Cleveland, OH (92.3 The Fan) – Last week Joe Thomas walked into an office to meet with general manager John Dorsey and head coach Hue Jackson to deliver the news he finally came to terms with: his days playing football were over.
Still bothered by an aching knee he had scoped last offseason and soreness from a disc in his back, Thomas knew it was time to call it a career.
“As a competitor, you always think that you can still do it, but there a point in your career that you get to that crossroads and you say I just can’t do it anymore, I just don’t have it in my body,” Thomas told former Browns receiver Andrew Hawkins during a special edition of their podcast – the ThomaHawk Show presented by UNINTERRUPTED. “My mind is good, but my body is not willing, and I think that’s where I am."
Thomas detailed in depth the injuries and pain he's endured as well as the difficulty just getting himself able to take the field each Sunday, which meant he barely practiced during the week the last few years.
"I would be the first guy in the building and the last guy to leave because it took me all day, literally, to get my body somewhat ready to be able to play on Sundays and that's only tenable for so long," Thomas said.
Over the course of his college career at Wisconsin and pro career in Cleveland he had four knee surgeries - including one last season that took him nearly six months to recover from and had him worried he wouldn't even be able to play in 2017, ACL surgery, triceps tendon surgery along with "countless ligament tears, muscle tears, arthritis in just about every joint in my body, and you just get to that point where you can't do it anymore."
Yet Thomas played 10,363 consecutive snaps and started 167 consecutive games for a franchise that was as dysfunctional as it was awful on the field. The Browns were 48-128 in his 11 seasons and fielded 20 different starting quarterbacks.
No matter how much Thomas wanted to keep playing, it was his body that told him it was time to stop.
"As your body fills up with inflammation, your muscles shut down, it’s a protection mechanism that your body has. Specifically, in my knee, which is the main reason I feel like I had to retire.” Thomas said. "For me, looking down the barrel of a knee replacement, I think that definitely becomes a decision where you're like, hey this football has been amazing, it's been more than I could ever have expected, but you have to take other things into consideration if you're deciding if you're going to be able to play football anymore."
Thomas revealed that just standing to do his regular media interviews, even though medicated with Tylenol, Vicodin and Mobic, was as excruciating for him as playing. But he never let on. Like the true professional he was, he always made himself available to answer every question with the same affable personality he's shown on his podcast and offseason media tour.
"I couldn't stand for more than a minute or two without excruciating bone pain in my knee and my back,'' Thomas said. "It was almost at that point where I was saying to myself, I don't know how I'm going to make it through this season. Now luckily my elbow snapped before anything else happened with the rest of my body. But you just start thinking in your head, I don't know how much longer I can do this."
While the entire city - media and fans alike - waited on pins and needles daily to hear from Thomas, he made it clear on the podcast that he did not leave the Browns hanging in the balance. To the Browns credit they kept the news quiet until Wednesday’s announcement.
"As much as I want to play and be a part of this new regime in Cleveland and the exciting things that are happening with the Browns, my body just has said no, and I just don't have it anymore," Thomas said.
