Browns Take Thomas With No. 3 Choice
April 28, 2007 | Football
Former Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2007 National Football League Draft on Saturday. Thomas is the Badgers' ninth first-round draft choice since 1999.
Thomas, a 2006 consensus All-America choice, is the third-highest draft choice in Wisconsin history and is the school's 24th overall first-round draft pick. The only two Badgers chosen higher than Thomas are legends Pat Harder (No. 2 overall to St. Louis Cardinals in 1944) and Alan Ameche (No. 2 overall to Baltimore Colts in 1955). Thomas is the first Badger chosen by the Browns since Tim Stracka went to Cleveland in the sixth round of the 1983 draft.
Thomas got the call from the Browns while fishing with his father, Eric, and others on Lake Michigan.
'I was so excited,' Thomas told ESPN News of his reaction to the call. 'We got that call while they were doing the pick and Coach Crennel gets on the phone and says he wants me to be a Cleveland Brown. I was so excited. We had kind of heard the day before that it might be Cleveland and it was really hard holding back my enthusiasm all morning just in case it didn't happen, but when it finally became true I was ecstatic.'
Thomas, a native of Brookfield, Wis., is one of the most decorated and accomplished players in Badger football history. Winner of the 2006 Outland Trophy as the nation 's top interior lineman, Thomas played in 48 games (39 starts) for the Badgers during his career. He was UW's 21st consensus All-American last season and was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection. Thomas also excelled off the field. He was a second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America selection in 2006, as well as a winner of the National Football Foundation's $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. In addition, he was a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy (community service, academic and athletic achievement). Thomas was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten choice.
