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NFL Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe Thomas joins Willard and Dibs to react to Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season, to discuss Kyle Shanahan's greatness, and more.
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00:00Joining us on the River Island's guest line, it's Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe Thomas.
00:05Hey Joe, what's up?
00:07Hey, what's up guys? Thanks for having me on.
00:09Excited to chat with you, particularly with the video that I saw.
00:13Will you share with our audience what you saw Trent Williams do differently this time that he faced Myles Garrett
00:21as opposed to when the Niners faced the Browns and Myles Garrett last year?
00:25Well, as a master class in watching film, studying yourself, demanding that you're going to get 1% better
00:30and even a guy in his 17th NFL season, he is ready and willing to put his ego aside
00:37and make some tweaks to his game and what you saw and why it was so effective against Myles Garrett
00:42was simply keeping your shoulders square, understanding where has Myles beat me in previous matchups
00:48and what was that caused by?
00:50In this case, it was turning your shoulders a little bit too soon towards the defender, towards Myles Garrett
00:56allowing him to beat you to the inside quickly
00:59and so Trent came in with the game, but hey, I'm going to keep my shoulders even more square
01:03I'm going to use my athleticism and my size
01:05he's not going to be able to run through because I'm bigger and stronger than him
01:08and when he tries to run around me, I'm going to target the near point of that shoulder
01:12put my hands on him, punch him and push him past the quarterback
01:15that aligns perfectly with the strategy that Shanahan and Purdy put in there
01:19and they executed the game plan perfectly, right?
01:22You're going to put Purdy at about 7.5 yards
01:24you're going to have Trent force Myles up the field
01:28you're going to allow Trent to hit that near point of the shoulder
01:30push Myles Garrett past the quarterback
01:33allow Purdy to step up into a beautiful clean pocket
01:35because remember, no Aaron Donald
01:37and we're going to have a flawless game
01:39and I think that was the first time since 2018
01:42that Myles Garrett was held without a sack, without a tackle
01:45basically no stats
01:46Trent Williams was able to erase him in the game
01:48by just tweaking some techniques
01:50that were a little bit of a flaw last time
01:52and it was just a master class
01:54and making improvements and continuously getting better
01:56even as one of the great old veterans now in the game
01:59How much of that is a typical week
02:02for a left tackle or right tackle
02:04or whatever to where
02:05you're going to look at your opponent
02:07and you're going to look at all the tape
02:08and figure out exactly
02:09how you might be able to counteract it
02:12Yeah, I mean, I think that's kind of what you go through
02:14every single week
02:15but what you do is you learn
02:17like I remember early on in my career
02:18I played against Dwight Freeney
02:20and I said, alright, I'm not going to let him beat me
02:23with the spin move
02:23but unfortunately I was sitting on the spin
02:25a little bit too hard
02:26and he was able to get a sack on me late in the game
02:29by bull rushing me into the quarterback
02:31and so then I said, alright
02:33you got that one
02:34but the next time we face
02:35I'm going to be even a little bit more prepared
02:37and ready for that bull rush
02:39since I feel good about the spin move
02:41and keep my shoulders super square
02:43I'm going to keep that weight to the inside
02:44but I'm going to be sitting
02:45with a little bit of space and angle
02:47to put myself a little further away
02:49from the quarterback
02:49at the point of contact
02:51give myself another half a yard of space
02:53so when he does bull rush
