Five seasons into his NFL career, a rare opportunity awaits Earl Thomas as his Seattle Seahawks prepare to take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday evening in Glendale, Ariz.

In his short-time as a pro, Earl has already accomplished so much. He is a four-time All-Pro, including three times as First Team All-Pro selection. He is also a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He’s widely regarded as the best safety in the NFL and he’s backed that moniker up with his play.

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Over his five NFL seasons, the Seahawks have compiled a 50-30 record in the regular season and an 8-2 mark in the postseason, including a run to last season’s Super Bowl. Now ET III and his Seattle teammates are trying for the rare feat of winning back-to-back Super Bowls—and they’ll do so against the last team to complete the task.

After earning the first Super Bowl victory in franchise history last season, the Seahawks faced a mountain of expectations entering the 2014 season, all with a target on their backs the shape and size of the Lombardi Trophy. The regular season got off to a rocky 3-3 start as the Hawks attempted to meet those expectations. But they got on track midseason, have lost just one game since, and are peaking at just the right time, riding an eight-game winning streak into the Super Bowl.

Now there is just one more expectation for Seattle, to repeat as champions, something that has not been accomplished in 10 years. Doing so has been the Seahawks’ goal all along. And despite myriad distractions lingering around them in this week leading up to their date with destiny — the looming opportunity to repeat, media hoopla surrounding the Super Bowl and injuries threatening to impede some of Seattle’s stars — none of it can fog the vision of Earl, the Legion of Boom and the rest of the Hawks. The Seahawks are simply focused on the basics of the task ahead.

“It is a regular game,” Earl said. “When you really take it like that and you play to the final whistle blows, all the love outside…you can’t really worry about who is watching the game or what is behind the camera. You just have to focus on this. This is natural. This is what we do. This is another game. Don’t let the outside sources interfere with what we have going on. After that [game], I’ll walk off the plane and I am back in Seattle and the parade and stuff like that is happening. That is when you realize what you are talking about.”

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The team Seattle has to go through on Sunday to reach their championship goal is no stranger to the stage either. Led by a head coach in Bill Belichick and a quarterback in Tom Brady who will be appearing in their sixth Super Bowl together and have won three of them, the Patriots are big game veterans. In addition to their storied history in the Super Bowl, New England has at least gone to the AFC championship game in nine of the last 14 seasons.

“They are the only team in our way. They are definitely dangerous,” No. 29 reasoned.

Brady in particular presents a serious challenge for ET III and the LOB. The future Hall of Fame quarterback is 20-8 in the postseason for his career and holds NFL records for most postseason wins and touchdown passes by a quarterback, among plenty of others.

“Tom is a general,” Earl said. “He understands the game so well. His pocket presence is smooth. He doesn’t predetermine too much. He kind of flows with the game and that is why he has been so great. He’s a general in every regard. He runs it. He plays with a chip on his shoulder….He’s a warrior in a way.”

The admiration between Brady and ET III is mutual. When asked about Earl during one of his media sessions this week, New England’s No. 12 praised Seattle’s No. 29.

“Earl’s a phenomenal player,” Brady said. “I only had the chance to play against him one time but he’s a great safety. The best safety in the league as far as I’m concerned.”

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With little experience against the Seahawks head-to-head, Brady did film study to determine exactly what ET III does for the Hawks and what makes the Seattle defense tick. Brady surmised that the two things go hand-in-hand, and that Earl makes the difference for the Seahawks defense simply by doing his job as well as anyone in the league.

“With Earl, the way he plays the middle of the field, he’s not physically a big guy but he plays big,” Brady said. “He’s got great speed, great anticipation, he sees the field really well, he’s a playmaker. Anytime you’re good in the secondary, it makes for a tough defense. The safety position means you’re the safety for the whole defense and when you take that literally it’s about preventing big plays, it’s about roaming the deep part of the field and making sure the opposing offense isn’t making those game-changing plays and I think this Seahawks defense has done a better job than any team in the league at that.”

New England’s offensive personnel are well aware of the impact Earl makes simply by being on the football field. They know that entering Area 29 is a challenge via the running game or the passing game. According to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels what sets ET III apart as the overlord of the Seattle secondary are his instincts as well as his ability to diagnose a play and what’s going to happen next before it does, a rare trait that’s tough to account for.

