https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2023/02/want-to-see-joe-thomas-inducted-into-pro-football-hall-of-fame-enshrinement-ceremony-tickets-on-sale-this-week.html

JT HOF Gear?  https://www.profootballhof.com/store/class-of-2023-exclusive-gear/?pg=1&player_name=Joe Thomas

@berniesuperbowl2 said:

I went back and looked at all the quarterbacks that played during Joe's tenure with the Browns from 2007-2017. All I could say is: "My god." It's like a who's who of draft busts, washed up QB's, and no-names. 

Oh boy, good work, although I'm getting flashbacks of Seneca Wallace & Pat UnShurmer letting the clock run out in the first half at Baltimore on Christmas Eve.....with 3 timeouts and 1st & goal at the 7 yard line?

@ballpeen said:

Anybody surprised?   Really ?  Well ....

Surprised no  -but-  a bit apprehensive until the final vote  actually  came out and was posted.

JOE THOMAS   OG  CLEVELAND BROWNS in his first year of eligibility in the  * NFL HALL of  FAME *

Thank goodness and so welcomed by the Cleveland BROWNS football fans everywhere. 

@berniesuperbowl2 said:

I went back and looked at all the quarterbacks that played during Joe's tenure with the Browns from 2007-2017. All I could say is: "My god." It's like a who's who of draft busts, washed up QB's, and no-names. 

Appreciate the research Bernie!   The only 2 successful QBs this franchise has drafted since getting Mike Phipps REALLY wrong in 1970 were - 13th round pick Brian Sipe (San Diego State) in 1972 and Supplemental 1st round pick Bernie Kosar (University of Miami) in 1985.     Getting Sipe right even if by accident, gave us the only NFL MVP this fanbase has been able to watch in the Super Bowl and Color Television era.  Getting a National Champion like Bernie Kosar also very exciting.  It only made sense that Sipe passed the Kardiac Kids torch onto Kosar.  It also only made sense that these are the 2 favorite QBs of my lifetime. LOVED these guys!!!!

Not being able to draft any keepers at QB since then is the reason the Browns remain the only team in their division not to appear in 1 Super Bowl.  There's been a TON of great QBs the FOs for this franchise didn't draft with every excuse except admitting they aren't the right FO Execs for Cleveland.  Today, we have a 230 million $ QB that we looked down our nose at back when he would have only cost us one 1st round pick.  Evidently, he wasn't appealing until it was obvious he was going to be suspended.  All we can do now is hope it works.

@nickers said:

Plus also factor in Norv Turner was his OC and Norv does not employ an audible system in his offence there by minimizing Anderceptions responsibilities and sticking to the script.

Yeah, too bad he couldn't have made most of the split-second decisions for DA once he started slumping/losing confidence.  I'll never forget how much the Frat Boy from Oregon State (Lumberg) adored DA.  That led to a lot of hilarious and outrageous threads.  Just to get him going sometimes I'd remind him that DA was the acro for Dumb Ass.  One time he replied with a picture of Brady Quinn in a pink thong asking me if I wanted to join Shep's Queer-Eye for the wrong guy club (that he later re-named Quinn Fags).  Lumberg would have been a fun guy to drink beer with before he started stalking Bills Mafia message boards.

@flugel said:

Well said!  Damn, I forgot to include Joe Jurevicius. Anyway, we had a pretty well balanced offense in Joe's rookie year 2007.  Derek Anderson's Cinderella season had an early midnight though (once enough teams got him on film).  Still, we'd do anything today to get 29 TD passes out of a QB here in just 15 starts. Then again, we'd also do anything to have Joe Thomas protecting the blind side of QB again. On the other hand, the 19 INTs with most of them coming after the early midnight didn't keep the fanbase confident in him.  He went from CInderella to Ricky Ankiel on the mound. Ankiel was a very promising young MLB pitcher that inexplicably completely lost his art and ability to throw strikes as well as the volume of pitches he previously excelled with. Anyway, 2007 was the ONLY season Braylon Edwards played like the WR we hoped we drafted.  How many times have we seen a starting WR here catch 16 TD passes?  

You're not kidding about 2008 though.  It was a bad alarm clock waking this team up and reminding them they were supposed to lose.

Plus also factor in Norv Turner was his OC and Norv does not employ an audible system in his offence there by minimizing Anderceptions responsibilities and sticking to the script.

@gumby73 said:

“She told me, ‘Honey, go put some pants on,’” Thomas said. ?

