The Cleveland Browns have seen a lot of turnover at the quarterback position over the years, but for over a decade now one man has been there to protect whoever was lining up under center: left tackle Joe Thomas.
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Joe Thomas somehow named every starting quarterback he has protected during his Cleveland Browns career
Joe Thomas has played with a lot of quarterbacks over the 10,000 snaps of his career
A pro-bowler every year of his career since being drafted by the Browns with the third overall pick in 2007, Thomas has been one of the few constants in a franchise that can appear to outside observers to be in constant upheaval.
Thomas' consistency is something unheard of in the NFL — he hasn't missed a game, or even a single play for the entirety of his 10-year career — and on Sunday he passed the milestone of playing 10,000 consecutive snaps for the Browns.
11 seasons. 162 games. 10,0... @ Cleveland Browns
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It's an impressive feat for any athlete, but it feels especially astounding coming from the Cleveland Browns, whose quarterback situation has been so volatile that the winningest QB in Cleveland since 1999 is actually Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers.
Despite so many men taking the reigns behind him over the course of his career, Thomas has proven to be a thoughtful teammate. In a recent piece for E:60, ESPN's Jeremy Schaap quizzed Thomas to see if he could name all 18 starting quarterbacks that he had protected in his career with the Browns. He succeeded with flying colors.
While Thomas has a good recall of those who have started behind him, so many backups have come in for the Browns that he once had to introduce himself mid-game.
As Cleveland.com reported last year, in Week 17 of the 2012 season starter Thaddeus Lewis was sacked and knocked out of the game. With the Browns still in striking distance and facing fourth-and-nine, backup Josh Johnson came in to try and get the first down, having just been signed by the team two days earlier.
Thomas recalls getting back to the huddle and realizing he didn't know the man he was protecting.
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