Joe Thomas announced his NFL retirement less than a week ago. The offensive tackle spent his entire 11-year career with the Cleveland Browns, playing 167 games for the team. In 10 of his 11 seasons, Thomas was selected for the Pro Bowl and only missed out on that honour once, last year. He was also a first-team All-Pro in seven of his season's with the Browns, being recognised as one of the best in his position for a majority of his career. His stats suggest he was playing at a Hall-of-Fame standard, but Thomas never came close to success on anything but a personal level.   The Browns lost all 16 regular-season games in 2017, failing to improve on their record of winning only one game the year before.In fact, the best season Thomas had with Cleveland came in 2007, when the team finished with a record of 10-6.However, despite finishing second in the AFC North, the Browns didn't even qualify for the playoffs and that was the only season they finished with a positive record too. So, to suggest the Browns and Thomas didn't have much success is a huge understatement. And a player of his standard must surely regret never even playing in the post-season. Well, apparently not. Because at his retirement press conference, the 33-year-old showed his sense of humour, turning his speech into a roast of the Browns. Thomas made reference to embarrassing moments such as the short Rob Chudzinski era - that lasted just one season and also went in on former teammates and staff when he was asked who'd called him since retirement. 

He said Brandon Weeden couldn't call because he was stuck under a flag - making a reference to the time the rookie quarterback literally got caught under the American flag pre-game.

The former tackle also said that Sashi Brown didn't make a call in time - poking fun at the fact Brown reportedly failed to finalise a trade for A.J. McCarron last season.

Finally, he said "Ray Farmer tried to text me, but unfortunately it was during a game and he was suspended," referencing the time the former GM was fined for texting coaches on the sideline. 

The comments from Thomas prove that he's taken years of disappointment in Cleveland very well. Of course, he probably doesn't regret anything from his career because he was so good on a personal level.

However, he may always be haunted by the fact he was never able to reach the playoffs. But that was well out of his control.