Most records are meant to be broken, but there are some that decidedly aren’t. You can count Joe Thomas’ consecutive snaps played streak among them.
Thomas achieved one of the NFL’s greatest ironman streaks during his playing days. The Browns’ Hall of Fame left tackle became a starter immediately during his rookie season in 2007. He took the field for Cleveland in that game against the Steelers and never looked back.
For the next 10 and a half seasons, Thomas didn’t miss a game for the Browns. In fact, he didn’t even miss a snap as he blocked for 20 different quarterbacks and gave Cleveland a franchise building block for a decade.
Like Cal Ripken Jr.’s streak of 2,632 consecutive games played for MLB’s Orioles, Thomas’ consecutive snaps record is going to stand for a long time. And it may never fall at all.
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Here’s what to know about Joe Thomas’ consecutive snaps streak as it becomes a part of his immortal legacy at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Joe Thomas consecutive snaps streak
Thomas set what is believed to be an NFL record by playing 10,363 consecutive offensive snaps during his career.
Thomas’ streak began during his rookie season when he first stepped on the field after being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin. He played his first game against the Steelers on Sept. 9, 2009 and played every single snap.
He did that over his next 166 games, spanning over 11 seasons with the Browns. His streak only snapped during the 167th and final game of his career, during which he played 43 snaps before suffering a torn triceps.
After that injury, he decided to retire at the age of 34. His reason for calling it quits?
“The last few years were a real mental struggle with the losing that we endured,” Thomas told Sporting News’ Bill Bender. “We won one game the last two years. That was not so much fun. Not a lot of happy memories on Sunday, and I was in a lot of pain. I dealt with the mental struggle of, ‘How hurt am I?’ I couldn’t practice. I could barely walk. I was putting my body through a lot of crap to go out Sunday and play. It was not a fun feeling.”
Still, Thomas endured and played at a Hall of Fame level. That helped make him a beloved legend in the Cleveland community that he so dearly loved.
“Joe Thomas played 10,363 consecutive plays and never missed a day of work,” Tom Withers, an Associated Press sports writer covering Cleveland since 1999, told Sporting News’ Bill Bender. “That’s what endeared him as much as anything; to go along with a very great personality and just being a guy that everybody can relate to.”
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Joe Thomas injuries: How Browns continued snaps streak despite threats to status
Mounting such an impressive snap streak wasn’t necessarily easy for Thomas. As he mentioned, he played through plenty of pain during his career and suffered countless injuries despite staying on the field.
“During my career I’ve had two knee scopes, I’ve had an ACL surgery in college, and I had another knee scope while I was in college,” Thomas said, per the Toronto Sun. “So I’ve had four knee surgeries in my career. And obviously the (triceps) injury. Countless ligament tears. Muscle tears. Arthritis in just about every joint in my body.
“I remember a time during the season last year where I was standing in front of the media. This was before I got hurt. And I had Mobic (meloxicam) in my body, which is a real powerful anti-inflammatory. I had Tylenol and Vicodin, too, and I couldn’t stand for more than a minute or two without excruciating bone pain in my knee and in my back.”
Certainly, that puts a damper on the rosy picture painted by his ironman legend. Still, Thomas indicated that he loved playing the game and that retiring was a “bittersweet” moment.
While injuries were the biggest existential threat to Thomas’ snap streak, he did face a rather unique one following the 2013 NFL season. It involved the NFL unwittingly conspiring against him to end the streak.
As the Browns’ director of football communications Dan Murphy detailed to the Akron Beacon Journal, there were discrepancies in the Browns’ snap count for Thomas’ career and the league’s. The NFL had logged that Thomas had missed a couple of offensive snaps, but Murphy quickly corrected them.
“Somebody at the league was like, ‘Oh, we have him down as missing this many plays on offense,’” Murphy said. “So we kind of talked through it and we looked at it, and it all came down to fake plays on special teams.”
Most notably, the NFL had counted runs of 34 and 68 yards by Josh Aubrey and Reggie Hodges on fake punts as offensive plays. Thomas hadn’t been on the field for those, so the NFL had those logged as missed plays for him.
Once those were correctly categorized as special teams plays, Thomas’ unblemished snap-count record reappeared. That helped him mount the streak that many believe will never be broken.
“If I had to bet, I’d bet it’d never be done again,” longtime defensive line coach Bill Johnson told the Akron Beacon Journal.
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Joe Thomas stats
Below is a look at Thomas’ notable stats from his NFL career:
| Stat | Total |
| Games played | 167 |
| Starts | 167 |
| Offensive snaps | 10,363 |
| Sacks allowed | 30 |
| Pro Bowls | 10 |
| All-Pro first-team | 6 |
| All-Pro second-team | 2 |
Thomas made the Pro Bowl in all but one season, that being the final of his career during which he played just seven games. He only allowed 30 sacks over his 11 seasons played, too, and was routinely graded as one of Pro Football Focus’ top offensive tackles.
Additionally, Thomas finished second in the Associated Press’ Offensive Rookie of the Year voting for 2007. Running back Adrian Peterson ended up winning the award, but Thomas’ finish was the highest-ever by an offensive lineman.
And, of course, his 10,363 consecutive offensive snaps may end up being the NFL’s most unbreakable record.