Joe Thomas Calls It Quits
Farewell, sweet Joe Thomas. Bedrock of Cleveland. Ironman of snaps. Prototype of all linemen. You were the one constant, the one shining beacon of hope in the northeast Ohio darkness. You gave Cleveland your all, and in return you got nothing, outside love from fans and some quality moolah. Cleveland didn’t deserve you, but honestly, no team did. May you have a wonderful retirement.
Going back and doing this comic was a mind-numbing experience. He’s blocked for 20 different Quarterbacks. Most of the hydra. I mean goddamn, I’ve been tracking the Browns QBs for the hydra for about 4 years now. I started it when they hit 20. Browns QBs are a different measurement of time than normal. It’s like how dog years are normal years multiplied by 7. You can judge time by seasons, or by Browns QBs, and suddenly everything is a lot older.
In the first half of this list of QBs is Brandon “Old guy” Weeden. Yeah. Remember Brandon Weeden? He feels simultaneously like he was just there, being old and bad, and AGES ago. He last played for the Browns in 2013. What’s Weeden even doing these days? He’s a free agent QB, who was on the Titans last year. Which, if you think about it, means Weeden has seen 2 playoff games. He’s actually the QB that got the Texans their very first win in Indianapolis. It feels so long ago. Never view time through the lens of a Browns QB.
Joe blocked for everybody and there honestly isn’t much else to say. He was the epitome of the position. He’s a future hall of famer. He’s the one thing about the Browns that didn’t suck for a decade. I can’t memorialize him with words better than any Cleveland fan could, so I’ll settle for the comic above. Godspeed, you loyal stud muffin you.
In case you are wondering, here are the QBs shown, in order Joe first blocked for them. See how many you can figure out before you check out the list:
Derek Anderson
Charlie Frye
Brady Quinn
Ken Dorsey
Bruce Gradkowski
Colt McCoy
Jake Delhomme
Seneca Wallace
Brandon Weeden
Thad Lewis
Jason Campbell
Brian Hoyer
Johnny Manziel
Connor Shaw
Josh McCown
Austin Davis
Robert Griffin III
Cody Kessler
Deshone Kizer
Kevin Hogan
and what I assume will end up being correct with Tyrod Taylor, who doesn’t officially get added to the hydra until he starts a game. This is the resume Joe Thomas blocked for. My god you deserved better, Joe.
Discussion (51) ¬
Is there any position in sports that has a higher rate of turnover than a Browns QB?
Its right up there with the Trump cabinet in terms of turnover rate.
It’s only when I saw that list that it hit how insane QB turnover is in Cleveland. Manziel was EIGHT QBs ago?!
yeah, and that’s only, what, 3 years?
He was also the latest Browns QB to win on a Sunday.
Nice job tracking the unis through the years. I always thought the Browns had one of the most classic looks, until they decided to sport a college team uniform (and started playing like one as well).
And as an Eagles’ fan, I made an exercise of figuring out how many QBs started games for the birds since Joe Thomas joined the league in 2007, considering the lack of stability we had at the position for years, be it from inconsistent play or injuries. It’s not as ridiculous as the Browns list, but not too shabby either.
Donovan McNabb (2007-09)
AJ Feeley (2007)
Kevin Kolb (2009-10)
Mike Vick (2009-13)
Vince Young (2011)
Nick Foles (2012-14, 2017)
Mark Sanchez (2014-15)
Sam Bradford (2015)
Carson Wentz (2016-17)
I’m curious about how long some teams list would look like, the Texans for example.
49ers QB’s since Joe Thomas started for the browns
Alex Smith (2007, 2009-2012)
Trent Dilfer (2007)
Chris Weinke (2007)
Shaun Hill (2007-2009)
J.T. O’Sullivan (2008)
Troy Smith (2010)
Colin Kaepernick (2012-2016)
Blaine Gabbert (2015-2016)
Brian Hoyer (2017)
C.J. Beathard (2017)
Jimmy Garoppolo (2017)
Wow it’s amazing to find just howamy QB’s have started for your team. I never kept track, but with your comment it made me wonder. Hopefully with Jimmy Garoppolo the 49ers now have great stability.
As a Texans fan, I feel like I should be the one to reply.
Texans Starting QB’s since 2007, in order:
Matt Schaub (2007-2013)
Sage Rosenfels (2007-2008)
Matt Leinart (2011)
T.J. Yates (2011, 2015, 2017)
Case Keenum (2013-2014)
Ryan Fitzpatrick (2014)
Ryan Mallet (2014-2015)
Brian Hoyer (2015)
Brandon Weeden (2015)
Brock Osweiler (2016. I cringed just typing this one)
Tom “Macho Man” Savage (2016-2017)
Deshaun Watson (2017)
Things got weird between 2013 and now. Hopefully Watson can be our first consistent starter since Matt Schaub, who was a decent starter until his career went missing somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico in the 2013 offseason.
Fun fact: if not for some doucheface named McaPoo this list would be exactly one name short for the Giants…
Seahawks QBs
Matt Hasselbeck
Seneca Wallace
Charlie Whitehurst
Tarvaris Jackson
Russell Wilson.
