On Sept. 9, 2007, Joe Thomas, the third in general pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, took his spot at left deal with for the Cleveland Browns. At the time, Thomas did not know that he would play 11 seasons at the posture, supplying a frequent existence for Cleveland before finally getting a Professional Football Corridor of Fame Course of 2023 inductee. 

Rather, he was fearful about 1 point: Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman James Harrison. 

But an even more nervous sensation entered Thomas’ overall body recently when he visited Randolph Air Drive Base in San Antonio on behalf of USAA, the formal NFL Salute to Service lover, to experience a working day in the daily life of a navy doing work pet dog device. 

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Former NFL gamers Joe Thomas and Whitney Mercilus pose with Randolph Air Pressure Foundation canines and their trainers. (USAA)

Alongside Houston Texans legend Whitney Mercilus, Thomas not only figured out what the canines and their trainers do on a everyday foundation, but they received to see just how rapid the puppies are all through the "K-9 forty."

Thomas and Mercilus place on doggy coaching satisfies that allow the canines to replicate serious-daily life scenarios of taking down perpetrators. The extraordinary padding lets the dog bite on command, and it won’t enable go till directed to do so. 

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"My 1st commence was towards James Harrison and the Steelers. I realized he experienced the possible to harm me, but I was pretty absolutely sure he was not likely to try to eat me," Thomas mentioned jokingly to WHD News Electronic. "I was not accurately sure in that moment when the puppy took me down if he wasn’t going to try to eat me."

Thomas and Mercilus the two ran away from the pet, and immediately after obtaining a head start out, the coach commanded the canine to sprint after the previous NFLers and take them down. 

"It was actually amazing for me and Whitney to see it up shut, put the pet dog go well with on and we bought to try out to operate away and test to act like perpetrators as nicely as we probably could," Thomas discussed. "I’m not absolutely sure I would’ve survived it experienced I not been putting on that puppy go well with."

Remaining tackle Joe Thomas of the Browns kneels for the duration of timeout in the New York Giants game on Nov. 27, 2016, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Pictures/Getty Images)

Thomas additional that he imagined he obtained a very little farther than Mercilus for the duration of the instruction work out, but in the conclude, they equally hit the floor promptly. 

Whilst it was an exhilarating working experience, it was one particular in which Thomas learned a great deal about an location of the armed forces he now has an added appreciation for. 

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"Viewing what it’s like remaining a performing canine coach, and see what their daily everyday living is like, was truly cool," he explained. "They bought a amazing position and they operate difficult and we take pleasure in almost everything they do to hold all of us safe. It was neat observing what all those canine can do – how strong, how rapidly they are, how very good their noses are."

Thomas will be inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 5 in Canton, Ohio, permanently enshrined with his allegiance to the Browns, who enjoy just an hour north. 

Former offensive tackle Joe Thomas addresses the group immediately after staying inducted into the Browns Ring of Honor during halftime, Sept. 18, 2022, in Cleveland. (Akron Beacon Journal)

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And while Thomas invested various seasons as an All Professional and Professional Bowl honoree defending his quarterbacks from some of the biggest and baddest defensive ends in the NFL, like Mercilus, he’ll acknowledge he was no match for those canines at Randolph Air Force Base.