Free agent safety Earl Thomas, who hasn’t played since 2019, recently said he wants to return to the NFL. That wasn’t likely to happen anyway, but it’s even less likely now.
A judge in Austin, Texas, issued an arrest warrant for Thomas after he violated a court protective order by sending threatening messages to a woman about her and her children, the Austin American-Statesman reports.
Thomas faces a third-degree felony charge for allegedly violating the protective order two or more times within 12 months, according to court records obtained by the newspaper. Magistrate George Thomas signed the warrant April 27, but Thomas hasn’t yet been booked into the Travis County jail.
Thomas’ divorce attorney, Trey Dolezal, told the newspaper he left a message for Thomas about the arrest warrant, adding that it involved Thomas reaching out to his wife seeking to see their children.
“They were consciously and collectively working together to see his kids,” Dolezal told the Statesman. “I don’t really understand how he could be in violation by working together to visit with his children.”
Police allege in the arrest affidavit that Thomas violated a protective order issued in May 2021 requiring Thomas to communicate with the woman only through a co-parenting phone application.