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By Cameron Kiszla
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It's quite common for one of the top picks in the 2026 NFL Draft to do interviews with his team's media department.
What's less common is for that interviewer to be the new star player's personal hero, but that's exactly what happened with the Cleveland Browns this training camp.
Rookie Meets an All-Time Great
This spring, the Browns picked offensive tackle Spencer Fano from Utah with the No. 9 overall pick, and who better to interview him than a former Browns tackle who was also a top 10 draft pick for the team: Hall of Famer Joe Thomas.
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The pair shared an embrace when they met, with Thomas telling Fano "it's really nice to meet you in person."
"Better to meet you," Fano replied.
The bro-fest continued in the interview itself.
"This is crazy, just sitting next to one of my heroes right now," said a visibly giddy Fano. "I don't know, you're making me kind of nervous."
Once Fano settled down, though, he and his hero were able to talk ball, including their shared tutelage under offensive line coach George Warhop, whom Thomas described as "my mentor" and "the guy that probably had more impact on my NFL career than anybody else."
Fano also sang Warhop's praises.
"It's been so cool. I feel like he's the perfect coach for me, especially at this point in time," he explained. "Whatever rep I have, he's telling me exactly what I need to do to get better every single rep, so there's always something for me to work on, which is huge. He's just so detailed and the things that he teaches work, so getting better out here has been so much fun."
Though the Browns drafted Fano top 10 overall, his rookie training camp is largely overshadowed by the competition on who he'll be protecting: Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders.
Despite that lack of attention, Fano is performing well in camp, reports Anthony Moeglin of Browns Wire.
"In theory, no news from the offensive tackle position is good news, and that has been the case with Fano," Moeglin wrote.
"In just a couple of clips that surfaced with him, he is seen holding his own against the Browns' best pass rushers in Jared Verse and Alex Wright. He was seen after practice the other day getting some extra work in with Verse, who has made it very clear that he is absolutely a team player and will be for this team."
Sounds like Fano may indeed be walking in his hero's footsteps.
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