Joe Thomas is the first Cleveland Browns player to make the Hall of Fame since the team returned

The Cleveland Browns finally got a modern player into the Hall of Fame thanks to Joe Thomas.

The Cleveland Browns got to see their favorite son get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 this past week. The long-time left tackle for the Browns was arguably the best player at his position for a decade and had the accolades to back it up. He was a 10-time Pro Bowler and only missed his final year due to an injury. He was a  six-time All-Pro and started every game he played until 2017 when he would suffer a season-ending injury that would ultimately mark the end of his career.

Despite never going to the playoffs and watching his elite teammates like Alex Mack leave the city, Thomas always remained faithful to the franchise, even when he didn’t need to. He went through a lot of nonsense during his tenure with the Browns and rightfully earned the Hall of Fame nod in the first year of eligibility.

While the Browns were a mess during his career, the offensive line was often times passable, or excellent, and a lot of that was thanks to Thomas. During Thomas’ time, the Browns saw guys like Josh Gordon, Peyton Hillis, Derek Anderson, and Jamal Lewis have big seasons behind and in thanks to the offensive line stability that came with Thomas anchoring the left tackle position.

If the people running the team were better at their jobs, Thomas may have anchored a few Super Bowl squads, that’s how good he was at affecting opposing defenses.

Joe Thomas is the first modern player since 1999 to go into the Hall of Fame but not the first Cleveland Browns player to do so over that span

If you look at players taken in the NFL Draft since 1999 by the Cleveland Browns, Thomas is the first and only player to go into the Hall of Fame during the team’s modern era. There are a few others who have a shot, Mack, Joel Bitonio, Myles Garrett, etc, but Thomas is the first.

That doesn’t mean the franchise didn’t have any Hall of Fame inductees since 1999, however. The team has had four men go into the Hall, but none have played since 1990. Ozzie Newsome went in to start the Browns’ return celebration, being inducted in 1999 and having been retired for just nine years at that point.

His teammate, guard Joe DeLamielleure, who last played with the Browns in 1984, would be inducted in 2003. Gene Hickerson was another former guard, who was leaving the league when DeLamielleure was entering it, and was inducted in 2007.

Mac Speedie, who played an offensive end in the 40s and 50s, was inducted in 2020.