02:55I have a little more of a margin of error
02:56to give a little bit of ground
02:58and it's still going to keep me away
02:59from the quarterback
03:00so it's that constant cat and mouse game
03:02that you have to play as a left tackle
03:03and it was beautiful watching Trent
03:05be able to execute that plan
03:07on Thursday night in Australia
03:08Joe Thomas with us here
03:10on Withered and Dibs 95-7 the game
03:12Joe you hit me with something
03:14there's a video making the rounds
03:16with you talking about how
03:18with the Cleveland Browns
03:20at the beginning of every year
03:21you fooled yourself into thinking
03:23that you guys could contend
03:24for a Super Bowl
03:25and it really hit me
03:27here's the connection
03:27at least in this moment
03:29that I'm feeling with what happened
03:31with the Niners and Rams last week
03:32a lot of people with the travel schedule
03:35and everything are sort of saying
03:36you know the Rams kind of
03:38didn't want to overdo it
03:40they were thinking about the whole season
03:42as if they didn't care about the game
03:45as much as the 49ers did
03:47can you speak to that
03:49how much does a player
03:50and an organization
03:52from an emotional standpoint
03:54how much care are they putting into
03:57every game
03:58especially at the beginning of the year
04:00well I think the mentality is
04:02hey I don't know if it's week one
04:05that's going to be the deciding factor
04:06if I get into the playoffs
04:08if I get the first seed
04:09if I get the second seed
04:10or is it going to be week 17 or 18
04:13I mean I know
04:13we always in our minds as fans
04:15you weight things a little bit heavier
04:17at the end of the season
04:18and on some levels
04:19you say okay
04:20at the end of the season
04:21you want to be hot right
04:22you want to be fresh of course
04:24but I think you have to treat
04:26in the NFL
04:27when you have 17 regular season games
04:29every game has to be like that Super Bowl
04:31you have to put all the other ideas aside
04:32and focus on trying to win that game
04:35because at the end of the season
04:36I'm not saying it's going to happen to the Rams
04:38but can you imagine if they said
04:40you know what
04:40we're not worried about week one as much
04:42it's Australia
04:43you know we'll give them one
04:44and then they miss the playoffs by a game
04:46and they're super red hot
04:47at the end of the season
04:48but they fall one game short
04:49and I remember my rookie season
04:52we went 10 and 6
04:53it was our best year
04:54that I had when I was a Cleveland Brown
04:56we lost the opener bad
04:58we switched quarterbacks
05:00made a bunch of changes
05:00we went on a run
05:01and then we ended up 10 and 6
05:03so did the Steelers
05:04but they had the head-to-head competition
05:06and so they won the tiebreaker
05:08they won the division
05:09we didn't even make the playoffs
05:11and so you never know
05:13when that one win
05:13is going to be the difference
05:15between winning the division
05:16or missing the playoffs
05:18and it turns out
05:18never made the playoffs
05:19during my career
05:20but I think it's important
05:21to really just take things
05:22one game at a time
05:23and you don't want to look
05:24too far down the schedule
05:26and give up any wins
05:28because you don't know
05:29when you're going to need that
05:30in your back pocket
05:30it's going to be the difference
05:31between making the playoffs
05:32or not
05:33in our business
05:34we do overreactions
05:35every Monday
05:36but certainly after week one
05:38as a player
05:38when you look at a week one performance
05:40is it something that
05:42you overreact to
05:43or do you realize that
05:44it's just one game of 17
05:46and that it really isn't
05:47that much of a panic time
05:49you know I think fans
05:51that's why the game of the NFL
05:53is so awesome
05:53it's because we care so much
05:55about every game
05:55and we overreact to everything
05:57I mean that's the beauty
05:58that's why we have jobs
