A biography for Joe Thomashasn’t been written yet.
“I was always the 250 pound guy that I was when I was 18 years old coming out of high school.”
“I honestly thought that since I didn't associate myself with any people or groups who were outwardly racist, and I didn't act in a way that struck me as racist, that this meant that I myself was not a racist, and that racism wasn't a huge issue.”
“I live in a flat in central London. I do like it there; there's always stuff going on. But I do crave a bit of peace and quiet.”
“We cannot just be nonracist. We really do need to be antiracist.”
“I'm not a huge offensive lineman.”
“I think offensive linemen generally took the weight room and the workouts much more seriously, because we saw that it was a vital part of our training. We needed to be big and strong, and our muscles needed to be in good shape to handle the beatings.”
“In order to spur progress, we all need to be people who point out and shine a spotlight on racism wherever we see it. It doesn't always have to be confrontational, but it does need to become the societal norm that racism is identified and not tolerated in any form or fashion.”
“I still spend my time feeling sorry for myself and making serious mistakes.”
“Imagine if you grew up in a place and the team was bad for a long time and there's almost like a pride in being able to stay here and stick it out, knowing that you're going to get to where you promised yourself and you've been promised at some point.”
“It would be like when the Cubs won the World Series. Everybody in the country has probably been cheering for them for so long because they've been suffering for so long. And you want to cheer for teams like the Browns.”
“I'm a Cleveland Brown, that's who I am and I'm not going to change allegiances just to get a Super Bowl title. I want to do it as a Cleveland Brown because that's who I am.”
“But the way I look at it is just about every profession in our society: There's some lasting effects. It's just the way that our society is set up. People have to work.”
“The idea of going to New York for five days and kinda being paraded around by the NFL as they make money off your every step, and the whole purpose is just for publicity for me to stand there in a suit and go, 'Look at me everybody!'... That sounds horrible.”
“You look at guys with significant Alzheimer's and dementia and the mood swings and the suicides that unfortunately NFL players have been faced with. And depression. Lou Gehrig's disease. These are all things that have kind of been linked to the brain damage from football.”
“I did a history degree once.”
“I'm hired to do a job. They expect me to do a job, and that job requires me to get my butt up and get back to the huddle, get the play and go do it another time. And until I can't physically get up, I'm going to do that.”
“Playing in front of the greatest fans in the NFL is easily the greatest honor that I've had in my 11-year career. I hope I was able to make you guys proud in the way that I was always proud when I told people boldly that 'I am a Cleveland Brown.'”
“I'd like to play as long as I still love the game, as long as I'm still feeling healthy and playing well so a team would want me to play for them.”
“So while most people dealt with the scale every Monday at the Berea training facility nervous about how high the number was going to be, I was the one that was nervous about how low the number was going to be.”
“I'm not sure I really want to step into the booth.”