No average Joe
In announcing his retirement, future hall of famer Thomas shares hellish injury toll
With all the big quarterback cats already out of their bags and safely snug into new ones, and many other top free agents similarly already sewn up, the biggest news as the NFL’s free-agency signing period began Wednesday was a retirement.
And the shocking things that retiree said about what he had to endure just to play pro football.
Joe Thomas, perhaps the best offensive lineman of his generation, announced he’s leaving the Cleveland Browns and pro football after 11 years of elite play at left tackle.
Until a triceps tear last October ended his 11th season, Thomas had never missed a single career snap in going to 10 Pro Bowls and being named a first-team allpro six times.
“It’s a bittersweet day for me,” Thomas, 34, said on a podcast Wednesday afternoon in explaining his decision.
“As a competitor, you always think that you can still do it. But there’s a point in your career ... that you get to that crossroads and you say to yourself, ‘I just can’t do it anymore. I just don’t have it in my body.’ My mind is good, but my body is not willing.”
At that point, Thomas went into cringe-inducing detail in describing the lengths to which he — and undoubtedly hundreds of other pro football players, too — had to endure to play the game he loved.
If we thought Thomas, by virtue of his ironman streak of 10,363 consecutive plays, had somehow gone through most of a long, glorious career in the trenches mostly injury-free, well, he took a swinging shovel to the head of that hypothesis.
“During my career I’ve had two knee scopes, I’ve had an ACL surgery in college, and I had another knee scope while I was in college,” Thomas said “So I’ve had four knee surgeries in my career. And obviously the (triceps) injury. Countless ligament tears. Muscle tears. Arthritis in just about every joint in my body.
“I remember a time during the season last year where I was standing in front of the media. This was before I got hurt. And I had Mobic (meloxicam) in my body, which is a real powerful anti-inflammatory. I had Tylenol and Vicodin, too, and I couldn’t stand for more than a minute or two without excruciating bone pain in my knee and in my back.” Eesh.
Thomas furthermore said the swelling in his one knee became so pronounced, so frequently, he constantly had to have it drained. He said the swelling often would cause major leg muscles above and below that knee to shut down, as natural body reactions to such pronounced swelling.
Getting through such weeks, both to practise and play effectively, was never easy, he said.
“You just get to that point,” Thomas said, “where you can’t do it anymore.”
So he’s not. Accolades came pouring in for Thomas, the player, within minutes of his announcement Wednesday.
“Helleva career @joethomas73!!! Next stop Canton for you brother!!,” tweeted Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James.
LeBron is right. Thomas is a lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible in five years.
What made the 6-foot-7, 311-pound Thomas one of the most admired offensive tackles in league history? First, his size, power and athleticism were ideal for his position. And the precision of his technique was lauded throughout the league.
Tweeted George Foster, an NFL tackle from 2003-08: “I’ll tell you this. Early in my career, (Willie) Roaf, (Orlando) Pace, (Jonathan) Ogden ... were the gold standard. I had all those guys on VHS to study. They made you so mad that you couldn’t emulate them.
“But right after them, there was Joe Thomas. I was an older guy by football standards in my short stint there. Joe was a young phenom. Mannnnnnn. LISTEN. Watching him play football was mesmerizing. Pass pro(tection) for him was like a walk in the park. He literally looked like he was BORN to do it.” Next up for Thomas? We might see and hear from him later this year in a prominent analyst role on TV. Perhaps to replace Jon Gruden on ESPN’s Monday
Night Football? Or on Fox’s newly acquired Thursday night games?
We’ll see, but NFL Net- work’s Mike Silver said he has been talking with Thomas recently, and a TV commentating gig was something Thomas was considering.
If we are all fortunate, it will prove to be a move like Tony Romo’s last year. That is, a surprise retirement followed half a year later by some of the best TV analysis we’ve ever heard on NFL broadcasts.
Thomas is not shy about expressing his thoughts and beliefs. I think he’d be great on TV in such a role.
Maybe he’s up for another 11-year ironman role — one a lot less taxing on his beat-up body.