Nine things you may not have known (or maybe you did) about Hall of Famer Joe Thomas

The Pro Football Hall of Fame will welcome Brookfield native Joe Thomas this weekend, bestowing a gold jacket to the Cleveland Browns great who also happened to have a pretty great career for the University of Wisconsin.

As he prepares for official enshrinement, enjoy these nuggets about the superb left tackle, some of which you may recall as a longtime follower of his career. But some might come as a surprise.

Joe Thomas is basically the first Milwaukeean in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

There are a handful of Wisconsinites who've been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and, obviously, many players with ties to the Green Bay Packers. Brookfield isn't Milwaukee but can safely be classified as a suburb, and no other players originally from southeastern Wisconsin have earned induction.

Some weren't from Wisconsin initially but remained in the state long after their playing days. Packers standout Henry Jordan became the executive director of Milwaukee's Summerfest in the event's early years, and Willie Davis enjoyed a wildly successful business career, serving on several local business boards and becoming president of a chain of radio stations. LeRoy Butler, the Packers' newest inductee, has remained in Wisconsin and has been active as a media personality and entrepreneur.

But other than that, Thomas represents a first-of-his-kind.

Curly Lambeau and Arnie Herber hailed from Green Bay, Jim Otto and Elroy Hirsch from Wausau, Ernie Nevers, Tuffy Leemans and Bud Grant spent at least some time in Superior, Mike Webster is from Rhinelander, Johnny "Blood" McNally was born in New Richmond and Dave Casper played a year of high-school football in Chilton.

He's only the third Badgers player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Hirsch and Webster also fit the bill, and technically Herber is another who played on the freshman team. But after that, Thomas is in rare company as a University of Wisconsin football player to earn enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.

Hirsch became athletics director at UW from 1969 to 1987.

Thomas became known for his defense in high school

The Brookfield Central standout was a force on both lines, but he was all-state … as a defensive lineman, not an offensive one. In fact, he was named the co-Defensive Player of the Year in the state by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association along with Justin Ostrowski of Portage, who also played at UW.

Thomas, of course, has a reputation for never taking a play off — 10,363 consecutive snaps for an NFL record, after all. But in high school, there were occasions where he'd miss a play because he kept changing jersey numbers to meet eligibility requirements, wearing No. 61 primarily, No. 92 when he was playing at tight end and sometimes a tight-fitting No. 21 that made it harder for offensive linemen to grab ahold of him.

Oh, also he was a punter

But even more fun? Thomas was also the team's punter. In the state final loss to Menomonie his senior year, he finished with five punts, including a long of 43 yards. The Lancers scored with 3:04 left on the clock to pull within 17-14, but an onside kick recovery and fourth-and-1 conversion on the BC 43-yard line sealed the state title for Menomonie.

The man he blocked for at Central has his own legendary Wisconsin sports moment

Obviously, Thomas was a force on the offensive line, too; it's what made him a highly sought-after recruit by Notre Dame, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, USC and others. He helped pave the way for Ben Strickland, a senior who rushed for a Milwaukee area-best 2,053 yards and 26 touchdowns that year.

Strickland also went on to become a player and coach for Wisconsin. He's primarily remembered for a moment Oct. 15, 2005, when he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone against Minnesota to shock the Golden Gophers in the Metrodome, 38-34.

Strickland worked his way up the coaching ranks, serving as a graduate assistant at UW for two years and becoming defensive backs coach in 2012. After three seasons there, he became Wisconsin's recruiting coordinator before returning to a defensive backs coach with Florida Atlantic in 2015. Strickland is now head football coach at De Pere.

Joe Thomas played multiple sports, and did all of them well

Even if you're not familiar with his work in other sports, it won't surprise you that Thomas shined across the board.

On the basketball court, Central qualified for three state tournaments in Thomas' four years, and he started each time. In his final high-school game in 2003, he scored 20 points in a state quarterfinal loss to Fond du Lac. As Art Kabelowsky wrote in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of the Cardinals, "And finally, they hung on late as Joe Thomas tried to carry the entire city of Brookfield across the finish line on his expansive back."

