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NFL

Thomas talks new role: No. 1 Browns fan

BEREA, Ohio — With just the right mix of self-deprecating humor and sincere feelings, Joe Thomas said with emotion Monday that the time had come for him to say goodbye to his NFL playing career.

“Goodbye not because I’m retiring, but because I’m merely changing jobs,” Thomas told fans as he wiped away a tear. “From being your left tackle to being the No. 1 fan of the Cleveland Browns.”

Thomas spoke to a full house of Browns employees, coaches and front office officials. Owner Jimmy Haslam joined Thomas’ wife, Annie, in the front row with the couple’s three children, and employees wore T-shirts that read “No Ordinary Joe.”

Thomas started his remarks with several barbs that featured a rundown of his 11 years of struggle with the Browns.

He said Ray Farmer tried to text him, but he didn’t get it because it was during a game and Farmer had been suspended — a reference to the former general manager being suspended for texting the sideline during his tenure with the Browns.

Thomas said Kyle Shanahan put together a 32-page PowerPoint presentation trying to convince him not to retire, a reference to Shanahan putting together a detailed explanation why the Browns should let him out of his contract as offensive coordinator after the 2014 season.

Thomas said he wanted to talk to former coach Eric Mangini, but he would have had to ride a bus with him to Connecticut — a reference to Mangini having Browns rookies bus to Connecticut and back to take part in Mangini’s coaching clinic.

Thomas said former quarterback Brandon Weeden tried to text, but he still was caught under a giant American flag (something that happened before Weeden’s first game in Cleveland); that former VP Sashi Brown tried to send information but didn’t submit it on time (a reference to the botched trade deadline deal for AJ McCarron); and that Johnny Manziel tried to call him from a club but the “money phone” didn’t have good service.

With Haslam listening and smiling, Thomas even described the Rob Chudzinski coaching era by saying “both those days were outstanding.”

The jokes somehow seemed fitting from the guy who a day earlier had posted this on Twitter:

There were plenty of serious moments. Thomas mentioned numerous people he wanted to thank, starting with Annie and his family and continuing through teammates, coaches (he credited former Browns line coach George Warhop for much of his growth), friends and front office types. Thomas even wiped his eye when the Cleveland chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America informed him that its player of the year award would henceforth be known as The Joe Thomas Award.

Thomas admitted that before he hurt his triceps in a loss to the Tennessee Titans last October — an injury that ended his consecutive snaps streak at 10,363 — he was already worried that he might not make it through the season. A knee issue plagued him the past few years and limited his practice time, ultimately leading to his retirement decision.

“I was feeling like I was in tough shape physically, my knee specifically,” Thomas said. “I was concerned that I wasn’t going to make it through the season. Not only that, but I was concerned that if I was going to make it, my performance was going to drop significantly because of what I had to go through to try to get the knee ready for Sunday.

“And sometimes it wasn’t really feeling all that ready.”

As for his success, the 10 Pro Bowls in 11 seasons and all the snaps, Thomas credited a basic mantra: Be on time, pay attention and work hard.

His plan is to move back to Wisconsin, where both his and Annie’s families live. But he wants to remain connected to the Browns and Cleveland. Thomas saved his last and most passionate thanks for Browns fans.

“The passion, toughness and determination that you display on a daily basis is an inspiration for myself and for all of my teammates and all the people that wear ‘Cleveland’ across their chest,” Thomas said. “You guys taught me what it means to be a Clevelander. Playing in front of the greatest fans in the NFL is easily the greatest honor that I’ve had in my 11-year career. I hope I was able to make you guys proud in the way that I was always proud when I told people boldly that ‘I am a Cleveland Brown.’ The excitement I had for my team and my city never wavered, no matter what the circumstances.”

As he continued his voice cracked just a bit.

“So it is with all of this,” he said, “that I must say goodbye.”

Thomas capped his emotional day at Quickens Loan Arena, where he took in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks and was saluted by fellow Cleveland legend LeBron James.

Soccer

Despite growing workload, Messi continues to deliver on biggest stage

Lionel Messi doesn’t need much introduction. He’s one of the greatest players to ever grace a pitch, and an attraction who brings thousands of tourists to Barcelona each year. He’s the soul of this great era at the Camp Nou, and always the envy of managers in the opposing dugout.

Asked why Chelsea lost to Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday, defender Marcos Alonso simply said, “They have Lionel Messi.”

The diminutive Argentine has always featured prominently for the Catalan outfit – the sheen on his game never wore off – but this season has been different. Messi is creating from deeper positions, stretching defences out wide, and making a difference in the penalty area.

