The cool story behind Earl Thomas's fancy Russian cap

Injured Seahawk Earl Thomas stalked the sidelines Saturday night as Seattle throttled the Detroit Lions, and he looked damn fine doing so. Thomas sported a warm cap that didn’t just look Russian; as it turned out, the cap is Russian.

The Seattle Times brings us the story of Thomas’s cap, which reads, in Cyrillic: “Restricted Air Space. No fly zone. Restricted by Earl Thomas.” It was a gift from a group of Seahawks fans calling themselves the “Russian Sea Hawkers,” scattered across nations including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Germany and the Czech Republic, fans who gather via social media to listen to and watch Seahawks games in the middle of the night.

The Sea Hawkers worked together to create the hat and present it to Thomas, along with a letter that read, in part, “We wish you to stay on the field for many years with no injuries, to hold Lombardi Trophy in your hands couple of times more, and to put on a gold jacket in Canton afterwards. We wish you all the best, be happy and let love, peace and harmony live at your home.” (Read the full letter here.)

Here’s Thomas rolling up to CenturyLink Field sporting the cap, via Instagram:

The Seahawks didn’t miss Thomas against the Lions, but facing Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons offense this Saturday, they’ll need all the good wishes the Sea Hawkers can offer.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.