Browns O-line legend heads to Hall of Fame
PHOENIX — Joe Thomas gave fans of the new version of the Cleveland Browns something they could finally celebrate.
The offensive lineman who spent his entire career with the franchise joins lockdown cornerback Darrelle Revis as inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on their first try, with Thomas becoming the first Browns player from the team’s inglorious expansion era who will be honored in Canton, Ohio.
“It’s really special for me because the franchise has endured some really tough times,” Thomas said. “But those fans are so loyal and passionate, and they still show up and it still is their identity that they’re Browns fans. It’s great for all of Browns Nation.”
Since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have had two playoff berths, one playoff win and the worst record in the league — including an 0-16 mark in 2017, the 11th and final season Thomas played.
Thomas and Revis are part of the Hall of Fame’s class of 2023 — announced late Thursday night during the “NFL Honors” telecast — that also includes return finalists Ronde Barber, Zach Thomas and DeMarcus Ware. Senior candidates Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko and Ken Riley also got voted in, along with coaching candidate Don Coryell, and will be inducted this summer in Canton.
The headliners of the class are Joe Thomas and Revis, two first-round picks from the 2007 draft who took far different journeys to this ultimate honor. Revis bounced around teams seeking his best opportunities to win and thrive financially, while Thomas stayed a Brown throughout.
Picked third in the draft by Cleveland, Thomas stepped in as an immediate starter and never moved until a torn triceps ended his final season in 2017. He played 10,363 consecutive snaps before that injury as one of the only dependable parts of one of the NFL’s sorriest franchises.
Thomas was a Pro Bowl selection in all 10 seasons he was healthy, an All-Pro firstteam selection six times and a second-team pick two other years. But he never even made it to the playoffs a single time with the Browns.
Revis was always moving, whether it was changing locales or following top receivers from one side of the field to the other as the game’s top cornerback of his era. His best stretch came with the New York Jets as a first-team AllPro from 2009-11. He finished second in defensive player of the year voting in 2009, when he repeatedly shut down top receivers by sending them to “Revis Island.”
“I was probably the most nervous of anybody on the field,” Revis said. “You look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself: ‘It’s either me or him.’ I had to stand up to the challenge. I took that responsibility to take on that assignment and shut them down.”
Revis spent one year with the New England Patriots, helping them win the Super Bowl in the 2014 season, and also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs, along with a second stint with the Jets.
Barber, Zach Thomas and Ware all had longer waits before getting voted into the Hall. Ware was also a finalist last year, while Barber got in on his third time at this stage and Thomas on his fourth try.
Ware, a linebacker, was a four-time All-Pro first-team pick with the Dallas Cowboys and then helped the Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl in the 2015 season.
Barber was a key cog to the Tampa-2 defensive scheme as a cornerback for the Bucs. He was a three-time All-Pro first-team selection, led the NFL with 10 interceptions in 2001 and won a Super Bowl the next season.
Zach Thomas was a fivetime All-Pro first-team selection who spent 12 of his 13 seasons with the Miami Dolphins before finishing with one year in Dallas. The linebacker was defensive rookie of the year in 1996.
Coryell, who died in 2010, didn’t have the team success comparable to other coaches in the Hall of Fame, winning 111 regular-season games for the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers and never reaching a Super Bowl. But his impact on the sport with his famous “Air Coryell” scheme in San Diego was transcendent as he took advantage of rule changes that opened up the passing game in the late 1970s and put together an offense that still influences football today.
Howley was a five-time AllPro first-team in 15 seasons with the Chicago Bears and Dallas, with the linebacker’s biggest claim to fame as the only player from a losing team ever picked as Super Bowl MVP.
Klecko was a mainstay on the Jets’ famed “New York Sack Exchange,” earning Pro Bowl honors at nose tackle, defensive tackle and defensive end in a 12-year career that ended with one season with the Indianapolis Colts. He was an All-Pro first-team selection twice, including in 1981, when he unofficially led the NFL with 20.5 sacks.
Riley’s 65 career interceptions in 15 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals rank fifth overall in NFL history and second to Dick “Night Train” Lane’s 68 for players who were exclusively cornerbacks. Riley died in 2020.