Cleveland Browns: Is Joe Thomas the favorite player in Dawg Pound era?
By Randy Gurzi
An NFL Spin Zone article on the most popular Cleveland Browns since the Dawg Pound era of the mid-1980s finds left tackle Joe Thomas to be the all-time favorite
It started in the mid 1980s when cornerback Hanford Dixon named his Cleveland Browns teammates Dawgs, and then he began barking to fire people up. The Dawg Pound was born, and the Browns had a new nickname that rings true to this day.
Since that time, there have been plenty of players to come through and play their hearts out for Cleveland, even if there haven’t been a ton of winning seasons during then.
Starting with those mid1980s teams through today, NFL Spin Zone writer Backwoods looked at the 15 most popular players during this era and ranked them accordingly.
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Some great names made the list including defensive tackle Bob Golic, return man Josh Cribbs and running back Kevin Mack — plus of course Dixon and his fellow cornerback Frank Minnifield.
The No. 2 player on the list was quarterback Bernie Kosar, who did give a brief glimpse of hope to the franchise.
The side-armed gun slinger put up some huge numbers in the playoffs and was nimble as he was accurate.
Coming in at No. 1 though is none other than the recently-retired Joe Thomas. The iron-man left tackle earned this spot as he endeared himself to this fan base over the years. The author explains what made Thomas so deserving of the No. 1 spot.
"“There has never been a player to show more loyalty, more grit, and more heart than the greatest left tackle to ever play the game. With 10-straight Pro Bowls and over 10,000-straight snaps Thomas is the ultimate Iron Man.” — Backwoods, NFL Spin Zone"
Every sentiment in the above quote is true. Thomas has been the heart and soul of this franchise for a decade and it will be sad to see the team take the field without him in 2018.
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Fortunately we all still get to enjoy him on his ThomaHawk Show with former teammate Andrew Hawkins as the two stay up to date with the team they love.