Thomas posted a short video on his Instagram account on Wednesday night in an attempt to pre-empt a TMZ report detailing the incident.

“I guess I’ll be on TMZ in the morning somehow they got a police report with details,” the caption to the video reads.

“Obviously this is not how I wanted my birthday breakfast to start out or my birthday but it is what it is.”

In the video, Thomas did not disclose any details of the “altercation” with his wife, suggesting his private life was “not anybody’s business” and that personal issues were part of everyday life.

“My agent just hit me and said I’m gonna be on TMZ tomorrow for an altercation that happened between me and Nina,” he said.

“So I just want to get ahead of it. It’s really not anybody’s business and it’s p****d that it got out but this is the world we live in today but instead of talking about it, just keep us in your prayers.

“Stuff like this happens, bro. We’re trying to live the best life we possibly can, but sometimes it doesn’t go as planned.”

Instead of waiting until Thursday, however, TMZ posted the story shortly after Thomas released his video.

A post shared by Earl Thomas III (@earl) on May 6, 2020 at 7:32pm PDT

According to court documents obtained by the website, officers from the Austin Police Department responded to a disturbance call at a house in Austin, Texas, at 3:41 a.m. local time on April 13.

When the police arrived on the premises they, as per court documents, “observed that a black female wearing an orange sweater with a knife in her hand, later identified as Nina Thomas, was chasing a shirtless black male, later identified as Earl Thomas, with a pistol in his hand around a vehicle.”

The Thomases were ordered to the ground and complied without issues, but the incident prompted officers to launch an investigation into the circumstances that had led to the disturbance.

In the court documents, Nina claimed she had an argument with her husband about his drinking earlier in the day, before he left the premises with his brother, Seth, who had come to pick him up. Not long after the NFL star had left, his wife tried to find out his whereabouts and logged into Snapchat account, where she found an unwanted surprise as she allegedly came across a video of Thomas with another woman.

The location corresponded to that of an Airbnb rental property nearby, Thomas’ wife added. According to court documents, she rang two friends to help her confront her husband and set off for the property, taking Thomas’ pistol—a 9mm Beretta—with her.

Court documents do not specify whether the gun was the same the Ravens star held when police officers arrived at his house earlier in the day and his wife maintained she only took the gun with her to “scare him”.

The filings go on to reveal that when Thomas’ wife and the other two women arrived at the rental property, they “discovered Earl and Seth naked in bed with other women.”

The court documents state Thomas’ wife pulled out the gun and pointed to the NFL star’s head. While she took out the magazine, officers reported she was “unaware that the gun had a round in the chamber”.

The incident was caught on camera by one of the women in the house and show the Ravens’ safety wrestling the gun off his wife, after she had also reportedly threatened the two women in bed with the Thomas brothers.

Thomas was not arrested, while his wife was arrested and booked for burglary of a residence with intent to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and family violence.

She was subsequently released on bond but was issued with an emergency protective order, which requires her to stay 200 yards away from her husband.