05:59and media
05:59that's why it stands
06:00you're glued to your television
06:02no matter if it's preseason
06:04or regular season
06:05or playoffs
06:05like we love the game
06:06and we put everything we have
06:07into every single week
06:09I think as a player
06:10your reaction
06:10doesn't necessarily depend
06:12so much on
06:13is it week one
06:14or week six
06:15or week 17, 18
06:16it's like how did we play
06:18and how do we need to frame this
06:19to get the best out of ourselves
06:21for the next week
06:22because you think about it
06:23alright week one
06:24let's say we just played terrible
06:26we know we're so much better
06:27there was a lot of circumstances
06:29that you just need to flush
06:30out of your system
06:31because you know
06:31you need to bounce back
06:32and you don't want one loss
06:33to turn into two
06:35then you gotta go into that meeting
06:36you gotta put it in a box
06:37really quickly
06:38and you obviously always
06:39wanna make the corrections
06:40but you don't wanna harp on it
06:41too much right
06:42if you identify
06:43some of the reasons
06:44we feel like
06:45you know what
06:46we can address that
06:47without going too hard
06:48on our team
06:50we feel like they're gonna
06:51respond better
06:51but like sometimes
06:52you know I've been in there
06:53where you're coming in on Monday
06:55and the team needs
06:56a wake up call
06:56and so you watch
06:58every single play
07:00three four times
07:01you get your heads
07:02beat in by your coaches
07:03you have a hard week
07:04of practice
07:05because they're trying
07:05to send a message
07:06and so I think
07:07it all just depends
07:08on the circumstances
07:09and the situation
07:09and what type of
07:11message you need
07:12to get across
07:12to that team
07:13Joe Thomas with us
07:14here on 95.7
07:15the game
07:15okay let's go back
07:17to that comment
07:18you talked about
07:18how much fans care
07:20and freak out
07:20about each game
07:21the comments
07:22that I just referenced
07:23that you made
07:24about
07:26sort of convincing
07:28yourself
07:28that the Cleveland Browns
07:30could win it all
07:31at the beginning
07:31of every year
07:32that video
07:33has made the rounds
07:35there are a few comments
07:36underneath it
07:37and I'm sure
07:38you've gotten this a lot
07:39where people are like
07:40sure Joe
07:40you didn't make the playoffs
07:41but you made
07:42millions and millions
07:43of dollars
07:44so what do you care
07:46what's your response
07:47to that
07:48the idea
07:48that the fans care
07:50and maybe
07:51maybe even more so
07:52than the players
07:54well it is a business
07:55we do get paid
07:56that's an important
07:57part of it certainly
07:58but I think
07:58as a competitor
07:59as somebody who wants
08:00to be truly great
08:01at whatever you do
08:03you put your salary
08:05aside
08:05and winning
08:07is the only thing
08:08that you measure
08:09your success
08:09or failure upon
08:10and you know
08:12I look back
08:12at my career
08:13made the Hall of Fame
08:14and did a lot of things
08:15on a personal level
08:16that I wanted to do
08:18but it doesn't matter
08:19how much money I made
08:20like I wanted to win
08:22the fun in football
08:23is winning
08:24it's not the paycheck
08:25you get
08:26and yes
08:27fans
08:28they do it for free
08:29they do it
08:30and they pay money
08:31to do it
08:31and I get it
08:32I'm a fan now
08:32and you know
08:33I buy tickets
08:34to the Browns games
08:35I pay for my subscription
08:36so I can watch my team
08:38I love it
08:38but like
08:39when you're living that
08:40every single day
08:41it's an emotional toll
08:43and you're not thinking
08:44about what your paycheck is
08:46because you feel
08:46when you lose
08:47you're letting down
08:48your fans
08:48you're letting your family down
08:50you're letting your teammates down
08:51especially if you feel
08:52like in a situation
08:53you could have played
08:55a better game
08:55like there's no worse
