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With the college football season set to officially kick off this weekend and his team getting ready to defend its Super Bowl title, now is as good as time as ever to look back at where it all began for Earl Thomas.

The three-time All-Pro got his start deep in the heart of southeast Texas in the city of Orange.

At West Orange Stark High School, Earl dominated the athletic scene, excelling in football, baseball, basketball and track and field—he even ditched the pads at halftime of his football games to play the saxophone in the school marching band.

However, ET III’s true calling was on the gridiron, where he was a three-year starter at defensive back, running back and wide receiver. Over the course of his career, Earl accumulated 112 tackles, 11 interceptions, four touchdowns, over 4,000 combined yards and was rated a four-star recruit by the major recruiting services.

When it came to deciding where he would play in college, ET III had options all across the country. He seriously considered staying on the Gulf and attending Southeastern Conference power LSU. However, a visit to Austin convinced Earl to play for coach Mack Brown at the University of Texas.

“I liked it a lot more than I thought I would,” he said. “I ended up committing right after that.”

Like many incoming freshmen at major collegiate programs, Earl wasn’t quite physically prepared to match up with the athletes on the other side of the field in the Big 12 Conference.

Some coaches did not think ET III would be able to be successful at free safety due to his 5-foot-10-inch, 174-pound frame. With that in mind, the coaching staff at Texas decided to have Earl redshirt for his first year so that he could physically develop as a cornerback.

Though he wanted to play right out of the gate, Earl would later call the move a blessing in disguise.

“I watched from the sidelines, but the good thing was I got to sit back, watch it and view it from a different angle,” ET III said. “I learned a lot and I [took redshirting] with a grain of salt. I’m glad everything happened the way it did.”

But things changed quickly when new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp arrived in 2008 and immediately saw promise in Earl as a safety. Rather than groom him to be a corner, Muschamp and defensive backs coach Duane Akina worked with ET III throughout the preseason and developed him into the Longhorns’ starting safety.

Earl, then No. 12, blossomed into a dominant player. As a redshirt freshman, he started all 13 games for a Texas team that went 12-1 and ended the season ranked No. 3 in the nation after a 24-21 victory over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

In his first ever game wearing the familiar Longhorn burnt orange, ET III recorded five tackles, broke up two passes, one that was tipped into an interception, forced a fumble and blocked a punt in a 52–10 rout of Florida Atlantic University.

A few weeks later. against archrival Oklahoma, then No. 1 in the nation, Earl grabbed a megaphone and announced his arrival to Burnt Orange Nation.

No. 12 pulled down two interceptions from heralded OU quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, broke up two passes, and tallied two tackles and a forced fumble, which all helped Texas pull off the upset victory.

A close loss to Texas Tech kept Earl’s Longhorns out of the Big 12 title picture, but the team’s 11–1 record and No. 4 ranking earned them an at-large berth in the Fiesta Bowl. Competing against the Buckeyes, ET III put on a show with a team-high nine tackles and two pass breakups.

Earl finished the season with 72 tackles (51 solo), two interceptions, 17 pass breakups, four forced fumbles and a blocked punt. His breakout year helped Texas rank first in the Big 12 in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense and second in pass efficiency. After his outstanding redshirt freshman year, ET III was quick to praise the coaches that helped him develop into a better player.

“I think the biggest thing was [Akina] let me be me,” Earl said. “He just let me play. He didn’t try to critique my game and he let me trust my God-given ability. I tell my coach now, Coach [Pete] Carroll, that you can’t put me in a box and say that I’m just playing man – I think I bring a lot to the table. I’m a DB and to me that means I can play every position. You can use me at more than one position. [Akina] gave me the confidence and believed in me, and when your coach and your teammates are behind you it plays a big role as well.”

In addition, ET III earned plenty of individual praise. He was named a first-team Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, College Football News and Sporting News, and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.

But Earl wouldn’t take all the credit and continued his admiration in speaking about Muschamp.

“[Muschamp’s] right up there with Coach Akina, and even Coach Akina has been here since I have and I didn’t get that opportunity the first go-around. Coach Muschamp saw it in me when nobody else saw it. We still keep in close contact to this day. He’s one of best defensive coordinators I’ve ever played for and if I got a chance to play for him again in the league one day I’d love the opportunity.”

Despite his meteoric rise to stardom on the gridiron in 2008, Earl was also able to maintain a music career at Texas, where he served as lead pianist in an Austin-based jazz band called the Bad Bones in his free time.

“He has skills on the piano,” Longhorn linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy said.

“Excellent,” agreed defensive end Sam Acho. “He can really play.”

In the spring, it was back to business for ET III and the Longhorns. Coming off a BCS Bowl win and high postseason ranking, coupled with the return of key players like Earl and quarterback Colt McCoy, expectations were high for UT going into the 2009 season.

Texas was given a preseason No. 2 ranking and started off the season on a tear, dominating UL-Monroe and Wyoming in their first two contests. Although Earl started things off on a modest note — with only two deflected passes and two tackles in those first two games — he turned it up a notch when his team entered conference play.

