Cleveland Browns: FoS Fiction’s Joe Thomas’ Letter To Team
By Joe Russo
Joe Thomas has been a cornerstone to a Cleveland Browns team for years. However, since the Browns are nowhere near contending, what would Thomas say about the team going forward?
In case you have been out of the country with no internet access, you may not have heard that the Cleveland Browns are off to a rough start in free agency. Not only are four starters gone, two of them were pro bowlers at one point. Alex Mack is considered one of the top guys at his position.
What’s worse is that none of them gave the impression that leaving the Cleveland Browns was not easy. In fact, it seemed as if leaving Cleveland was the most exciting part of the lives.
With another rebuild coming and another mass exodus, what would Joe Thomas have to say about it? While publicly Thomas has always been the perfect example of class, what would he say privately to the Cleveland Browns front office? Well, maybe there are some ideas.
Dear Mr. Haslam, Mr. Brown, and Mr. DePodesta,
I want to start off by saying that I am proud to be a member of the Cleveland Browns. I have worked diligently for this organization and have served as a mentor to many young players that have made their way through our locker room.
I have played through torn knee ligaments and sprained ankles to give this team everything I have to try to win. I have that done so quietly and professionally since 2007, and I feel that now, after so many tough seasons, I cannot keep quiet any longer.
I have played through torn knee ligaments and sprained ankles to give this team everything I have to try to win, which has occurred so quietly and professionally since 2007. I feel that now, after so many tough seasons, I cannot keep quiet any longer.
It’s not about the money or the recognition. Though I am honored to have been a pro bowler every single one of my professional seasons in a Browns uniform, it has simply become too difficult to take the weekly beating on Sundays that I do without the same level of dedication and performance from my teammates and my executives.
In the twilight of my career, the best group of linemen I have played with has seen two defections. One of those players was Mitchell Schwartz, who was after an offer from our team but was later pulled.
I have protected more quarterbacks than I can count — some of which would have never started a game for any other team in the NFL. I’ve seen Brandon Weeden get trapped by a pre-game flag and underhand toss a ball to the wrong team. I’ve also seen another first rounder in Johnny Manziel spend more time practicing flip cup than his craft.
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The Cleveland Browns had to trade Trent Richardson because he weighed more than me. Now, we had the most expensive defense in football, only to watch it end up at the bottom of the league in every meaningful category. Don’t even get me started with Dwayne Bowe.
I suppose my point is this: What is going on around here? Where is the same level of commitment that I have given to making the Cleveland Browns actually better? I’m 31 years old and am playing on the last multi-year contract of my career. What am I supposed to do with the last few great years of my time on the field?
There is no analytics formula or advanced statistic that can answer that question for you. You have to embrace the horror around you and muster up the courage to respond, or as I like to call it, Sunday afternoons in the fall.
I know there have been reports that I could be back on the trading block after attempting to trade me to a competitive team last season. If that is the decision, I will continue to be a professional and respond as such.
But if I am able to remain in Cleveland as a Brown, at least give me a shot to play on that competitive team here in my adopted hometown. At the end of the day, it does not matter to me if I am traded. It matters that I am treated like the professional that I have been since I was drafted.
The Cleveland Browns made my wildest dreams come true, even if I was on a boat fishing that afternoon with my father. There’s nothing I look forward to more than spending more time on that boat, but at least not for a few more years.
Until then, please do right by me and the work I have done for the Cleveland Browns by treating me as a professional. Let’s make an actual effort to make this team better, to make this city proud, and make me feel like my work has not been in vain.
Sincerely,
Joe Thomas, #73