Browns will be as supportive as possible for Joe Thomas’ HOF ceremony

On Mar 29, 2023

Former Browns left tackle Joe Thomas is greeted by former teammates as he is honored in a ceremony at halftime of a game against the New York Jets , Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Cleveland.

PHOENIX — The Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week is going to be a major event for the Browns organization.

The Browns will play the New York Jets in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 3 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Two days later, they will have their first enshrinee from the post-1999 expansion era be inducted when offensive tackle Joe Thomas goes in as a member of the Class of 2023.

So Browns fans will be plentiful in Canton both Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon of that week. However, coach Kevin Stefanski couldn’t necessarily commit to the team being in attendance for Thomas’ enshrinement ceremony when asked at the NFL’s annual meetings Monday.

“We’ll see,” Stefanski said. “I mean, obviously the Hall of Fame Game, playing in that, is a thrill for us cause we get to celebrate Joe. How that looks in this when he goes in, I’m not exactly sure, but we will be as supportive as we can be for Joe. He’s more than deserving. No shock that he goes in as a first ballot guy. So pumped for Joe, pumped for the organization.”

The Enshrinement Ceremony will be at noon Aug. 5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The rest of the class includes Ronde Barber, Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko, Darrelle Revis, Ken Riley, Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware and Don Coryell.

Browns shave week off offseason, gain one for training camp

The Browns’ participation in the Hall of Fame Game has adjusted their schedule both in the offseason and training camp. Stefanski reiterated the team’s plans for how it is going to approach the offseason workouts, which are voluntary save for a three-day mandatory minicamp, to make up for an additional week of training camp.

“So we’re going to end a week early,” Stefanski said. “So we’ll have two weeks of OTAs into our minicamp as opposed to three weeks of OTAs into our minicamp. So it’ll be OTAs one through three, OTAs four through six, then a minicamp and then we’ll be done because we’re going to come back a week early. So took a week off of the offseason program, added it to training camp.”

The Browns will have OTA May 23-25 and May 30-June 1. The mandatory minicamp will then be conducted June 6-8.