Joe Thomas bids farewell as only he can

The Cleveland Browns said farewell to Joe Thomas on Monday during a special event for their longtime left tackle.

Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas said goodbye to the NFL, the Browns and Cleveland on Monday during a press conference at team headquarters in Berea.

And in typical fashion, Thomas did it as only he could, turning one of the saddest days in recent Browns history into one that left everyone smiling.

According to NFL.com, Thomas made good fun of several former teammates, head coaches and general managers, including jokes about former general manager Ray Farmer texting him about his retirement, former quarterback Brandon Weeden being unable to call because he was trapped under a giant American flag, and former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan putting together a lengthy PowerPoint presentation trying to talk him out of retirement.

It sounds like Thomas might have a second career on the comedy circuit, if he is not too busy with podcasting or working on what should be a successful broadcasting career.

In between the jokes, Thomas found time to thank the fans who were showed up week after week during his 11-year career, according to ESPN.com:

"“You guys taught me what it means to be a Clevelander. Playing in front of the greatest fans in the NFL is easily the greatest honor that I’ve had in my 11-year career. I hope I was able to make you guys proud in the way that I was always proud when I told people boldly that ‘I am a Cleveland Brown.’ ”"

Thomas was a first-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, probably the one positive move during then-general manager Phil Savage’s four years in charge of the team. From the moment he stepped on the field as a rookie, Thomas set a standard for tackle play the likes of which have never been seen in the NFL and may never be seen again.

He played 10,363 consecutive snaps for a Browns team that only had one winning season during his career — and that came during his rookie year. Thomas saw the streak snapped last October when he tore a triceps muscle while putting in some extra effort on a block against the Tennessee Titans.

While that injury certainly did not help, it wasn’t the reason that led Thomas to make the decision to retire. Rather, it was the continued pain in his left knee, according to Peter King at Monday Morning Quarterback:

"It’s his left knee. Four knee surgeries have left him with a bone-on-bone situation in the knee. It got so painful in the past couple of years that at times it was intolerable to even stand at practice—so he spent practices inside the trainers’ room. The knee was so bad that Thomas considered an experimental procedure that would have inserted baby cartilage in the knee. The knee was so bad that the only way he was able to play the first seven games last year was pre-season Platelet-Rich Plasma injections that made the pain in his knee tolerable."

The fact that Thomas was willing to go through so much to get on the field every week for the Browns is simply amazing and is one of the areas that sets him apart from other players.

In addition to his attitude and playing streak, Thomas built a résumé the likes of which the NFL has rarely seen:

• Thomas retires having started 167 consecutive games for the Browns, the longest streak among current offensive linemen in the NFL.
• He also earned a Pro Bowl nod 10 times, a team record that surpasses the nine Pro Bowls earned by Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Lou Groza.
• The only other players to earn 10 Pro Bowls are Barry Sanders, Lawrence Taylor, Mel Renfro and Merlin Olsen.
• Thomas earned a first-team spot on the league’s All-Pro team seven times.

Today was the official end of Thomas’ time with the Cleveland Browns.

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But the league, the team, the fans and the city of Cleveland are all unquestionably better off for having Thomas in their lives for the past 11 years.