Joe Thomas hit the podium Monday for his official retirement press conference after making the announcement last week that he was putting the game of football behind him. In typical Joe Thomas style, he interjected plenty of humor and essentially turned a portion of his presser into a roast of the Browns.
But before that, Hue Jackson and general manager John Dorsey presented Thomas with a fishing rod, which hearkens back to his decision to eschew attending the draft in favor fishing.
https://twitter.com/FredGreetham/status/975820992202399747
Then came the jokes.
Joe Thomas showed his great sense of humor in opening statement, essentially turning it into a roast of several #Browns players and figures throughout his career. Joked about Kyle Shanahan showing him a power point, Ray Farmer texting him, Johnny Manziel calling on money phone
— Nate Ulrich (@ByNateUlrich) March 19, 2018
Joe Thomas on Rob Chudzinksi era: "Both those days were outstanding."
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) March 19, 2018
“You guys are going to make my book a New York Times best seller” – @joethomas73 after thanking every coach & GM #Browns
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) March 19, 2018
He also had a funny explanation about when he knew it was time to retire.
Joe Thomas joked this was right time for him to retire because he knew Hue Jackson would make rest of team jump into Lake Erie and he wanted no part of it.
— Nate Ulrich (@ByNateUlrich) March 19, 2018
Of course, this stems from Hue Jackson’s promise to jump into Lake Erie after the Browns went 0-16 last year, failing to better their 1-15 mark from 2016.
Thomas is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. He’s one of the guys we loved watching every Sunday, and before his season-ending injury last year he had played in 167 consecutive games, never once missing a start since his rookie season.
The NFL will move on without him, but it won’t be the same. Though, before long we could see much more of Thomas, who’s auditioned for ESPN and FOX Sports to potentially become a television analyst.
Joe Thomas on MNF needs to happen https://t.co/HzZwNiOiT0
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) March 19, 2018