“He’s a free safety that impacts almost everything that you do…it doesn’t really take him long to go from Point A to Point B. He’s a guy that’s incredibly intelligent because he can sense how close the rush is and once he senses how close the rush is, he’s gonna go,” McDaniels said. “He reads patterns well, he senses the rush and he’s willing to take a chance. Those are the guys when they take chances and they’re always right, those are the guys that are scariest to play against. You just gotta be mindful of him on every play.”

The Patriots have much for Earl and the Legion of Boom to be mindful of as well. Seattle must simultaneously attempt to befuddle Brady and contain his versatile and lethal set of offensive weapons. New England boasts a solid wide receiver corps, led by Julian Edelman, who finished the regular season with 92 catches for 972 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Additionally, fifth-year receiver Brandon LaFell, enjoyed a breakout season in his first year with the Pats, with 74 catches for 953 yards and seven touchdowns.

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However, Brady’s favorite target, and the player Seattle must focus their attention on, is star tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski is healthy for his first postseason since his breakout 2011 season, and enjoyed his best season since that year in 2014.

Gronkowski hauled in 82 passes for 1,124 yards with 12 touchdowns in the regular season. He’s kept it up in the postseason, with touchdowns in both of New England’s games among his 10 catches and 136 yards. He’s red-hot heading into the Super Bowl with touchdowns in five consecutive games and the Hawks will have to figure out a way to stop the player that nobody else seems able to even disrupt.

“He’s a big guy. We understand how they want to use him and we have to use our knowledge to our advantage,” Earl said of the Patriots tight end. “We worry about what we have to do. We worry about our job and it is just the personnel and the matchups. We match up very well in this game, so we are going to focus in our job and own our role. I want to be the best free safety for the Seattle Seahawks and we will see what happens at the end of the game.”

Though they don’t always run the ball very often, the Patriots have a very capable backfield that runs four deep with Shane Vereen, LeGarrette Blount, Brandon Bolden and Jonas Gray. Vereen is the most versatile of the group and finished fourth on the team in receptions and receiving yards while also second in rushes and rushing yards this year. Bolden and Gray are used sparingly, but Gray did run for 201 yards and four touchdowns in Week 11 against the Indianapolis Colts, so he’s more than capable of stepping up if needed.

But New England’s feature back of late has been Blount. Since returning to the Patriots midseason, after spending the first 11 weeks of the season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Blount has proven extremely valuable to New England.

At 6’0” and 250 pounds, Blount is a challenge for any defensive player to bring down, as evidenced by his most recent performance. In the AFC Championship game against Indianapolis, he carried the ball 30 times for 148 yards and three touchdowns and the Colts had absolutely no answer for him.

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Earl acknowledged the New England running game as one of the biggest tests facing Seattle on Sunday, but it’s safe to say he’s not losing any sleep over it.

“They do a good job of changing it up. They have a scat-back that is a strong, physical runner.
With me with this shoulder, I definitely have to have a tackling plan,” he said, adding that Blount is also going to challenge him. “Big body. Definitely up there on the tackling plan going against him. It’s going to be a test.”

Though he hasn’t forgotten about his clipped wing, Earl said this week that his shoulder, which was separated in the first half of the NFC Championship win over Green Bay, won’t be an issue on Sunday.

Though Seahawks fans held their breath after Earl hurt his shoulder and again when star cornerback Richard Sherman sprained his elbow late in the same game, there was never any doubt whether either player would suit up for the Super Bowl. Each of them stated as much without hesitation in the aftermath of the incredible comeback against the Green Bay Packers two weeks ago, and both men have only seen their health improve daily in the nearly two weeks since. ET III noted this week that it would have taken a catastrophe to keep him from returning to the game that Sunday, or playing in this one.

“Since I was a kid, every time I got hurt I always came back in the game,” he said. “I remember I played third base on my all-star baseball team and there was a weird ground ball that hit me in the mouth. I had braces at the time. My lip got stuck to the braces and I had to go to the emergency room. My dad said, ‘Do you want to go back and play?’ I was like, ‘Of course.’ This is me. I love competing. I am just glad we are reliving our dreams. It feels like a movie.”

