Former Browns left tackle Joe Thomas was among the members of the class of 2023 inductees who visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton on Monday to answer questions from the media and tour the facility ahead of their enshrinement ceremonies this summer.

Thomas, who played 10 pro seasons (2007-16), all with the Browns, before an arm injury ended his career, is a member of one of the club’s four iconic positions. The Browns had, in essence, just three left tackles for their first 39 seasons (1946-84) in Hall of Famer and Martins Ferry, Ohio native Lou Groza, followed by Dick Schafrath and then Doug Dieken.

Schafrath, a native of Wooster, Ohio and, like Groza, an Ohio State product, should be in the HOF after having blocked for all four of the Browns’ HOF running backs. That he is not, and possibly never will be, is a real travesty.

Dieken, meanwhile, is a member of the Cleveland Browns Legends.

This was already a strong group. It obviously becomes very much more so with the addition of Thomas.

Take those four players and combine them with center Frank Gatski and guard Gene Hickerson, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame,  and guard Jim
Ray Smith, who should be in the HOF as well, and offensive line overall becomes an iconic position group. But for the purpose of this discussion, we’re looking only at single positions, not position areas.

In the next several posts, we’ll look at the other three iconic positions in Browns history: running backs, wide receivers and kickers.

Steve King