Running Back Thomas Rawls Signs With New York Jets

Running back Thomas Rawls, who spent his first three NFL seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, signed a free-agent deal with the New York Jets on Friday.

Mar 30, 2018 at 06:00 AM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

After three seasons in Seattle, running back Thomas Rawls is heading to New York, having signed with the Jets as a free agent on Friday.

Rawls joined the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie out of Central Michigan and made the team out of training camp as a backup to Marshawn Lynch. When Lynch went down with an injury, Rawls took over and proceeded to rush for more than 100 yards in two of his first three starts. Rawls' impressive rookie campaign, which also included a Seahawks rookie-record 209-yard performance against the 49ers, was cut short by a leg injury in Week 14, but not before he gained 830 yards on 147 carries, good for a league-best 5.6 yard-per-carry average.

As I embark on a new journey, I wanna thank all the amazing men and my teammates who I've shared blood, sweat, and tears with these past 3 years in Seattle. They are men of great character, accountability, passion, respect, fight, perseverance, and men of God. My time in Seattle has been so heartwarming, especially as someone who comes from the North Side of Flint, Michigan, a place where life is a daily challenge! Thank you to Pete Carroll my first NFL HC, John Schneider, and Paul Allen for allowing me and my family to be a part of an amazing organization and community in Seattle that I will forever cherish. Century Link Field will always be a special spot! I had so much fun and we've accomplished so much: crazy endings, broken records, and finishing games when we all was in belief. I wanna thank the fans, my 12s, you guys mean so much to me. Your love, motivation, support, and energy will be with me every step of the way. To the youth who look up to me and keep me going, I want you to know that you matter, you are enough, you are worthy, you are fighters, and from afar we will continue to grow. I wanna thank all my coaches from offense, defense, and special teams. Thank you to all the people—janitors, nutritionists, chefs, security, front office, and many more—everyone played a huge role in my life and helped not just my career but you make me a better man. Those who know me know that I will continue to persevere and grow through any challenges that come my way. I'm accepting a new challenge in life to elevate myself as a person and teammate. I will keep that fire 🔥 and the emotions for this game I truly love in my heart and spread them with this big smile and run with a little more love 😉!! Thank you, Seattle Seahawks, for an amazing Journey. 🚂🚂🚂 T. Rawls🚂🚂🚂

A post shared by Thomas Rawls (@t.rawls810) on Mar 30, 2018 at 12:31pm PDT

Rawls returned from that leg injury in 2016, only to be sidelined by a second leg fracture. He did make it back from that injury during the season, and in Seattle's wild card playoff win over Detroit, Rawls set a franchise postseason record by rushing for 161 yards on 27 carries. Rawls struggled to find consistent playing time and touches in 2017, gaining 157 yards on 58 carries in 12 games.

Running Back Thomas Rawls Signs With New York Jets

Running back Thomas Rawls, who spent his first three NFL seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, signed a free-agent deal with the New York Jets on Friday.

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