ET III practiced fully this week, and although he knows he’ll have to adjust his style slightly, he’s not concerned by how it will impact or limit his performance.

“When I come alive nothing is limited. I can still play fearless and throw my body around and whatever happens, happens,” No. 29 said. “My mindset is that I have an opportunity to really trust my teammates…and that is what I am banking on – my teammates doing what they need to do and I need to come through myself.”

When they’re not on the field themselves, ET and the LOB will look out at some kindred spirits in New England’s secondary on Sunday. In addition to All-Pro corner Darrelle Revis, the Pats boast a former LOB member, cornerback Brandon Browner, who had been with Seattle since Earl’s second season in the league before signing with New England as a free agent this offseason.

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Browner was a member of the Seahawks last season, but this season represents the first time he’s actually lived this dream. The fourth-year cornerback was suspended by the league late in the 2013 season, a suspension that carried through last year’s playoffs, so he had to settle for a front row seat to Seattle’s championship coronation.

Though he was still part of the team, and received a Super Bowl ring for his contributions to the 2013-14 Seahawks, Browner admitted that it didn’t feel like he was a part of the win because he wasn’t on the field. And while he remains close with ET III, Sherman and the rest of the Legion Of Boom, he has left no uncertainty that he wants to win far more than he wants to be polite.

“Oh definitely. Those dudes are tough,” Browner said, when asked if he expected Earl and Sherman to be themselves on the field despite the injuries. “Like watching the game, Sherman was holding that arm like he had a sling on it. But at the end of the day, this is about the Super Bowl, I’m going to tell my teammates ‘go hit that elbow, go hit that shoulder. Most definitely, hit it. Try to break it if you can. You’re going to be my best friend after the game, but at the end of the day, I know you want the Super Bowl just as bad as I do.”

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While Browner drew some criticism for his comments, which Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright called “unacceptable,” fellow Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner didn’t think they were meant the way they came out. Wagner explained to reporters that he and the Seahawks know Browner, and that he didn’t mean anything harmful by them.

“If somebody knows you’re weak in an area, they’re definitely going to try to exploit it,” Wagner said. “I don’t think he meant it in a malicious way or trying to hurt Sherm by any means. It’s just, all trying to compete. It’s a competitive nature.”

Earl believes that, in part because Browner and others from last year’s squad departed and in part because of the large target on their backs, this season was much more trying for the Seahawks than last year. Because the team stuck together, stayed loyal to each other and never stopped fighting, he surmised that they’re all stronger as a result.

“I enjoy it this year way better. I don’t want to say last year was easy, but, man, we had to fight. You all were doubting us. I love it,” he said. “We did it different as far as the people. It was a different journey, different situations as far as adversity. We learn from all those situations that got us to this point,” he added. “We can do whatever we want to do if we are all together. We haven’t lost sight of the same mindset that got us here. No matter what misdirection we may give off. We still know who we are.”

Kickoff for Super Bowl XLIX is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. PT on Sunday from University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The game will be broadcast on NBC.

RELATED LINKS

  • Earl Thomas press conference (Seahawks.com, January 25, 2015)
  • Getting to know Earl Thomas (The Seattle Times, January 28, 2015)
  • A conversation with the Legion Of Boom (January 27, 2015)
  • Analyzing the Super Bowl matchup (NFL.com)
  • Key stats in Super Bowl (CBS Sports, January 27, 2015)
  • Things to watch in Super Bowl (Fox Sports, January 26, 2015)
  • How Aaron Rodgers earned Earl Thomas’ respect (Sportsgrid, January 27, 2015)
  • Elementary school children write letters to Earl Thomas (Beaumont Enterprise, January 28, 2015)
  • Brandon Browner speaks about Legion Of Boom (ESPN, January 26, 2015)
  • Seahawks react to Browner’s comments (Pro Football Talk, January 26, 2015)
  • Browner clarifies, stands by remarks about Thomas and Sherman (ESPN, January 27, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas talks Texas before Super Bowl (The Dallas Morning News, January 28, 2015)
  • Sherman gets the hype, but Thomas ‘phenomenal’ says Brady (CSN NE, Jan. 28, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman appear healthy in practice (Seattle Times, Jan. 28, 2015)