Earl Thomas has to make a donation in order to get his number with the Ravens

NFL: Seattle Seahawks at Denver Broncos

Earl Thomas wanted his number 29 jersey with the Baltimore Ravens, but it came with a cost to pay.

With the Seattle Seahawks, Earl Thomas rocked number 29 throughout the first phase of his career. Now that he’s moved to the East, and will play for the Baltimore Ravens, he was a bit worried that he wasn’t going to get the number that he played with before.

Fortunately, Thomas is one of those veterans that has earned the right to get his number back no matter where he is. He might not have played for the Ravens before, but those guys on his new team sure know who he is. As Thomas enters Baltimore as one of the top safeties in the NFL, one of his younger teammates respectfully gave up the number that Thomas desired, but it won’t exactly come free though.

Thomas is breaking out the checkbook for No. 29

Typically, players might have to do some bribing for their jersey number. Sometimes, guys go as far as to paying their teammates for their jersey. Fortunately, Ravens’ cornerback Marlon Humphrey was willing to give Thomas his No. 29 without taking a dime from him. But he still requested a payment – just not to his personal account.

Apparently, Marlon Humphrey asked Earl Thomas to do just one thing for him. Make a donation to his mother’s track team. If he does that, then Earl Thomas can rock No. 29 for the rest of his career with the Ravens. That should be an easy deal for Thomas to make considering the amount of dough that he’s going to bring in on his new contract.

Earlier this week, Thomas signed a four-year deal, worth $55 million. His contract included a $20 million signing bonus, with $32 million of his contract guaranteed, according to Spotrac. I’m not sure how much his track team donation will be, but being that Thomas is getting paid generously, Humphrey’s mother should expect a nice paycheck very soon.

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