Joe Thomas: 10,000 Snaps

Hi, today I am doing a post on an individual player at a position I rarely ever talk about. Here is a post about Joe Thomas, the Browns O-lineman, who I think is the best in his position. This is a tribute post to a great career Joe Thomas has had. Here it is:

With the 3rd pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns select Joe Thomas, OL, Wisconsin. This may be one of the only Browns selections in recent history that has payed off. Joe Thomas was a stud from the first time he stepped on the field in 2007. He was a great blocker in Wisconsin and the Browns were excited for their rookie first round pick to start blocking for what will have been a crazy carousel of QBs in the next 10 years. The 6'6 312 lb Thomas had a lot of weight on his shoulders. The 3rd overall pick is very high to be selected as we know and if it was a bad o-lineman, the Browns would have been fools. In his first season, Thomas was effective right away. He won the starting left tackle role on the team and played week 1 of his career. He played every offensive snap that game. By November of his rookie season, Thomas was playing well. He won NFL Rookie of the Month that month and by the end of the year made his first pro bowl in just year 1. This was the start of

something that would happen EVERY SINGLE year of his illustrious career so far. Thomas almost won rookie of the year that year but lost to Adrian Peterson. Thomas' career would have been even crazier if an O-lineman took home ROY. The next 3 years Thomas kept playing elite. He made 3 more pro bowls and never missed a game, let alone a single snap. Thomas had started his career of playing every offensive snap and not missing a single game. 4 years of straight snaps. Thomas had never been seen on the bench when the Browns offense was on the field. In 2011, Thomas signed a huge contract extension. 7 years-$84 million. He deserved it. He was showing to be a great blocker
and made great holes for the Browns RBs and blocked for all of the Browns many QBs. Lets do a quick summary of his career up until this year.
2012: 5th Pro Bowl straight, played every snap, no missed games
2013: 6th straight Pro Bowl, played every snap, no missed games
2014: 7th straight Pro Bowl, played every snap, no missed games
2015: 8th straight Pro Bowl, played every snap, no missed games
2016: 9th straight Pro Bowl, played every snap, no missed games
Now we are at 2017. As you can see. Thomas has been amazing thus far into his career. He has made the pro bowl every year out of his 10 year career. Never missed a single snap or a single game in his career. In week 2 of 2017, Thomas and the Browns offense lined up. The ball was snapped. Thomas and the other Browns OL's blocked while QB DeShone Kizer handed off to RB Isiah Crowell. A 9 yard gain but that wasn't the only thing that happened on that play. Joe Thomas had reached his 10,000th straight career snap. It over 9 years of playing NFL football where injuries are so common, Joe Thomas has never missed a game, or a single offensive snap. He has been there every offensive play throughout the last decade. Congrats! He is the only player in NFL history to reach 10,000 career straight snaps. A quote of Joe Thomas which I want to end off with is, he was in the huddle and a QB came in for an injured QB and Thomas recalled he had never met him. Shook hands and said, "Hi I'm Joe, nice to meet you", in the huddle. This shows how many random QBs he's blocked for in 10 years straight of play. He is still not close to done yet in his career and still could do much more. How many snaps consecutive can he go? When will the streak end? Will it end? Also trade rumors have been swirling the last 2 years, could Thomas find a new home before the end of his career? Many questions still to be answered in the end of Thomas' great career. Thomas is a true great in the NFL and will be a hall of famer.

Thanks for reading!

Photo Cred: Sporting News, the Pro Football Hall of Fame