08:56feeling in the world
08:57than when you walk
08:58into that building
08:59and you got that pit
08:59in your stomach
09:00thinking
09:01oh man
09:02I didn't play my best
09:04and I let my team down
09:05and we lost
09:06partly because of me
09:07there is no greater
09:09feeling of misery
09:10than that Monday morning
09:12when you feel like
09:13you let your teammates
09:14and your fans
09:14and your coaches down
09:15one of the big challenges
09:17that Cleveland has faced
09:18is kind of a revolving door
09:19of coaches
09:20and yet now
09:20Kyle Shanahan out here
09:22is in year 10
09:22and it seems like
09:24he's regarded as one of the best
09:25coaches in all of football
09:27what's your opinion
09:28of what he does
09:29not only as a coordinator
09:30but the way he runs his team
09:32I had Kyle in 2014
09:34in Cleveland
09:34and just one year
09:36with him
09:36I realized pretty quickly
09:37he's the best football coach
09:39or coach of any sport
09:40that I've ever been around
09:41because I think he's a combination
09:43of an X's and O's genius
09:45and an incredible motivator
09:47and when you think about
09:48what makes a great motivator
09:50to me in the NFL
09:51it's more than just
09:53what people think about
09:54Vince Lombardi maybe
09:56or Bill Parcells
09:57is going to chew your ass
09:58when you do something bad
09:59to me it's about
10:00understanding the emotional intelligence
10:02of like
10:02how do I get to my players
10:03how do I get the most out of them
10:05every single week
10:06you know it's a long season
10:07if you just come in
10:08with the same temperament
10:09and you're running hot
10:11all the time
10:11like maybe guys
10:12start tuning you out
10:13but I thought Kyle
10:13was the best motivator
10:14I was ever around
10:15because what he did
10:17was he did a great job
10:18of showing you
10:18how the game plan
10:21is the best game plan possible
10:23and it puts you
10:24in an advantageous situation
10:26over your opponents
10:27and if all you have to do
10:29in that situation
10:30is go out
10:31and execute
10:32the game plan
10:33that has been laid out
10:34and detailed
10:35through the assistant coaches
10:37all the way through
10:37your coordinators
10:38and your head coach
10:39just follow that roadmap
10:40and I'm giving you
10:42an advantage
10:42to go out
10:43and win the game
10:44and everything
10:44that you've ever wanted
10:45in your life
10:46whether it be
10:47personal success
10:48you want to make
10:49more money in the NFL
10:50you want to win
10:50a championship
10:51you want to win
10:52with your teammates
10:53like it's laid out
10:54for you
10:54all you have to do
10:56is follow this roadmap
10:57and throughout
10:57the course of the week
10:58he does a great job
10:59detailing that up
11:00right
11:00he's obsessed
11:01with putting guys
11:02in a great position
11:03to win
11:03he's creative
11:04and then as you get
11:06to that Friday
11:06Saturday
11:07he starts building
11:08your confidence up
11:08he'll be showing clips
11:10during those meetings
11:11on Friday and Saturday
11:12from the week
11:13going against defenses
11:15and schemes
11:15that you expect to see
11:17on Sunday
11:18showing you
11:19on film
11:20yourself
11:20of you succeeding
11:22and showing you
11:23how he has put you
11:24in a great situation
11:26that gives you
11:27a huge advantage
11:27over the team
11:28you're going to play
11:28and there's no more
11:29exciting
11:30and no more
11:33invigorating experience
11:34and feeling
11:35is going into that game
11:36like we have
11:37a tremendous advantage
11:38right now
11:38and we're going to
11:39kick the crap
11:40out of these guys
11:41because we got that
11:42roadmap from our coaches
11:43and we're all
11:44on the same page
11:44and he pumps you up
11:46and pumps those tires
11:46unlike anybody
11:47I've ever been around
11:48and it's pretty clear
11:49I mean 10 years
11:50in one spot
11:51for a reason
11:52hasn't always had
11:53healthy quarterbacks
11:53but he's still winning
