Joe Thomas not sweating out wait for Pro Football Hall of Fame

On Jan 26, 2023

Former Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas is congratulated by Josh Cribbs after being inducted into the Browns Ring of Honor at against the New York Jets on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022 in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND — Joe Thomas isn’t sweating the final few days before he finds out for sure if he’s going to be among the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023. That’s not the case for his son Jack.

“Right now I feel like I’m just annoying my son because he tells me every day his friends ask him if he learned yet if his dad was in the Hall of Fame and he gets mad because he doesn’t know yet,” the former Browns left tackle said Wednesday prior to hosting the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, “and then he yells at me about it. So it’ll be nice to get my son off my back.”

The 38-year-old Thomas, who found out on Jan. 4 that he was one of the 15 finalists for the Hall of Fame, will have to deal with his son’s nagging for a little bit longer. The Class of 2023 will be announced on Feb. 9.

For Thomas himself, those two-plus weeks may as well be any other random mid-winter two-plus weeks. The only day where it may change is the day in which he actually learns if he’s going to be in the class.

Former Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas addresses the crowd after being inducted into the Browns Ring of Honor during halftime Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022 in Cleveland.

“I don’t really have a whole lot of anxiety because the old farmer saying is the hay’s in the barn already,” Thomas said. “Not going to be anything I’m going to do between now and the next couple weeks that’s going to change the vote, which I actually think already happened. So I’m sure when the day comes that we find out we’re going to learn if we’re in or not, I’ll have some more butterflies.”

Part of that may be because what awaits in a couple of weeks has felt like a formality since the day Thomas finally announced he was calling it a career following the 2017 season. He retired from the Browns having been a six-time first-team All-Pro selection and reached 10 Pro Bowls.

Thomas is one of three finalists in their first year of eligibility, along with cornerback Darrelle Revis and defensive end Dwight Freeney. Despite what feels like an inevitability, he’s not banking on a trip to Canton in early August just yet.

“Yeah, you never know,” Thomas said. “I mean, I feel like I did what I could during my time in the NFL and you never know how the voters are going to lean one way or the other or what they’re going to weigh more than something else. But I feel pretty confident.”

Maybe his most impressive accomplishment came in his durability, right up until the moment his career ended on his 10,363rd snap. It was only when he suffered what proved to be a career-ending triceps injury on Oct. 22, 2017, that Thomas actually missed a snap.

Thomas, while serving as host for Wednesday’s awards ceremony, joked that the “10,363” that is serving as a placeholder for his number and name on the stadium’s facade actually represents the number of quarterbacks he blocked for over his career. His former teammates, though, believe that streak may be the most impressive thing about him.

“I tried and I was nowhere near,” former Browns cornerback Joe Haden said of Thomas’ consecutive snap streak. “I missed a lot of games in my career and it’s a physical game. It’s a tough sport. And him playing on the line, a position where you’re hitting every single play, you’re battling against the best pass rushers that they have, it just shows like his body, it’s a blessing that you can be able to play. It’s 100% injury. So he’s not only playing healthy, he’s playing hurt out there, fighting for his teammates. And to play at that consistent high level, just, I can’t say that enough, to go to consecutive Pro Bowls, to not miss snaps and to be there for your team every single week for 16 weeks, that’s unheard of.”

Thomas arrived in Cleveland as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft out of the University of Wisconsin. His first season with the the Browns was also the only time in his career he played on a winning team, as they finished 10-6 but missed out on the playoffs.

However, even in that first season, there was little doubting the potential the Browns had in their neophyte left tackle. Now that Thomas has grown from that rookie with potential to on the precipice of the Hall of Fame, those who saw him in those very early days are proud of the journey that will likely take him to Canton.

“I mean, I don’t know if you saw it in him, but you sure as hell knew he was different and then as the years progressed, yeah, it became pretty obvious that Joe was Joe Thomas,” former Browns receiver Joe Jurevicius said. “So I’ve stayed in touch with Joe over the years, and when he got the nod that he could potentially be a finalist reach out to him and congratulated him, and he deserves anything that’s come. He’s a staple for the city of Cleveland, and I’m proud of what he’s done and what he means to the city. There’s a guy that genuinely loves the city of Cleveland.”

Contact Chris at [email protected].

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