For good ole Washington
Starting QB’s since Joe Thomas joined in ’07
Jason Campbell (2007-2009)
Todd Collins (2007)
Donovan McNabb (2010)
Rex freaking Grossman (2010-2011)
John Beck (2011)
RG3 (2012-2014)
Colt McCoy (2014)
Kirk “Gimmie the dough” Cousins (2012-2017)
2014 was, well, interesting. 6 times since 2007 we had multiple QB’s start. Continuing Danny’s tradition, we sign an old player and throw fat stacks at him. Why we didn’t try and draft is something Bruce can’t comprehend
As a Giants fan, I probably shouldn’t respond but I will anyways
Eli Manning (2004-2017)
Geno Smith (2017)
Eli Manning (2017-present)
Never realized how blessed I was as a fan to only see one quarterback change in the past decade. Then again, it only makes it worse when they have to leave.
I can tell ya the Bengals
Carson Palmer (2007)
Ryan Fitzpatrick (2008)
Carson Palmer (2008-2010)
Andy Dalton (2011-present)
Man Thomas you always annoyed me with stopping our D-Line twice a year for 10 years but I’m gonna miss ya it’s a damn shame you didn’t win a ring
Steelers,
Ben roesthlesburger 04-present lol
Typical brain-damaged Steelers Fan, let me help you.
Rapingburger only has 3 seasons in his career where he started all 16 regular season games.
So your list should actually also include:
Tommy Maddox (2004, 2005)
Charlie Batch (2005-7, 2010-12)
Dennis Dixon (2009-10)
Byron Leftwich (2012)
Mike Vick (woof, 2015)
Landry Jones (2015-17)
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pittsburgh_Steelers_starting_quarterbacks
Joe Thomas was drafted in 2007 not 2004.
Oh please – don’t even try to pretend that the Eagles have had it rough at QB, even during the post-Reid era.
McNabb spent ten years as the starter. Weinz is likely to be the starter for the next ten. Even Vick lasted three years, starting 12, 13, and 10 games in his tenure. 3.5 years of QB shuffle does not constitute a crisis.
RIP browns line
They have no leadership
Derek Anderson was actually pretty good in Thomas’s rookie year. He even went to the pro bowl on a 10-6 team.
Also, #14 should have been Sexy Rexy’s last hurrah
And you forgot clipboard Jesus
Not everyone is familiar with clipboard Jesus as a nickname.
Charlie Whitehearst (Rivers backup after Billy Volek, has really long hair and a beard); played half of a game before getting injured
Farewell sweet Thomas. You did good for a bad team for a long time and never faltered. That takes an incredibly disciplined mind. The Browns QB carousel makes the lifespan of Tim Couch look immortal by comparison. 5 years and he’s the only one to take them to the playoffs.
If only Joe Thomas was there for Couch, his career would have lasted slightly longer. Having someone in the line is better than no one. Too bad it’s the Browns, they killed Couch and blamed him for their failures.
They wasted his career worse than what Manziel did to himself every night.
if you can name all 18 from memory, you’re almost as awesome as Joe himself
alas, you left out Spergeon Wynn
Joe Thomas was probably what got me to start liking the Browns. He was a fantastic player, and not only that, but he was loyal as fuck. He would rather take a smaller pay cut and go 1-15 than have a big salary and a ring. You can call several player loyal, but no player was as loyal as Joe Thomas. He was the symbol of what players, especially offensive linemen, should be. He was big, he was a jokester, he was loyal, and most importantly, he was good as hell. Joe Thomas will always be remembered as the guy who most deserved a ring, big RIP. Give my man some respect. H
F not H
Lol RIP
OK, finally, you made a funny comic without defaulting to “LOL BROWNS.” But on a serious note, I think Connor Shaw and Austin Davis should be removed from the list. They were fill-ins for injured starters.
Tom Brady was a fill-in for the injured Drew Bledsoe.
His comic represents QBs starting a game. You’re welcome to make up your own comic and post it on your own site.
Joe probably made the hole Trent Richardson missed
LOL.
My favorite internet comment EVER was in regard to Richardson’s sex tape featuring multiple women:
“What’d he do? See a pile of bodies, run into it and fall down?”
As a longtime Browns fan I’m very sad he has to go but he has given nothing but 100% to his organization. Listening to him on his podcast really showed how much of a physical toll starting all those snaps consecutively had on his body that trying to continue next year he wouldn’t be able to match his own high standards so he’s retiring on top. Dave I think you’d like his podcast with Andrew Hawkins as I’ve found it very entertaining with insider stories and insight.
The vikes sadly have had 22 quarterbacks in that same time frame
Off the top of my head I’ve got TJack, Favre, McNabb, Ponder, Cassel, Bridgewater, Hill, Bradford, Keenum.
I’m guessing I’m not remembering some from before Favre, because I didn’t follow football real close until he came.
Oh wait Webb and Freeman for a couple more.
He was the only thing Browns fans could count on for the past 11 years
I’m kind of Proud for the ravens it’s really only been McNair, Flacco, Mallet, Schaub and that one scrub bears QB I can’t remember.
“Tyrod, I’ve got bad news. You’ve been traded to Cleveland.”
“Damn, that’s going to suck. At least I’ll have Joe Thomas to protect me though!”
“About that…”
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I love this comic, but MAN it hits home….
He retired when he finally got a QB worth blocking for.
He blocked for 20 different starters but I believe there were two more that came in mid-game without making a start. I know Charlie Whitehurst is one, can’t remember the other.
“He’s the one thing along with Phil “The Other Toe” Dawson about the Browns that didn’t suck for a decade”
FTFY. Cant forget “The Automatic”!
This comic, #777, is about Joe Thomas, #73, ie 7 x3
Christ, I forgot about Austin Davis. I even remembered Dorsey and Thad Lewis, but I forgot about Davis.