Joe Thomas (American football)

Joseph Thomas (born December 4, 1984) is an American football offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Wisconsin, earned All-American honors, and was recognized as the top college interior lineman. The Cleveland Browns chose Thomas with the third overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times, and is considered among the top offensive linemen in the NFL today.

Early years
Thomas was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He attended Brookfield Central High School, and played right tackle, defensive end, tight end, fullback, placekicker and punter for the Brookfield Central Lancers high school football team. He was listed among the top 20 offensive tackles nationally, PrepStar All-American, second-team All-America offensive guard according to USA Today, member of the Detroit Free Press All-Midwest team, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first-team all-state defensive lineman and second-team all-state offensive guard as a junior, and also received first-team all-state honors at defensive end from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) and Associated Press. He was recognized as the WFCA 2002 Defensive Player of the Year. He had 85 tackles and 12 sacks as a senior. As a junior, he had 70 tackles and eight sacks. He was listed as the third best prospect in the state of Wisconsin in 2003. In track and field, Thomas set the school record for shotput and discus with throws of 64 ft and 185 ft.

Aside from his athletic prowess, Thomas performed well academically. He was a four-year honor roll student and a part of the U.S. Army Academic All-America team and played in the 2003 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Notre Dame vied for his recruitment before he signed his letter of intent to Wisconsin in January 2003.

College career
Thomas enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, where he played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 2003 to 2006. As a true freshman in 2003 he mostly saw action as a blocking tight end. In 2004, he started all 12 games at left tackle, helping the Badgers' ground game with Anthony Davis and Matt Bernstein in the backfield.

In 2005, Barry Alvarez's final season, he started all 13 games at left tackle and was named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Weekly. He blocked for Brian Calhoun, who had an impressive year, racking up 1,500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards. Thomas considered declaring for the 2006 NFL Draft, where he was projected among the top 15 picks (and projected as the second offensive lineman behind Virginia prospect D'Brickashaw Ferguson). The Badgers were invited to the Capital One Bowl against Auburn, where they prevailed 24-10. Unfortunately, Thomas tore his ACL playing defensive end because of injuries to other players at the position. The Badgers finished that season 10-3 with a #15 national ranking. Soon after the game, Thomas announced that he would be returning to Wisconsin for his final year.

His senior season in 2006 began with high expectations. As the offensive captain, he started all 13 games and blocked for P. J. Hill, Jr., who racked up over 1,500 yards on the ground. Following the regular season, Thomas won the Outland Trophy as the nation's top interior lineman, and he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. Thomas and the Badgers were again invited to the Capital One Bowl, this time against Arkansas. The Badgers prevailed 17-14 and finished the season 12-1, a school record for wins in a single season.

Thomas also excelled at shotput for the Badgers' track and field team.

He was a business major.

2007 NFL Draft
The Cleveland Browns drafted Thomas in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft (3rd overall) to fill a dire need on the team's offensive line. The Thomas pick ended much speculation that the Browns would choose other players including former Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn with the 3rd overall pick in the draft. Quinn, who was widely expected to be a top 10 pick, waited patiently until he left for the private suite of Commissioner Goodell. Quinn was later picked 22nd after the Browns traded up. Instead of attending the 2007 draft festivities in New York, Thomas chose to continue a family tradition and go fishing on Lake Michigan with his father and Joe Panos, who was also a standout offensive lineman at Wisconsin and former Brookfield resident. Thomas discovered he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns via cell phone.



Cleveland Browns
Thomas signed a 6-year contract worth $43 million, $23 million guaranteed, including a voidable year, with the Browns. Thomas won the starting left tackle job, with previous Browns left tackle Kevin Shaffer moving to right tackle. He made his NFL debut versus the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 1 and played every offensive snap for the Browns in 2007. Thomas quickly became one of the top-performing members of the '07 draft class and was named the NFL's Rookie of the Month for November. Thomas was selected to the 2008 Pro Bowl, replacing Jason Peters of the Buffalo Bills.

Thomas came in second in the voting for NFL Rookie of the Year. He was the only other person to receive votes other than the eventual winner, Adrian Peterson.

Thomas has made the AFC Pro Bowl roster all 5 of his seasons in the NFL

On August 22, 2011 Thomas and the Cleveland Browns agreed to a 7-year $84 million extension with almost $44 million guaranteed.

On December 27, 2011, Thomas was named to his 5th straight Pro Bowl since the Cleveland Browns drafted him 3rd overall in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft. Since 1970, Thomas and Richmond Webb of the Miami Dolphins are the only NFL offensive linemen to make the Pro Bowl in each of their first five seasons. Thomas and Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown are the only Browns players ever to be selected to the Pro Bowl for the first five seasons of their careers. Hall of Fame running back Leroy Kelly was the last Browns player to earn five or more consecutive invitations to the Pro Bowl.

On December 26, 2012, Thomas was named to his 6th straight Pro Bowl since the Cleveland Browns drafted him 3rd overall in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft. Thomas joins a short list of only 15 players who have made the Pro Bowl in each of their first six seasons in NFL history, 13 of them are in the Hall of Fame. The list includes Jim Brown, Dick Butkus, Joe Greene, Franco Harris, Barry Sanders, Merlin Olsen, Emmitt Smith and Lawrence Taylor.

Personal
Thomas is an avid outdoorsman. Along with The Plain Dealer outdoors writer D'Arcy Egan, Thomas hosts the television program Outdoors Ohio on SportsTime Ohio. He lives in Westlake, Ohio with his wife Annie. He is also related to former University of Wisconsin-Madison rower Jessica Thomas.