Browns OT legend Joe Thomas calls out Colts for ‘egregious’ Jeff Saturday hire

November 13, 2022 ndowd

Legendary Cleveland Browns OT Joe Thomas criticized the Indianapolis Colts for hiring Jeff Saturday as NFL players remain divided on issue.

Over a decade after a successful “Suck For Luck” campaign in Indianapolis, the Colts are making another drastic decision that could shape the outcome of their season.

This week, the Colts fired Frank Reich and hired former Colts offensive lineman Jeff Saturday as their interim head coach. Saturday had been an NFL analyst with ESPN since 2013, but he accepted the head coaching position with no professional coaching experience.

Immediately after the hiring, NFL commentators expressed confusion and outrage to seeing Saturday seemingly walk into one of the most exclusive jobs in sports. Saturday’s lack of professional coaching experience came under scrutiny, as did the related conversation about how minority coaches in the NFL have been passed over for reportedly being underqualified.

What NFL players and coaches have to say in this moment is weighted, as they are the people who can best assess whether or not a hire like this makes sense for the Colts. For legendary Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas, who has a very similar NFL resume to Saturday, the Saturday hire seems like “a joke.”

Jeff Saturday is a great human being

…he can command a room

…he is a great leader

…but there’s (a lot) more to being an NFL head coach than 👆👆👆 https://t.co/IE2Lpt1srO

— Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) November 11, 2022

“It was the most egregious thing I can ever remember happening in the NFL,” Thomas said on the “Good Morning Football” set in Munich, Germany. Thomas criticized Colts owner Jim Irsay for seemingly hiring his “drinking buddy” and described Saturday as “not blameless for accepting the job.”

In the three-minute segment, Thomas explains how the move came across as insulting to everyone who knows the sacrifice and dedication demanded of NFL coaches.

“When you’re a coach in the NFL, you do not have a life outside of football,” Thomas said. Thomas then described the lifestyle of short-term Browns coach Rob Chudzinski, who apparently saw his children only once or twice a week.

For the most part, NFL journalists sided with Thomas, citing private concerns around the NFL about Saturday’s qualifications.

I think the premise of what Joe Thomas is saying holds merit. Where he comes off bad is referring to Jeff Saturday as simply Irsay’s “drinking buddy”. Joe is too damn smart to know the connotations that statement has with the owners past and it simply makes him sound bitter.

— Landon Oliver (@Landon3MR) November 11, 2022

Joe might be right or dead wrong on this. We’ll see. But for those cutting down his perspective… he has the exact same resume as Jeff Saturday.

— Nate Atkins (@NateAtkins_) November 11, 2022

Joe Thomas absolutely rules in general and is completely on his game here.

Good for him in saying all of this. So many people have walked back comments from this past week because of some sort of rah-rah speech.

At the end of the day what the Colts are doing is a joke. https://t.co/Yl9u5g4ltR

— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) November 11, 2022

But the divide is much greater among former NFL players, some of whom endorse Joe Thomas’ perspective and some of whom admonish it.

NFL players become divided over Joe Thomas statement about Colts’ Jeff Saturday hire

When Thomas was speaking on GMFB, there was another NFL player on the set: GMFB host and former Browns teammate Jason McCourty.

“You’re saying what everybody’s thinking,” Jason McCourty told Thomas.

Other former NFL players who have since transitioned to media roles such as Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III spoke out against the hire.

I believe in Jeff Saturday’s intelligence & character; not his hiring. There are so many layers to this. Is it about Privilege, race, nepotism, relationship , or respect?

In the end the comfort & familiarity of friendship overwhelmed Irsay… & could overwhelm the locker room. pic.twitter.com/1KVHUTTcLI

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) November 8, 2022

Lots of tip toeing around the Jeff Saturday hiring for the Colts. Jeff was a BLAST to work with at ESPN, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a HEAD SCRATCHING-SLAP IN THE FACE TO EVERY COACH ON THAT STAFF type of decision. Stephen A. Smith will be coaching the Nets next.

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 8, 2022

Griffin then chose to find a silver lining in the situation, hoping that Saturday’s hiring opens the door for more NFL players who want to transition to coaches.

I hope @SaturdayJeff does amazing so it can be a catalyst for more players to get Head Coaching opportunities right off the field or off TV. The NFL needs a shake up in the coaching ranks and players having a faster track to becoming a Head Coach like the NBA is much needed.

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 10, 2022

“You can criticize the hire, it’s timing and the passing over if so many other coaches and still wish Jeff well,” Griffin clarified.

You can criticize the hire, it’s timing and the passing over if so many other coaches and still wish Jeff well.

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 10, 2022

But many other former NFL players threw their support behind the decision for that same reason. If Saturday does well, it could create new pathways for NFL players to step into coaching roles. Also, they noted that personal relationships are a factor in the NFL, a fact that could allow Saturday to become an effective leader in the locker room.

We can’t possibly be THIS upset that a 15 year NFL veteran,
4X all pro, 6X pro bowler, super bowl champion leaped frogged other coaches for an interm head coaching position.

pic.twitter.com/oPTYMUDmph

— Will Blackmon 🍷 (@WillBlackmon) November 11, 2022

“If [Jeff] is the head coach next year, we can be looking at one of the greatest success stories ever… Josh McDaniels has all the experience in the world… he’s not good at all. Why? Because he can’t lead men… I would rather go with a guy like Jeff Saturday…”

🗣 @BMarshall pic.twitter.com/LQPnl0t3I3

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) November 11, 2022

Colts play the Raiders this weekend so obviously I hope they get beat but part of me wants to see Jeff Saturday have success due to everyone crying about him getting the job

Love a good underdog story

— Will Compton (@_willcompton) November 8, 2022

The truth is, Jeff Saturday got the job for the same reason that few on TV have challenged the fairness or legitimacy of the hire—Life is about relationships.

We complain when it fits our narrative, but we’re all guilty of overlooking things for people we like/are friends with.

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) November 8, 2022

While the Saturday hire could certainly pave the way for other NFL players who want to become coaches, it’s not as if Saturday is the first former NFL player to become a head coach. Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, a Super Bowl-winning linebacker with the New England Patriots, is one, if not the, most successful branch on the Bill Belichick coaching tree. Tying it back to Josh McDaniels critiques, it’s true that being a “leader of men” counts for something in the NFL. It’s just that no other former player — not Vrabel, not Jerod Mayo, not Reggie Wayne — ever walked off of the field and into a head coaching position quite like Saturday.

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