Believe it or not, we are just a little over 45 days away from the enshrinement of the Class of 2023 into the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame.
First-ballot Hall of Famer, Joe Thomas, the Cleveland Browns legend, was recently asked how the preparations are going for the early August events.
He told Browns beat reporter Tom Withers it was like “having multiple weddings, but not all of the guests are invited to everything.”
Thomas has no concerns about the speech, but he believes it will be impossible to keep his emotions in check.
Joe Thomas told me planning for the Hall of Fame weekend festivities is like “having multiple weddings, but not all of the guests are invited to everything.”
He said the speech is the easy part.
Asked him how he’ll keep it together emotionally.
“I won’t,” he said. pic.twitter.com/mLReycmVLj
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) June 16, 2023
He will be the “local” favorite among the enshrinees.
Thousands of Browns fans are expected to make the short 90-minute trip from the Cleveland area to Canton for Thomas’s enshrinement.
Thomas’s Presenters
Choosing his Hall of Fame presenters was an easy task for Thomas.
He picked his wife Annie, and their four children — Logan, 10, Camryn, 8, Jack, 6, and Reese, 4 will do the honors.
That is appropriate given his strong devotion to his family and the fact that Annie had to keep the secret that he was voted into the HOF from her husband so the reveal was a huge surprise for Joe and the kids.
One of Thomas’s idols Walter Jones, the former offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks, appeared at the door to give Thomas the news.
His kids figured it out first and are heard in the video screaming, “You made it dad, you made it!”
“You made it dad, you made it!!” 🥲
A memory the Thomas family will cherish forever. pic.twitter.com/tJtIFddNfr
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) February 11, 2023
Hall Of Fame Festivities Begin On August 3
The Hall of Fame Game begins the festivities on Thursday night, August 3, 2023 at 8:00 PM EDT.
Thomas’s Cleveland Browns will be playing the New York Jets in the game.
Watch Thomas and his fellow enshrinees get inducted into the Pro Football HOF on Saturday, August 5, 2023.
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