Earl Thomas spent nine seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, blossoming not only into a perennial Pro Bowler and All-Pro, but one of the best safeties in NFL history along the way. Thomas was the backbone of the dominant Seattle defense that carried the team through the 2010s -- the best player in the famed Legion of Boom that underpinned so much of the team's success.

But toward the end of his tenure in Seattle, Thomas' relationship with the team soured. General manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll refused to engage Thomas in contract extension talks heading into the final year of his contract, and that led to a schism between him and the team. 

Thomas showed up to play the 2018 season anyway and was off to yet another great start with 22 tackles, three interceptions and five passes defensed in four games, but his season ended early when he broke his leg in the fourth game of the season. As Thomas was carted off the field, he famously saluted the Seahawks' sideline with his middle finger. 

To hear Thomas tell it, it's a decision he does not regret one bit. 

"I don't regret my decision," Thomas told ESPN.com's Josina Anderson. "If my teammates felt like it was towards them, then I regret that part, but I don't regret doing it to Pete."

Thomas said the iciness of his demeanor toward Carroll didn't stop on that cart. It continued when Carroll tried to come over and check on him. 

"I was basically talking s--- to Pete because I knew what happened, because I had been through it before," Thomas said. "I knew it was broke. Like when Pete came trying to act like he was concerned, I was like, 'You won, bro.' Just kept moving."

While it still rankles him, Thomas did intimate that he understands where the Seahawks were coming from. 

"It's a business at the end of the day," Thomas said. "I think my time just ran out. Pete and the front office, we just didn't, they didn't value me, I guess, like they used to. And I had just talked to coach Carroll. He was saying how he was trying to get me in their plans, of getting a new contract. But I got hurt the next week and I think I hurt myself too by my actions getting carted off the field. ... I gave Pete the middle finger because I felt like he wasn't being honest with me."

Thomas is now with the Ravens, having gotten paid like the star safety he is. He's part of another excellent defense, and assuming full health, he should be a quality safety for years to come.