Related: Messi, Dembele clinical as Barcelona bounces Chelsea

He was clinical in the latest tie, scoring off three of his four shots against Chelsea to single-handedly swing the result in Barcelona’s favour. But while the goals were important, Messi’s assist to Ousmane Dembele captured the very best of his game. The 30-year-old won possession in midfield, eluded defenders as he roared downfield on the counter-attack, and then spotted the Frenchman with an incisive pass through the middle of the 18-yard box. He did all of this against his so-called bogey team, having been shut out in eight previous appearances against the Blues.

If not for Messi’s contributions, Chelsea would’ve had a legitimate chance of advancing. The Blues pushed Barcelona as much as they could over two legs, and on Wednesday in particular, as the Blaugrana eschewed tradition by ceding swaths of possession to the visitor. The Camp Nou, a longtime theatre for tiki-taka, is now playing host to a more ruthless Barcelona side, one that’s doing damage with fewer passes. Opponents are suffering fewer deaths by a million cuts, and instead more swift blows to the gut. And Messi is usually the one delivering them.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

He’s had to take on a greater workload as a result of the change in tactics, and it’s a burden he’s content to carry. Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde’s switch to a 4-4-2 formation made the team more compact, but it also liberated Messi. His touches on the ball have increased, sometimes ranging between 100 and 150 per match, which are the kind of gaudy numbers that midfield metronome Xavi used to register. Messi’s taking on multiple jobs, running the midfield while preserving enough energy to join the attack. His pace is an underappreciated part of his repertoire, and it’s helped him execute Valverde’s orders.

The manager has achieved a happy medium here. It’s difficult to preach a more conservative philosophy at a club like Barcelona, considering its illustrious history of attacking football, but he knew it could be done with Messi around.

And the star is certainly keeping audiences enthralled while Valverde prioritises fundamentals.

All the talk Wednesday was about Messi’s brilliance, not Barcelona’s 29 clean sheets in 46 matches this season. If there’s been any void left in attack, Messi has filled it.

“This type of player, there is one born in every 50 years,” Chelsea manger Antonio Conte said after Wednesday’s match, according to The Telegraph. “We are talking about one single player with this capacity, with this ability, with these skills. He’s fantastic. For sure, we are talking about a player who is able to move the final result for the team for whom he is playing.”

Messi’s had to anchor this team as if it’s Argentina, doing all the leg work to keep the attack humming. The national team has long relied on Messi’s match-winning abilities, and only reached the upcoming 2018 World Cup because of his timely hat-trick against Ecuador in the final round of qualifiers. It’s the same now at Barcelona, which is asking Messi to be what he is: one of the greatest players of all time.

NFL

Source: Dallas to keep long snapper Ladouceur

FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys are keeping long snapper L.P. Ladouceur.

According to sources, Ladouceur will sign a one-year deal to remain with the Cowboys on Monday, and he will join some rarified air entering his 14th season with the organization.

The only players in franchise history with more service time to the Cowboys are Jason Witten, who is entering his 16th season, Bill Bates and Mark Tuinei, who played 15 seasons for the Cowboys each.

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Ladouceur will join Hall of Famers Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro and Randy White as well as Lee Roy Jordan, Jethro Pugh, Tom Rafferty and Tony Romo with 14 years with the Cowboys.

Ladouceur turned 37 last week and has never missed a game in his career. Last season, the Cowboys monitored his practice time in the offseason and training camp, but he has yet to have a poor snap since joining the Cowboys in 2005.

The biggest beneficiaries to Ladouceur’s return are kicker Dan Bailey, punter Chris Jones and new special teams coach Keith O’Quinn,

Bailey and Jones have lauded Ladouceur’s work for years, while O’Quinn would not want to worry about a new snapper in his first season. The Oakland Raiders made contact with Ladouceur’s agent at the start of free agency and they already signed away special teams’ stalwarts Kyle Wilber and Keith Smith, who will rejoin former Cowboys special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia in the Bay Area.

Ladouceur is the second free agent the Cowboys have kept, having placed the franchise tag on defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence before the market opened. In addition to Wilber and Smith, the Cowboys also lost linebacker Anthony Hitchens to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Soccer

Chelsea requests info from fans who witnessed violent clashes in Barcelona

Alleged clashes at the Camp Nou before Wednesday’s Champions League loss to Barcelona has left some Chelsea supporters injured, the Premier League club said in a statement.

The club issued an appeal to those who were in Barcelona to get in touch and give their accounts of the events that unfolded after video emerged on social media showing supporters being herded by baton-wielding stewards outside of the Camp Nou.

A spokesman for the club said: “We are aware of reports of incidents outside the ground before the game where a number of Chelsea fans were hurt.

“We ask that our supporters contact us with accounts of their experiences of this evening’s arrival at the stadium so that we can take this up properly with the authorities.”

One social media user who allegedly filmed the incident claims the “unprovoked” attack occurred as fans were leaving the stadium shortly after Barcelona beat Chelsea 3-0 to progress to the quarter-finals.

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Soccer