Joe Thomas Was The First Offensive Lineman In NFL History And Is Now A First Ballot Hall of Famer

Jason Miller. Getty Images.

I know what you are thinking. This dip shit blogger messed up the title to a blog about a first ballot Hall of Famer who is one of the most beloved players from his favorite team. Joe Thomas, who played a mind boggling 10,363 consecutive snaps from 2007 to 2017, is absolutely one of the greats but there was nearly 100 years of football before he came along.

There's no way he was the first offensive lineman in NFL history. Well you're wrong. At least according to CBS.

This stupid joke is told frequently on Browns twitter and somehow perfectly encapsulates Joe. A man who played at an elite level for an entire career, doing hand-to-hand combat with some of the freakiest athletes the planet has ever seen, and still didn't take himself too seriously. 

Early on he was more of a "lead by example" type of player. A hard worker who would crack a joke here and there but didn't show his personality too often. Then, after years of being beat down by double-digit losing seasons and coaching changes (my words not his), he seemed to say fuck it. If I have to deal with the media every day I might as well have some fun with it.

We get that as Clevelanders. You have to have a sense of humor when you live in a place others mock incessantly and it snows for five months a year. In Joe, we saw someone who carried themselves with the same pride and hard-working attitude that we do every day. A guy who just wants to make sure his job is done right before he heads off to eat some BBQ and drink a beer with his buddies.

That new version of Joe Thomas is the one you see on social media and NFL Network. The one you hear busting balls on podcasts and cooking meats on his Twitter account. A dude who personifies "guy I'd love to have a beer with" perhaps more than any other athlete alive.

During his career, Joe Thomas protected so many bums that he should classify as a homeless shelter on his tax returns. When you think of that iconic Browns jersey with all the QB names on the back you should also think of Joe. Because he made sure a solid 3/5 of those guys didn't get murdered from their blind side.

Advertisement

The guy blocked for so many QBs he literally had to introduce himself to one in the huddle mid-game. That story is equally as sad as it is hilarious. But that's who Joe is. A guy who showed up to do his job and always had a good attitude, even if it meant blocking for guys who probably didn't deserve to stand on the same grass as him.

Thomas was a 6x All-Pro, a 10x Pro Bowler, and the only consistent element of a franchise that has been plagued by bafoonery and turmoil. You go to a Browns game now and you see way more Joe Thomas jerseys than any other player, current or former. And that is the way it should be.

It's a shame the Browns could never get Joe to the playoffs. But even with that, Joe always knew Cleveland was where he belonged. So much so that he rebuffed Peyton Manning's recruitment to Denver where he would have won a Super Bowl.

People outside our city might call him dumb or foolhardy for this decision. We call him one of us. And now his bust will appear just down the road in Canton where it belongs. Not just in the Hall of Fame, but among the people of Northeast Ohio that he represented so well.