Douglas Heye Dieken (born February 12, 1949) is an American retired professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and radio

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

. From 1971-2022, he had 51 years of association with the Browns in various capacities - 14 seasons playing as a

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

(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).

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 The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

on an

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team that hardly passed at all, and so he was not taken until the sixth round of the 1971 draft. His first game in a Browns uniform was an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

that happened to be the game used as a backdrop for the movie ''

Brian's Song ''Brian's Song'' is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo ( James Caan), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer, focusing on his friendship with teammate Gale Sayers ( Billy Dee Williams) ...

'' 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 Richard Philip Schafrath (March 21, 1937 – August 15, 2021) was an American offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns, former Ohio State Senator, and author. During his tenure as an athlete, he won a national football championship with the 1 ...

. 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 The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

, but he set team records with 194 straight starts and 203 consecutive games played. 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.

Broadcasting career

Following his retirement after the 1984 season, Dieken became a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

on Browns radio broadcasts, a job he held through the 2021 season, when he announced his retirement. 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.

Awards and honors

NFL *1980

selection *1982 Byron "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year AwardDieken wins NFL Man of the Year award - Cleveland.com
/ref> *Radio booth at

Cleveland Browns Stadium Huntington Bank Field is a stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the home field of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), and serves as a venue for other events such as college and high school football, soccer, hockey, and con ...

renamed the "Doug Dieken Radio Booth" Halls of Fame *1992 Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame inductee *2003 Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame inductee *Cleveland Browns Legends Club inductee (class of 2006) State/local *Inaugural winner of the Cleveland Touchdown Club Humanitarian Award (soon after renamed for Dieken)Dieken wins Humanitarian Award - Cleveland Touchdown Club.org
/ref> *2012 Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Lifetime Achievement Award *Football field at Streator High School was renamed Doug Dieken Stadium on September 2, 2022

References

External links

*
Interview with Doug Dieken
recorded April 2, 2014, at the

Cleveland Public Library The Cleveland Public Library is a public library system in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1869, it had a circulation of 3.5 million items in 2020. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 branches throughout the cit ...

's Sports Research Center by Dan Coughlin. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dieken, Doug 1949 births Living people Sportspeople from Streator, Illinois American football offensive tackles Illinois Fighting Illini football players Cleveland Browns players Cleveland Browns announcers American Conference Pro Bowl players NFL announcers