Joe Thomas knew what was coming and wasn’t shy about his feelings.
Thomas, on the call for Cleveland’s ABC affiliate WEWS for the Browns’ preseason game against the Eagles on Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field, saw the officials throw a flag early in the second quarter and knew he wasn’t going to like the reason for it – expecting a holding call on Browns tackle James Hudson.
“Boy, I’m gonna be livid if this is on Hudson,” Thomas said.
After the referee confirmed his suspicions, Thomas lost it.
“Oh my goodness,” he said. “The referee needs to turn in his certificate for being an official.”
The Hall of Fame offensive lineman didn’t hold back after the replay confirmed Hudson’s block was clean and the Eagles lineman appeared to fall to grown, but not held.
“James Hudson does a picture-perfect job using his inside arm to knock down the long arm,” Thomas said. “The result is that the Philadelphia Eagles defensive end falls to the ground and the official, who’s probably not paying any attention, throws a flag on my man James Hudson which is criminal!”
Hudson, 24, is a fourth-round pick by the Browns in 2021.
The two teams went on to settle for an 18-18 tie in what was each of their second preseason games.
Thomas should be a pretty good authority on what’s clean or not on the offensive line after playing 11 seasons for the Browns, who selected him third overall in the 2007 NFL Draft.
He went on to make 10 Pro Bowls and was a six-time All-Pro on his way to being enshrined in Canton this summer.
Thomas clearly feels the officiating crew from Thursday night isn’t Hall of Fame worthy.
