CLEVELAND — Joe Thomas has done it! The Cleveland Browns legend has been selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
As Northeast Ohio celebrates the fan-favorite Browns player, 3News' Dave Chudowsky took a moment during the GO! morning show Friday to express his thoughts on the big moment.
Here's what Chudowsky had to say...
Joe Thomas will reside in Canton because of heart. How do you measure that?
Playing through pain, always on the field, there for his teammates, constantly facing the music, answering to the media -- not to explain his play, instead the misery of the Browns organization year after year. Can you imagine being one of the best ever, but never playing in the post season? Going one in 31 in his last two seasons, and the man never asked out.
Getting traded was not an option.
From the start when Thomas skipped the NFL Draft in New York to go fishing in Wisconsin, it was clear this guy was destined to be one of us here in Cleveland.
To think number 73 would be on a 10-6 team in his first year, but not have a winning season again and never catch a playoff bite. To be here now, that’s heart.
What makes it more special? Thomas never wore another color. He goes into the Hall with only orange and brown. There’s an undeniable connection between Joe and this city -- still even now.
I want to point that out one more time: He could’ve been traded. Other players tried to get him. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay with the Browns even though they were so bad. I think it’s very cool, too, because you see so many players and they have to choose one team, one set of colors because they played with multiple teams. Not Joe Thomas. It’s all Cleveland.
See what 3News' Jim Donovan had to say about Thomas in the video below: