One-on-one with Joe Thomas, football star and Real Estate graduate

Joe Thomas, who graduated from UW-Madison in May and immediately departed for Cleveland.


The Wisconsin real estate program is known for notable alumni. There’s Jon Hammes (M.S. 1974) , whose firm was project manager for the reconstruction of Lambeau Field. There’s Arun Bhatia (M.S. 1974), who builds imposing skyscrapers in Manhattan. There’s Curt Culver (B.B.A. 1974, M.S. 1975), chairman, president and CEO of MGIC Investment Corporation, the nation's leading provider of private mortgage insurance coverage.

Normally, though, they graduate and gain some real-world experience before making a name for themselves. Not so Joe Thomas (B.S. Real Estate and Urban Land Economics, 2007), arguably the most famous real estate undergraduate to leave the university in years, if not ever. With Thomas, a Badger football star who was recently drafted by the Cleveland Browns, the celebrity came first, but he’s not shy about bringing the real estate undergrad program along with him.

Thomas, who calls the program “the best in the country,” apparently said much the same in an interview with Sports Illustrated author Peter King, who then broadcast it nationwide in a magazine article published April 23. In early May, Thomas swung by the newly named James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate to say a few more words about the program.

• How did you become interested in real estate?

“My family has a lot of business background,” Joe says. “My dad is a commercial lender at M&I Bank in Milwaukee, and my mom has half of a MBA in finance from Marquette, but she had me, so she couldn’t finish it.” (A chuckle.)

“At UW, I knew I wanted something in business, and I had a good friend on the football team who played my position, and he was a real estate major. He talked about how much he liked it, and it sounded really interesting, so I just went for it and I liked it a lot.”

• What did you like about real estate?

“I think real estate is more hands-on than a lot of other majors. You’re doing a lot more stuff in the field, not so much sitting in a cubicle or at a desk. And just about everybody is affected by it. Anybody who plans on owning a house, it’s such a big advantage to take a real estate class, and to be able to know about a mortgage, what your best options are when buying a house or looking for property.”

• What real estate classes did you take, and were they challenging?

“I took Real Estate Process, with Sharon McCabe; Valuation and Appraisal, also with Sharon; Urban & Land Economics, with Morris Davis; Finance, with François Ortalo-Magné; and Residential Development, with Tom Landgraf.

“To me, the whole real estate program just makes sense. A lot of people who are really good at math say that it makes sense to them, and that’s kind of how real estate is to me. It’s like a puzzle; everything fits together. It’s not just memorizing it, you just understand it.”

• You nominated Sharon McCabe, who teaches several important introductory real estate classes, to be “Guest Coach” at a Badger football game. Why Sharon?

“Sharon is an outstanding teacher. She’s probably the favorite teacher I’ve had, not just in the business program, but in the whole school. She’s really passionate about real estate and she relates to her students really well.

“Real Estate Process” really confirmed my decision to be a real estate major. The class is a tremendously broad view of real estate that touches on a little bit of everything. I encouraged all my roommates to take it, and a couple did.”

• What else did you like about the real estate program?

“The networking and connections that you make. That’s part of the reason why this is the number 1 program in the country: you are involved with different groups, you do projects with each other, you form great friendships. The people you meet here are the people who are going to help you get a job down the line.”

• Someone told me that playing left tackle requires real smarts. Tell me about this.

“The position is even more complex than the receiver position, or the running back, because you have to react to how the defense looks. You have one play, and the defense could line up 15 different ways. And you have to know how to block each one of these 15 different ways, and what to say to the person next to you on each of these plays.

“Then there’s a technique that goes with it. And if you don’t know it, you’re in trouble.”

• It sounds like a lot of intuition is required.

“You have to be talented and blessed with the ability to learn quickly, because they throw a lot of stuff at you really fast.”

• You’ve managed to be a good student in a difficult program while also excelling in sports. How did you develop such a strong work ethic?

“We didn’t have cable growing up, and we couldn’t watch TV at all, and videogames weren’t much of an issue because I always enjoyed being outdoors playing sports. And the Internet was so slow at that time, nobody really wanted to be involved.

“In high school (Brookfield Central), I played four years of three different varsity sports, so I was very regimented as far as a schedule goes. When I got to college, it was actually kind of a relief because I had a lot more free time!”

• You’re becoming a professional football player. What will you do with your real estate degree?

“Well, I won’t be going into the business world for maybe ten to 12 years. But I’ll buy a house, and after a house I’ll start looking at investment property. I think that’s how I’ll use my real estate background.”

Congratulations, Joe, and don’t forget to wear your Wisconsin real estate cap!

More about Joe Thomas:

UW Athletics.

Cleveland Browns website.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.