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2023/02/joe-thomas-reveals-who-delivered-his-hall-of-fame-knock-and-the-two-words-that-brought-to-him-tears.html

" I remember "   reading back when super Joe was finally out of the NFL life  ... for good .... he had do drop down off of his 10,000+ calorie daily diet and everything that he used to eat a day  to maintain that  300+ pound NFL OL lineman required body.

What a diet starting with the eggs then milkshakes and other goodies along with the required workouts to maintain his required fighting form to play.   And he did it well.  I remember seeing him long after that and the  "new Joe"  look wow what a change.

Congratulations Joe the newest Cleveland BROWNS HOF member.     

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2023/02/joe-thomas-reveals-who-delivered-his-hall-of-fame-knock-and-the-two-words-that-brought-to-him-tears.html

@tiamat63 said:

Derek Anderson's season was made possible for several big reasons.

you missed the most important reason of dereks success it was josh cribbs giving us fantastic field position and letting derek play with a shorter field 

@tiamat63 said:

Derek Anderson's season was made possible for several big reasons.

- The investment and overnight improvement of the Browns Oline

- The playcalling and coaching of Chudinzski

- The (limited) health and ability of KW2  as the modern "move" TE/H/Y.

- Having a saavy vet like Jerevicious who could bail out Anderson's lack of ability to process defenses.  

- The one year resurgence of Jamal Lewis and the running game.  

Edwards had a high drop percentage at Michigan and I remember hating that pick.  Him falling off was only a matter of time.  Definition of a one hit wonder.   Combine that with the fall off from the Ravens play thanks to Kyle Boller, and having DB's allergic to tackling...  the Browns were prime for regression in the 2008 season. 

Well said!  Damn, I forgot to include Joe Jurevicius. Anyway, we had a pretty well balanced offense in Joe's rookie year 2007.  Derek Anderson's Cinderella season had an early midnight though (once enough teams got him on film).  Still, we'd do anything today to get 29 TD passes out of a QB here in just 15 starts. Then again, we'd also do anything to have Joe Thomas protecting the blind side of QB again. On the other hand, the 19 INTs with most of them coming after the early midnight didn't keep the fanbase confident in him.  He went from CInderella to Ricky Ankiel on the mound. Ankiel was a very promising young MLB pitcher that inexplicably completely lost his art and ability to throw strikes as well as the volume of pitches he previously excelled with. Anyway, 2007 was the ONLY season Braylon Edwards played like the WR we hoped we drafted.  How many times have we seen a starting WR here catch 16 TD passes?  

You're not kidding about 2008 though.  It was a bad alarm clock waking this team up and reminding them they were supposed to lose.

@bob806 said:

Plus Derek Anderson's sizzle faded away & Braylon Edwards forgot how to catch a ball. 

2008-2017 had to be the worst 10 year run in franchise history. Unreal how awful it was.

Derek Anderson's season was made possible for several big reasons.

- The investment and overnight improvement of the Browns Oline

- The playcalling and coaching of Chudinzski

- The (limited) health and ability of KW2  as the modern "move" TE/H/Y.

- Having a saavy vet like Jerevicious who could bail out Anderson's lack of ability to process defenses.  

- The one year resurgence of Jamal Lewis and the running game.  

Edwards had a high drop percentage at Michigan and I remember hating that pick.  Him falling off was only a matter of time.  Definition of a one hit wonder.   Combine that with the fall off from the Ravens play thanks to Kyle Boller, and having DB's allergic to tackling...  the Browns were prime for regression in the 2008 season. 

@sdbacker80 said:

Yes and No - the most important position on the field We had Quinn, McCoy and Weeden that followed on rosters that weren’t too shabby and given a line to protect them.   We were rescued a bit when Lil Shanny gave us a little hope early in 2014.

You can’t repeatedly F up the QB position we are a prime example and case study of having an all world blind side protector and it means Jack when they are protecting crap. 

Plus Derek Anderson's sizzle faded away & Braylon Edwards forgot how to catch a ball. 

2008-2017 had to be the worst 10 year run in franchise history. Unreal how awful it was.

@bob806 said:

It still is baffling to me that the Browns just died in 2008 after such a good 2007. 

I think Crennel was a decent coach, maybe not a great motivator.

Yes and No - the most important position on the field We had Quinn, McCoy and Weeden that followed on rosters that weren’t too shabby and given a line to protect them.   We were rescued a bit when Lil Shanny gave us a little hope early in 2014.

You can’t repeatedly F up the QB position we are a prime example and case study of having an all world blind side protector and it means Jack when they are protecting crap. 

@flugel said:

Very sad.  It didn't start that way though. 

