In good times and bad for the Cleveland Browns -- OK, it's mostly been bad -- Joe Thomas has been the franchise's rock.
The veteran left tackle remains amongst the game's preeminent tacticians at one of football's most vital positions. One day he'll be rewarded for his individual greatness with a gold jacket in Canton.
That said, doing grunt work on the offensive line of a perpetually scuffling franchise isn't an ideal scenario for self-branding. Thomas was reminded of this when he met David Njoku, the Browns tight end selected in the first round of last month's NFL draft.
In Njoku's defense, Thomas does have a, well, everyman look to him. (To me, he looks less an assistant coach and more a deeply efficient bouncer, but whatever.)
The good news for Njoku is Joe Thomas totally seems like the type of teammate who won't clown him about this forever. Just kidding -- Njoku's screwed.
