Enshrinees Roundtable: 2023 Hall of Famers say ex-Brown Clay Matthews belongs in Canton

CANTON — The day the show closed, the second loudest ovation was for Joe Thomas.

The loudest was for Clay Matthews.

It came after Thomas, from a Memorial Civic Center stage at the end of Sunday's Enshrinees Roundtable, said Matthews belongs with him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Master of ceremonies Steve Wyche wrapped up the program by asking members of the Hall's Class of 2023 to name someone they think deserves a bronze bust in Canton.

The Roundtable is a sleeper for the weekend's highlight. It comes three days after the Hall of Fame Game, two days after the Gold Jacket Dinner, and a day after the parade and enshrinement.

In other words, it comes last.

Some think it is the best. Great stories get told in tones of confidential laughter, albeit with a third as many spectators as at the Gold Jacket dinner, where the new enshrinees don't speak.

As Wyche noted before bringing out six of the seven living members of the Hall's Class of 2023 on Sunday, the guys aren't as nervous as when they give their enshrinement speeches, even if they may be "a little hung over from their parties."

Rondé Barber, Joe Klecko, Darrelle Revis, Zach Thomas and DeMarcus Ware took the stage one by one.

Joe Thomas drew gasps during his walk-up. He wore a ball cap, a white polo shirt under his gold jacket, green shorts and …

"Nice shoes," Wyche said as Thomas took a seat.

Thomas wasn't wearing shoes. They always said this left tackle had great feet.

The program went quickly as the new enshrinees talked to each other and to the crowd. Wyche closed by asking the stars of the show who should be in the Hall of Fame.

Ware went first and fingered fellow pass rusher Dwight Freeney, who turned the spin move into an art form.

Longtime Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas named three Miami guys, including one (Richmond Webb) who played Joe Thomas' position, left tackle. Whereas Thomas blocked for 20 different starting quarterbacks in Cleveland, Webb basically spent his career protecting Dan Marino's blind side.

Joe Thomas got the third crack at the question. He apologized for "stealing" Ware's nominee, Freeney, proceeding to give a detailed insider's view.

Then he paused and said, "My other guy is Clay Matthews."

It was the only thing he said about Matthews, but it brought the house down.

Matthews was a big reason the Browns reached AFC championship games in the 1986, '87 and '89 seasons.

Whereas Thomas' 11-year career featured an iron-man consecutive snaps streak (10,363). Matthews' durability is measured in years, 16 of them with the Browns, three with Atlanta.

Matthews played 278 NFL regular-season games. The numbers for the men on stage at Sunday's Roundtable were 241 games for Barber, 184 for Zach Thomas, 178 for Ware, 167 for Joe Thomas, 155 for Klecko and 145 for Revis.

Klecko played in the same era as Matthews. The only reason Klecko didn't suit up in one of the Browns' greatest wins of the last 50 years, a playoff thriller in January of 1987, was injury.

When it was Klecko's turn to recommend a Hall of Famer, he named Steve McMichael, turning quiet as he acknowledged the 1985 Chicago Bear defender's battle with ALS.

Klecko mentioned one other player, Clay Matthews, arguably the MVP of the '87 Browns-Jets playoff game.

The topic went around the horn. Cornerback Revis named a receiver, Reggie Wayne. Cornerback Barber cited former Tampa Bay teammates Simeon Rice and Mike Alstott, and …

"Of course, my twin brother Tiki," Barber said.

Zach Thomas, who also named Bob Kuechenberg and Mark Clayton as deserving of the Hall, spent recent days bonding with Joe Thomas.

"By the end of the week," Joe Thomas said, "my kids were calling him Uncle Zach."

Backstage at Saturday's enshrinement, Zach Thomas gave the Class of 2023 a fire-and-brimstone pep talk no one saw coming.

"I didn't hit anybody," Joe Thomas said. "But I was ready to."

Thomas first blocked against Ware in a 2008 season opener, won 28-10 by Ware's Cowboys.

"I'm just really happy that every time they've shown my highlights they're not showing any game film of me against DeMarcus," Thomas said. "I don't think they'd have put a gold jacket on me."

Thomas said the first meeting was "demoralizing." They didn't meet again until 2012 in Dallas, when Thomas, following exhaustive film study, fared better.

Thomas rose from his stage seat and, standing on his bare feet, faced Ware in a game-like stance.

"We were waiting behind for one of our Hall of Fame events when I talked to DeMarcus about my adjustments," Thomas said. "One of the fun things about this week is being able to do things like that.

"It's top secret no more."

Ware recalled facing No. 73:

"The first thing my defensive line coach said was, 'This is going to be the most technically sound offensive tackle you'll face," he said.

Ware said Thomas would play mind games, telling him how he was going to use his technique from one play to the next.

"Joe was like my nemesis, every single time I went against him," Ware said.

Thomas didn't set out to put on a great show throughout his run through Canton, but simply by his nature, and his connection to Browns fans, he did.

The crowd Sunday included family members of Chuck Howley, who is ill and unable to attend, and deceased Class of 2023 members Don Coryell and Ken Riley. The tone in the crowd as the Roundtable unfolded was, "Glad I came to this thing."

Klecko grew up close to Philadelphia. He talks somewhat like Rocky Balboa of fight-movie fame. His tales amused the crowd as much as anyone's. At one point, he remembered squat lifting 800 pounds in the offseason and 700 pounds in-season.

"When I tell the guys that, they say, "What? … Why?" Klecko said. "They sound like my spinal surgeon."

Joe Thomas was a good teammate in his years in uniform, and that seemed to be the case as he laughed with his new teammates wearing golf jackets. He appreciated them as much as they did him.

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Hall of Famers Joe Thomas Klecko support Clay Matthews at Roundtable