The only good team he played on was his rookie year when the Browns went 10-6; and they still couldn't make the playoffs.  The Browns had a really good offensive line that year.  They had Joe at LT, Eric Steinbach at LG, Hank Fraley at Center, Seth McKinney at RG and Kevin Shaffer at RT (who was far more effective at RT than LT for the Browns).  That 2007 season seemed like the only year Braylon Edwards played to his expectations with 16 TD receptions and 1289 yards receiving from 53 receptions.  KWII had 82 receptions for  1106 yards and 5 TD. Jamal Lewis had 1304 yards rushing and 9 TDs on 298 carries.  DA threw 29 TD passes (but 19 INT) in the 3797 yards he threw for in the 15 games he played in.  Phil Dawson had a great year.  Joe had to be thinking, this was a great start with a lot of good things to come for this franchise.

Anderson had a good year but had a couple clunkers that really cost us that season.  I remember Anderson smiling and laughing it up on the sideline after one of those clunkers that ultimately cost us a shot at the playoffs.  And then who can forget last game of the season the Dominant Colts led by Manning turn to Jim Sorgi when we needed them the most and get beat by the titans and the 10-6 Browns sit at home for the playoffs. 
 

And a Great line as you pointed out but a little later we had Schwartz, Mack and Thomas at one point protecting busts and journeyman and we went nowhere.  

@sdbacker80 said:

Amazing numbers from Joe considering he protected trash QBs that held onto the ball too long.  Sadly we could have had a Joe on each side (if that is even possible) and still not sniffed the playoffs and it is damn shame that he wasn’t on better teams. 

It still is baffling to me that the Browns just died in 2008 after such a good 2007. 

I think Crennel was a decent coach, maybe not a great motivator.

@sdbacker80 said:

Amazing numbers from Joe considering he protected trash QBs that held onto the ball too long.  Sadly we could have had a Joe on each side (if that is even possible) and still not sniffed the playoffs and it is damn shame that he wasn’t on better teams. 

Very sad.  It didn't start that way though. 

The only good team he played on was his rookie year when the Browns went 10-6; and they still couldn't make the playoffs.  The Browns had a really good offensive line that year.  They had Joe at LT, Eric Steinbach at LG, Hank Fraley at Center, Seth McKinney at RG and Kevin Shaffer at RT (who was far more effective at RT than LT for the Browns).  That 2007 season seemed like the only year Braylon Edwards played to his expectations with 16 TD receptions and 1289 yards receiving from 53 receptions.  KWII had 82 receptions for  1106 yards and 5 TD. Jamal Lewis had 1304 yards rushing and 9 TDs on 298 carries.  DA threw 29 TD passes (but 19 INT) in the 3797 yards he threw for in the 15 games he played in.  Phil Dawson had a great year.  Joe had to be thinking, this was a great start with a lot of good things to come for this franchise.

@dutch-oven said:

No.

I'll agree that Brown did more to advance professional football than Lombardi did, but Lombardi was the better head coach, and he won the first two Super Bowls. 

Its fine how it is. 

How about the NFL Coach of the Year being awarded the Paul Brown Award? 

I bring this up every year about this time

@gumby73 said:

a small FWIW..

My son-in-law & I made the trip to the Philly Draft (bless ya Tour for the hotel arrangements ? Garrett #1)

The morning of, we headed the walk to downtown Philly..

Our 1st visit was to the Sirius radio booth to meet Bruce Murray with a handshake.. Bruce graciously gave us the tour of the booth & his guest that day surprisingly was former browns GM Phil Savage.. Well.... dressed in Browns gear... that met ya got the man bro shake & side hug from Phil..

during meeting Phil, I personally wanted to thank him & his staff for drafting our now HOF'er Joe Thomas... mission accomplished.. Congrats Hall of Fame'r Joe Thomas..

I'll be on a SB weekend mission, to book a Amtrak to Canton, Ohio for Joe's induction.. Hope to see some of you Dawgs there !

It's finally Cleveland Browns Night in Canton O H- ! 

Excellent story !   And the full circle  ........

From the Cleveland BROWNS  number 73 in his first season of eligibility with 10,343 consecutive snaps from center   Mr Joe Thomas .  

Now how sweet is that ?

GO BROWNS  !

@nickers said:

All I can say is fuck the HOF committee... Until they induct Clay Mathews #57... They have 0 credibility in my eyes...His numbers are comparable or better than Junior Se-

Agree. I happen to think Hanford Dixon & Eric Metcalf deserve it as well.

HOF can be kind of controversial. Lynn Swan, meh. Jim Kelly (don't shoot me lol) was probably the 3rd or 4th best QB in the AFC during his time, I think he was 1st ballot. 

Happy for #73, great news.