“I think it would have been different for him with that time commitment had he stepped into that booth and been received the way (ex-Cowboys quarterback) Tony Romo has, where everyone loves him (on CBS). He could easily have felt and justified that the work was worth it. But in his case, getting that criticism every single week, I’m sure he was thinking, ‘Man, it was a lot easier playing football for the Dallas Cowboys. I can go out and be the hero every Sunday, and it was a lot easier.’”

Last week, Thomas appeared on the NFL Network during the annual NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis and did on-field analysis of the offensive line drills. His takes drew positive reviews, including from Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari.

Thomas will be back on NFL Network next week, working in studio in the Los Angeles area as free agency opens.

“I’ve had a ton of really good coaches who’ve helped me along the way, which I think benefited me because they said the same thing in a lot of different ways, and I was able to take away from that the best way to explain it to the person who’s maybe not an offensive lineman, to help them understand the details of the position,” Thomas said.

“So (the combine) was fun for me. It was like being a teacher in a classroom and right now, that’s the type of stuff that I love. It’s really natural for me. It’s basically what I was doing the last half of my NFL career, kind of taking on a mentor/coaching role with all the young players on the team, and it was a lot of fun. There was hardly any prep involved — I just got to watch linemen, and I just got to love it.”

Jason Wilde covers the Packers for ESPN Wisconsin. Listen to him with former Packers and Badgers offensive lineman Mark Tauscher weekdays from 9-11 on “Wilde & Tausch” on your local ESPN station.