How Joe Thomas' wife, Hall of Fame presenter, Annie, supported Browns career. What to know

When Pro Football Hall of Fame officials told Browns legend Joe Thomas he's supposed to limit the duration of his speech to seven to 10 minutes during Saturday's enshrinement ceremony, the former left tackle made a mental note.

“The speech can't be longer than five minutes because I know there's going to be at least two minutes of crying that I won't be able to talk at all when my kids are up on stage,” Thomas said in March while visiting the Hall of Fame. “I'm an emotional person and seeing them be a part of it is definitely going to take me a few extra minutes to get through my speech.”

Thomas, who will speak last among this year's inductees, selected his wife, Annie, and their four children to serve as his Hall of Fame presenters in Canton.

The Thomas kids, three girls and a boy, are Logan, 10, Camryn, 8, Jack, 6, and Reese, 4.

“What says the most about Joe Thomas is who’s presenting him for the award — and it’s his family. And that’s just about as cool as it gets,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said last month during a news conference in training camp.

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Logan is the oldest of the Thomas children, and she has told her dad her only memories of attending his Browns games consist of sitting on the floor and playing with peanuts at the stadium on Cleveland's lakefront.

“This is cool for me because this is their first real memories of me as a football player,” Thomas said. “They love football, but we're not watching reruns of 2013 Browns games. Other than a couple pictures in the house, they don't really know me as a football player, so going through this Hall of Fame process, it's almost like introducing them to their dad, the football player.”

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On the other hand, Annie has known Joe, the football player, since their days as college sweethearts at the University of Wisconsin.

Thomas credits his spouse with supporting him through all of his 10,363 NFL snaps and 10 Pro Bowl selections.

“She was so much more than I can even explain behind the scenes,” Thomas said.

Here is what to know about Annie Thomas.

Cleveland Browns first-ballot Hall of Famer Joe Thomas says his wife, Annie, could relate to him because of her sports background

Annie played college basketball at Wisconsin, and her experience as a high-level athlete proved to be important to Joe's NFL career.

When Thomas was a rookie, a Browns strength coach told him a wife of another player didn't understand the toll the sport took on her husband.

“Every time the guy gets home from training camp, the wife's like, 'All right, what do we do now? We're going to the mall. Let's go do this. Let's go hang out with friends. Let's go to dinner,'” Thomas said. “And it became friction in their relationship because he's like, 'No, I'm exhausted. The last thing I want to do is move anywhere but this couch, and I don't want to talk about my day because it sucked. It was really hard, and I'm not ready.'

“I would come in and I would fall down on the couch and I'd fall asleep before dinner was ready, and Annie never was like, 'What's wrong with you? What's happened? Tell me about your day.' She just knew when it was OK to talk, when I needed somebody to talk, when I needed somebody to lean on, when it was OK to maybe [say], 'Hey, let's go on a date night. Let's go take the dogs for a walk.' And sometimes when I just needed to go in the basement and take a nap.

“She was just such a great balance, and I think that came from her background as an elite, competitive athlete, to understand that what you do is really strenuous, not only on your body but your mind.”

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Annie Thomas urged husband Joe Thomas to speak to a sports psychologist after 'mental breakdown'

In 2016, Thomas experienced what he described as “a mental breakdown” during his 10th and penultimate NFL season. It happened while Annie drove Joe home after the Browns had lost 33-13 to the visiting New England Patriots in Week 5.

“She didn't say anything the whole way, and I was just sobbing,” Thomas, 38, said. “And finally, she couldn't handle it anymore, and she's like, 'What's wrong? You don't cry on the way home from games.'

“I was just like, 'I know, but I just can't take it anymore.' And she's like, 'Is it your knee?' Because she knew I had a real bad knee that I was dealing with. And I was like, 'No, I just played a perfect game.' Because she's like, 'Did you give up a sack or did you have a bad game?' I'm like, 'No, I played perfect, and we still lost.' That loss of the feeling of control is what got to me.”

The Browns went 1-15 in 2016, and with their persistent losing wearing on Thomas, Annie encouraged him to speak to a sports psychologist employed by the team.

“She was great 'cause she just said, 'Hey, maybe do you want to talk to somebody about this?' And the Browns are great because they already have that system all in place,” Thomas said. “[It was valuable] having that immediacy of being able to find somebody to talk to and having the encouragement from your wife that it's OK. You can be vulnerable. You don't have to be the big, tough guy all the time. Sometimes it's OK to allow those emotions to come out and talk to somebody because it'll probably feel better after you do.”

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Annie kept the Hall of Fame secret safe from former Browns left tackle Joe Thomas

Thomas learned he had been voted a first-ballot Hall of Famer on Jan. 27, when former Seattle Seahawks nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones knocked on the family's door in Wisconsin.

But Annie knew the once-in-a-lifetime news even earlier. The Hall of Fame notified her while the Thomases vacationed in Mexico during the second weekend of January. She then kept the secret safe and helped arrange the big reveal involving Jones.

Thomas said Annie received the call from the Hall of Fame on the beach just hours before the couple went out for a date night.

“I brought a few extra beers for the road in the back of the Uber, and she was all nervous because she had just found out I was in the Hall of Fame and I didn't know anything,” Thomas said. “She was so nervous she wasn't drinking, so I ended up drinking her beers on the way to the restaurant, and by the time we got there, I'm ordering margaritas. She's not drinking them, so I'm drinking them.

“I got a little sloshed, and she kind of got mad at me because it wasn't the romantic date night she was expecting. But in hindsight, now I don't feel bad about it because I knew how nervous she was that if I would've been sober enough to talk, she would've had to hold this secret from me the entire time. In the end, it was a good idea that I drank too many Mexican beers that night, so she didn't have this big pressure of holding that secret from me in the moment.”

Thomas laughed as he told the story, but the point was genuine. Annie has always had his back.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joe Thomas' wife, Annie Thomas, and kids Hall of Fame presenters