NFL-great Joe Thomas delivered a Titan Games moment that will floor you

Dwayne Johnson’s Titan Games premiered its second season with a fittingly dramatic powerhouse of a two-hour episode. The first “What the *BEEP* just happened” moment belongs soundly to 10x Pro Bowler, Joe Thomas, one of the elite Titans.

Challenger Matt Chan had fought his way through three games to face Joe on Mount Olympus, a 10 obstacle race for the Titan title. After tailing Joe for most of the race, Matt pulled ahead in a last minute sprint to the final obstacle. He wrenched the Titan Relic from its tomb and lunged to lock it in its pedestal. It was a perfect underdog-fells-the-titan type of moment. We were cheering and clapping.

Then, in a moment that had even Dwayne Johnson wildly calling for confirmation, Joe seemingly materialized out of thin air at the pedestal and locked his relic in place with the kind of confidence that only a future NFL Hall of Famer can ooze. As Cari Champion shouted, Joe “won by a turn.”

We caught up with Joe via email, as he’s understandably very busy at the moment being a reigning Titan.

What does it mean to you to be one of Dwayne Johnson’s elite athletes?

JT: It’s an incredible feeling knowing that Dwayne Johnson considers me an athlete at all! I wasn’t sure that offensive lineman can qualify for the “athlete” card, especially when the judge is a former defensive lineman. Now I’m just going to hopefully hold onto that title of “elite athlete” until my kids are old enough to actually maybe care about that stuff.

What was going through your mind during those last few moments in your race against Matt Chan, when you won “by a turn”?

JT: During the race with Matt Chan, I was just focused on the small movements and to try and execute the race like I had planned in my head without paying attention to the crowd or the speed of my competitor. I lived in the NFL world by the Navy Seal slogan, “Smooth Is Fast” and I knew in this race that I would have to be smooth in order to beat Matt.

How does it feel to open season two of The Titan Games as one of the reigning Titans of the Central Region?

JT: It’s a great feeling to be the reigning Titan! King of the hill, right where I want to be!

Joe will need to continue to defend his title as the competition continues. You can watch The Titan Games on Monday nights at 8pm EST/PST on NBC.