Doug Dieken

Douglas Heye Dieken (born February 12, 1949) is an American retired professional football player and radio color analyst for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). From 1971-2022, he had 51 years of association with the Browns in various capacities - 14 seasons playing as a left tackle (1971-1984), radio analyst for 34 seasons (between two stints: 1985-1995, 1999-2022), and an ambassador/spokesman during the team's three seasons of inactivity (1996-1998).

Doug Dieken
refer to caption
Dieken in 2013
No. 73
Position:Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1949-02-12) February 12, 1949
Streator, Illinois, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:254 lb (115 kg)
Career information
High school:Streator Township
College:Illinois
NFL Draft:1971 / Round: 6 / Pick: 142
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Fumble recoveries:13
Safeties:1
Touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Playing career

In high school, Doug was a tight end, defensive end and punter. He caught 80 career passes, was a two-time North Central Illinois Conference First-team selection and was named to the All-State Team in 1966 by the Champaign News-Gazette. In college, he was a tight end on an Illinois team that hardly passed at all, and so he was not taken until the sixth round of the 1971 draft.[1] His first game in a Browns uniform was an exhibition game against the Chicago Bears that happened to be the game used as a backdrop for the movie Brian's Song which was released in November 1971. After improving rapidly during his first year with the Browns, the coaches seemed to think he could take over for left tackle Dick Schafrath. He did, and became only the third left tackle in the team's history.

Excellent at both run and pass blocking, Dieken proved to be an outstanding player and an iron man. He not only went to the Pro Bowl, but he set team records with 194 straight starts and 203 consecutive games played.[2] Doug also proved to be a fine citizen, winning the NFL Man of the Year Award following the 1982 season, and adding his name and efforts to a number of worthy Cleveland area charities.[2]

Broadcasting career

Following his retirement after the 1984 season, Dieken became a color commentator on Browns radio broadcasts, a job he held through the 2021 season, when he announced his retirement.[3]

Combining his playing and broadcasting career, he had been a part of the Browns organization for 51 years – as a player from 1971 to 1984, a radio broadcaster from 1985 to 1995 and 1999 to 2022, and a spokesman/ambassador for the Cleveland Browns Trust during the team's "inactive" period from 1996 to 1998.[4]

Awards and honors

NFL

Halls of Fame

State/local

  • Inaugural winner of the Cleveland Touchdown Club Humanitarian Award (soon after renamed for Dieken)[10]
  • 2012 Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Lifetime Achievement Award[4]
  • Football field at Streator High School was renamed Doug Dieken Stadium on September 2, 2022

References
  1. Dieken stats - Database Football.com Archived 2013-12-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Dieken bio - Cleveland Browns.com
  3. Pluto, Terry (January 4, 2022). "Doug Dieken to retire as the Browns radio broadcaster after Sunday's game: 'I'm going to miss it'". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  4. Dieken wins NFL Man of the Year award - Cleveland.com
  5. Cleveland Browns on Twitter
  6. Dieken inducted into Cleveland Sports HOF - Cleveland Sports Hall.com
  7. Dieken inducted into Ohio Broadcasters HOF - Broadcasters Hall of Fame.com Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Dieken HOF bio - Broadcasters Hall of Fame.com Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Browns Legends - Cleveland Browns.com
  10. Dieken wins Humanitarian Award - Cleveland Touchdown Club.org
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