It was the second time Fond du Lac had eliminated Central at the state tournament, and that last game turned out to be a big day for the school. It was the same day recent alumnus Travis Diener scored 29 points in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, helping Marquette stave off Holy Cross on a run that went all the way to the Final Four.

Earlier that same day at the Kohl Center, future Badgers star Brian Butch scored 45 points to set a state scoring record in a win for Appleton West.

Thomas and three football teammates had zero offseason between playing in the 2002 football final and the start of the 2002-03 basketball season that ended in Madison.

Then came the spring season. Thomas also won the 2003 discus (185 feet, 6 inches) and shot put (62 feet 1½ inches) state titles for Central in 2003.

Speaking of (presumed) Wisconsin connections to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, future inductee future J.J. Watt himself won the Division 2 shot put title in 2007, followed by his brothers Derek (2011) and T.J. (2013).

The NFL Draft really impacted the fishing conditions in 2007

Thomas famously eschewed attending the NFL Draft in 2007 for a fishing trip, all caught on camera in a compromise between Thomas and the league; he didn't want the camera and all and definitely not a live one, but he agreed to have it filmed for after-the-fact airing.

The boat had to stay close to Lake Michigan's shores for proper cell service, and Thomas said that made for lousy fishing.

"The bite was not happening," Thomas said earlier this year. "Then when we got drafted, they were like, 'You've got to come to Cleveland like five minutes ago,' and they made me get off the water, and the Browns sent a plane and picked me up and took me to Cleveland."

He played defense in two bowl games. The first time went well. The second, not so much

Thomas's talents at defensive end were put to use his first bowl game as a freshman in 2003 when the Badgers faced Auburn in the Music City Bowl. Short-handed because of injury, the UW coaches asked Thomas to prepare at end; not only did he play there, he recorded seven total tackles to tie for third on the team that day.

That included two assisted tackles that accounted for a loss of one yard each, coming against future NFL players Ronnie Brown and Jason Campbell. The latter tackle was a joint effort with future Badgers defensive coordinator and fellow NFL veteran Jim Leonhard.

Thomas, who was also tested out as a blocking tight end during his freshman year, moved seamlessly into the No. 1 left-tackle position as a sophomore.

He was playing defensive end again as a junior in the Capital One Bowl against Auburn in what was (supposed to be) Barry Alvarez's last game as head coach. This time, it wasn't a great outcome; Thomas suffered a torn right ACL during the 24-10 victory. That certainly made the decision easier as to whether to declare for the NFL Draft and forego his senior season, but Thomas was healthy in time for Bret Bielema's inaugural season as head coach. UW went 12-1 that season and finished seventh in the final Associated Press poll.

More: Joe Thomas, star at Brookfield Central and UW, heading to College Football Hall of Fame

People noticed him on an athletic field even in grade school … not always in a good way

Thomas, who stood 6-foot-7 by the time he was a senior at Brookfield Central, always stood out on an athletic field.

"He was always way bigger than a lot of his peers in grade school, and that was a huge disadvantage for Joseph," Thomas's mother, Sally, said in a 2006 feature by Jeff Potrykus in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "They called him Big Foot. His feet were huge. ...

"I remember him being on the soccer field as a goalie and he was much larger than the other kids. There was a dad coaching the other team and he was just screaming: ‘Get that kid off of the field. He is huge. He doesn’t belong here.’

More: Wisconsin officials rave about Joe Thomas as a football player and friend

"I remember seeing him sitting on our couch just crying."

Eventually, the size became anything but a disadvantage.

Where can you watch the Hall of Fame ceremony?

Thomas and his fellow Class of 2023 members will be inducted officially into Canton beginning at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, and the ceremony will be broadcast on ESPN and the NFL Network.

Check out how much fun Thomas is having so far:

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Joe Thomas, ex-Badgers, Brookfield star, had his own Hall of Fame path