Considering their recent history, despair is not an unfamiliar feeling to fans of Browns football.
That might also be the case for some of its players.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas spoke out about his experience playing for the Browns for his entire 11-year pro career, with Cleveland going 48-119 in his appearances.
In his rookie season, the Browns went 10-6 and finished second in the AFC North, but Thomas never saw another winning season.
Thomas told the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast about the mental toll the constant losing took.
“The way I entered every season was like, if I need to get the most out of myself, I’ve got to convince myself this is a Super Bowl roster,” Thomas explained. “That’s the mentality I have to have when I’m training, when I’m practicing, when I’m going through film study. And so you trick yourself every year, but after a while, you’re not that dumb anymore.
“About midway through that 10th season, we were playing the Patriots …We lost like 30-0. And I remember sitting in the car after the game, and I was just crying. I had ice on both elbows and knees. I was in pain, my wife was driving and I was just looking out the window. It was that moment when I realized I’d been kind of fooling myself for a while, and we were not going to win no matter what I did.”
Thomas was likely referring to a 33-13 loss to the dynastic Patriots on Oct. 9, 2016 — the final time he would face New England.
Thomas mentioned the feeling of losing control that came with losing season after season.
“I ended up meeting with the team psychologist, just talking to somebody about it, because it had been like, almost 10 years built up to that moment where you came to the realization, like, ‘I’m kind of fooling myself. We’re not that team, and we really don’t have a chance. I don’t impact this game the way I’d hoped.’”
In his final season, the Browns recorded the third winless season in NFL history, going 0-16.
They cinched the No. 1 pick, which brought them Myles Garrett, who similarly was individually successful in Cleveland without much team success. Garrett was traded to the Rams earlier this year.
Thomas was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 2023.