11:54every single year
11:55and to me
11:56that's the mark
11:57of a great
11:58offensive mind
11:59and a great head coach
12:00and a great leader
12:01Joe it's such a big statement
12:03that you're making there
12:04and I think a fascinating one
12:05because fans see
12:06press conference Kyle
12:08and I think sometimes
12:09they don't see
12:10what you
12:11just described
12:12and even today
12:14you'll still hear
12:1549er fans say
12:16great coordinator
12:17but I don't know
12:18about head coach
12:20what's the difference
12:21between the Kyle
12:22you know
12:23and press conference Kyle
12:24yeah well
12:26some of the great
12:27head coaches
12:28throughout history
12:29I mean just look back
12:30to Bill Belichick
12:31right
12:31wasn't the most beloved
12:33guy in the press conference
12:34and they're not going
12:35to give you a whole lot
12:35of information
12:36they're not going
12:36to give you insight
12:38into how they manage
12:39the team
12:40you know
12:40other than what
12:41they're forced to
12:42by NFL rules
12:43and I think the great
12:44thing about Kyle
12:45is he's a great leader
12:45like he's naturally
12:47a person that
12:49people are drawn to
12:50they respect his brain
12:51and that's really
12:52the difference to me
12:53between like a great
12:54college coach
12:55and a great NFL coach
12:56you know college coaches
12:57a lot of those guys
12:59they're great rah-rah guys
13:00they're great recruiters
13:01they get these 18, 19, 20
13:03year old kids fired up
13:04to go play the game
13:05and they play their
13:06hearts out
13:06but in the NFL
13:07like we're all getting
13:09paid
13:09we're all talented
13:10everybody was an
13:10All-American
13:11we all know how to
13:12play this game
13:13but when Kyle
13:14shows you that
13:16road map to success
13:17and then he's able
13:18to do a great job
13:19communicating
13:20not only to you
13:21as a player
13:22what your individual
13:23expectations are
13:24but he does a great job
13:26teaching all of his
13:27assistants
13:27so that it goes
13:29from the top down
13:30and everybody is
13:31on the same page
13:31communication
13:32as far as how things
13:33need to be taught
13:34is nearly flawless
13:36all the time
13:37and he is just
13:38a fantastic leader
13:39because people respect him
13:40they understand
13:41what he's trying to say
13:42because he's a great
13:43communicator
13:43he has great vision
13:44and he allows you
13:45to all see that vision
13:46and understand that
13:48all you got to do
13:48is do the things
13:50that I've laid out
13:51for you
13:51and we're going to
13:52have great success
13:52and we'll be
13:53celebrating in that
13:54locker room together
13:54Joe I'm making burgers
13:56tonight for the family
13:58I bet they're not
13:59as good as the burgers
14:00that you make
14:02how's Hall of Fame
14:03Beef Farms going
14:04what's cooking man
14:05yeah man
14:06we're doing great
14:07we're raising the
14:08world's greatest
14:09and healthiest
14:09Wagyu beef
14:10on planet earth
14:11out of my farm
14:12in Wisconsin
14:13it's been an awesome
14:14journey
14:14and really just
14:15fell into it
14:16wanted to raise
14:16some cattle
14:17on my farm
14:19for family and friends
14:20and put some beef
14:21on the table
14:21for my kids
14:23that I knew
14:23where it came from
14:24I knew how it was fed
14:25and then just kind of
14:25became a passion project
14:27and ended up dumping
14:28my detail oriented mind
14:30and my obsession
14:31that I had with being
14:32a great left tackle
14:33and now it's being
14:34dumped into the genetics
14:35and the management
14:36and the feed
14:36and the care
14:37of our Wagyu beef
14:39and we got a lot
14:40of success
14:41if you go to
14:41halloffamefarms.com
14:42we've got a cool
14:43collab going on
14:44right now
14:44with Jared Allen
14:45he just launched
14:46Full Ride Bourbon
14:47amazing boutique
14:48bourbon line
14:49and we're launching
14:50a collab
14:51where you can buy
14:51his bourbon