The Longhorns were able to orchestrate revenge against Texas Tech in their third game in a close 34-24 victory. Earl had eight tackles to go along with an interception and two pass deflections. In the following week’s 64–7 thrashing of UTEP, ET III grabbed two more interceptions and earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

The team’s perfect record came into jeopardy when the Longhorns faced off with Colorado on October 10th.

With the offense struggling, Texas found themselves behind 14–10 at halftime. But in the second half, Earl helped spark a Longhorn comeback with his 92–yard interception for a touchdown. UT later added on a pair of special teams touchdowns, which gave them a comfortable 34–14 victory.

“Earl’s playing so well,” Brown said after the game. “He’s one of the guys that I don’t think is getting enough credit. He’s hitting, he’s playing well, he’s intercepting balls. I’m really, really proud of those guys and I do think we’re getting better in the secondary.”

Following their big win over Colorado, the Longhorns faced a hungry Oklahoma team in the Red River Shootout. In front of over 96,000 fans in Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Earl put together one of the best games of his Texas career. He had seven tackles, including two for a loss, deflected two passes, forced a fumble and intercepted Bradford to clinch the 16-13 win.

“I approached the OU game like I had to be on top of things just like any other game,” Earl said. “It was usually a fist fight. You have the fair in the background and there’s all kinds of distractions, but I always looked at it as a great opportunity. I was focused on getting to the next level so I didn’t want to put any bad tape out there. I just wanted to be the best playmaker and communicator I could be.”

From there, the Longhorns breezed through the rest of the regular season, posting commanding victories over Missouri, Oklahoma State, Central Florida, Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M. Earl matched his career high in tackles with nine twice during that run, against Kansas and Texas A&M. He also had an impressive 50-yard punt return against the Jayhawks.

In the midst of his record-breaking season, Muschamp returned the compliments from ET III.

“We still have a ways to go, but he is a physical, relentless, mentally and physically tough football player,” Muschamp said. “And if you go watch him at practice, he’ll practice the same as he played on Saturday. There’s no difference. He is an absolute dream to coach.”

Their 12-0 run through the regular season earned Texas a place in the Big 12 Championship game against Nebraska, and Earl entered the bout against the Cornhuskers with an NCAA-leading eight interceptions to his name.

Looking for a trip to the National Championship in Pasadena, the No. 2 ranked Longhorns took part in a heart-racing contest against Nebraska in Cowboys Stadium. Neither offense managed to settle into a rhythm, as the game had six turnovers.

ET III and the UT defense did their job to keep the Cornhuskers at bay, but the Longhorns were down 12–1o deep into the fourth quarter. Texas’ national title dreams came into jeopardy in the final seconds when McCoy scrambled and threw the ball out of bounds with no time on the clock.

The Longhorns were given new life, however, when officials reviewed the play and decided to put one second back on the clock, which allowed Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence to drive home the game-winning field goal, giving his team a 13–12 victory and a trip to Southern California for the National Championship.

Following their Big 12 Championship win, the Longhorns team met up with Nick Saban’s perennial powerhouse, No. 1 ranked Alabama in the 2010 National Championship Game.

After starting out strong and going up 6-0, Texas was dealt a huge blow in the first quarter when McCoy went down with a shoulder injury. The Crimson Tide, powered by Heisman-winning running back Mark Ingram, used the opportunity to their advantage and scored 24 straight points in the second quarter while Texas backup quarterback Garret Gilbert struggled to find a rhythm.

While many counted them out, the Longhorns kept fighting. ET III and the defense held Alabama scoreless in the third frame and two long touchdown receptions from Jordan Shipley suddenly brought the score to 24-21 with just 6:15 left to play.

Unfortunately, the Longhorns fell victim to bad luck in the game’s waning minutes, as the Crimson Tide forced a fumble deep in Longhorn territory and then capitalized to make it 31-21.

On Texas’ last drive, Gilbert’s pass was intercepted at his own 27-yard line, allowing Alabama and Trent Richardson one more trip to the end zone that iced the game for good.

Despite falling short of his championship aspirations, it was a banner season for Earl. He was a finalist for the Thorpe Award given to the nation’s top defensive back and his eight interceptions, good for second in Division I, spurred the Longhorns to the top of the nation with 24 INT as a team. In addition, ET III topped the Longhorns with 71 tackles for the season.

That spring, Earl made the difficult decision to forego his two remaining years of eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft.

“It was a tough decision because we’re like brothers here,” Thomas said in a statement released by Texas. “The last two years the team has done great. We got to play in a lot of big-time games, won a Big 12 championship and just got done playing for the national championship. I think all of those experiences have helped prepare me for the next level.”

Brown also released a statement supporting his defensive rock.

“We appreciate everything Earl has done for Texas and want to wish him all of the best,” Brown said. “He has been a great player for us and more importantly a tremendous person, student and representative of our program. We thank him, support him and look forward to following his career in the NFL.”

ET III impressed many scouts in the months leading up to the NFL Draft, particularly at the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine.

Then in mid-April, Earl’s NFL dreams became a reality when he was selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 14th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, becoming the 42nd player in UT history to go in the first round.