’s more than football and that’s what makes work so fun.”

NEXT UP

Seattle will have one more chance to tighten up the hinges Thursday when the Seahawks take on the Oakland Raiders on the road in the team’s final preseason game.

Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT and the NFL Network will televised the contest.

RELATED LINKS

• Seahawks beat Bears 34-6 at CenturyLink Field (Seahawks.com, August 22, 2014)
• What was that clicking sound? The Seahawks, in all three phases (Seahawks.com, August 23, 2014)
• Earl Thomas Interview vs. Bears (Seahawks.com, August 22, 2014)
• Seahawks use big first half to rout Bears 34-6 (Associated Press, August 22, 2014)
• Hawks’ offense bears down (HeraldNet, August 22, 2014)
• Seahawks’ offense is ‘just as good’ as defense (HeraldNet, August 24, 2014)
• Seahawks ‘dress rehearsal’ a black-tie affair (The News Tribune, August 22, 2014)
• Cools and Fools from the Seahawks 34-6 win over the Bears (Field Gulls, August 23, 2014)
• Seahawks defeat Bears: Players, Coaches React (Field Gulls, August 23, 2014)
• Earl Thomas Makes Strong Case As Punt Returner (Seattle Times, August 23, 2014)
• Thomas’ punt return shows his talent (ESPN.com, August 23, 2014)
• Earl Thomas’ Punt Return vs Bears Should Silence All Critics (12th Man Rising, August 23, 2014)
• Earl Thomas Takes Punt 59 Yards, Could Be Top Returner (NESN, August 23, 2014)