14:52with our Wagyu
14:54tomahawk steaks
14:55and a bunch of other
14:55delicious morsels
14:57in that box together
14:58and we'll ship it
14:59right to your doorstep
15:00a fun opportunity
15:02for me
15:02like in this side
15:03of the world
15:04to collaborate
15:05with guys like
15:05Jared Allen
15:06and other
15:06hall of famers
15:07that have done
15:08amazing stuff
15:09not only during
15:10their football career
15:11but then off the field
15:12and have found passions
15:14just like I did
15:15in the farming space
15:16I'm a big horse racing fan
15:18and I know a lot of
15:18that's about breeding
15:19so how much
15:20of what you do
15:21is about actually breeding
15:23like getting the right cow
15:24to be with the right
15:25other cow
15:26to get some of that Wagyu
15:27coming through the pipeline
15:29well the cool thing
15:30is I didn't grow up farming
15:32I just grew up
15:33in the suburbs
15:34as a kid
15:34who loved to get outside
15:35hunt fish
15:35and camp
15:36and I just you know
15:37I had this fantasy
15:38about playing in the NFL
15:39one day
15:39like a lot of kids
15:40and the other fantasy
15:41was like owning my own
15:42piece of dirt
15:43and being able to farm
15:44and the things
15:46that I learned
15:47in football
15:47as far as like nutrition
15:48and taking care
15:49of your body
15:50and genetics
15:51and seeing it
15:52across the board
15:53like now I'm trying
15:54to apply those
15:54to cattle
15:55and I'll tell you
15:56one thing
15:56my mom's 6'1
15:58she's a big German lady
15:59my dad's 6'2
16:00big barrel chest
16:02big guy
16:04and I'm a pretty big dude
16:05so like
16:06you gotta have the genetics
16:07of course you gotta have
16:08that work with it
16:09but I wouldn't be
16:09in the NFL
16:10if my mom and dad
16:11were little Irish guys
16:12and gals
16:13so I know that genetics
16:15is a big part of it
16:16and you know
16:16we're trying to apply
16:17that same information
16:18from the NFL
16:19individual care
16:21every single one
16:22of those cattle
16:22just like I took care
16:23of my body
16:24to try to create
16:25that best beef
16:25on planet earth
16:26hey Joe
16:27before you go
16:28little Irish guys
16:29that felt personal
16:30well yeah
16:30I mean
16:31I'm tiny
16:32what are you gonna do
16:32about it
16:33nothing
16:34hey who's meat dad
16:36I like 2 million followers
16:38from here in the bay
16:40I'm not familiar
16:41with this
16:41who's meat dad
16:43he's a good friend
16:44of mine in the bay area
16:45he's a former butcher
16:46and he is a stud
16:49when you go on
16:50social media
16:51you'll be able to see
16:52him on facebook
16:53he teaches you all
16:54about how to break
16:55down primals
16:56and sub primals
16:56he's a great
16:57great friend
16:58with an incredible
16:58personality
16:59obviously you see
17:00that awesome following
17:01and he's a giant
17:02Niners fan
17:02so I've been sending
17:03him beef
17:04and he's been delivering
17:05to a bunch
17:06of the 49ers
17:07we've got Bosa
17:08and Kittle
17:09and all those guys
17:09eating our Hall of Fame
17:11beef steaks
17:11and beef jerky
17:12and sending him
17:13burger
17:13and so yeah
17:14I talked to
17:16John Lynch
17:16this off season
17:17we're both on
17:18the competition committee
17:19and we're gonna be
17:20sending him some
17:21beef steaks
17:22and beef jerky too
17:22because he's on board
17:23with Hall of Fame
17:24Farms too
17:24so we'll be feeding
17:25the boys
17:25and we're looking
17:26forward to that
17:27as well
17:27let's go
17:29halloffamefarms.com
17:29hey real quick Joe
17:30medium rare right
17:32that's the right answer
17:33oh yeah
17:34I mean hey
17:34you buy beef from us
17:36you can do whatever
17:37you want to
17:37I will not judge
17:39but if it's not
17:40medium rare it's wrong
17:41thank you
17:41thank you
17:42hey Joe
17:42you're the best
17:43keep being you
17:44thank you
17:44alright
17:45thanks for having me on guys
17:46appreciate it
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