Doug Dieken

Doug Dieken

Dieken in 2013
No. 73
Position:	Offensive tackle
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1949-02-12) February 12, 1949
Place of birth:	Streator, Illinois
Career information
College:	Illinois
NFL draft:	1971 / Round: 6 / Pick: 142
Career history
Cleveland Browns (1971-1984)
Career highlights and awards
1× Pro Bowler: 1980
Career NFL statistics
Fumble recoveries: 13 Safeties: 1 Touchdowns: 1 Player stats at NFL.com

Douglas Heye Dieken (born February 12, 1949 in Streator, Illinois) is the radio color analyst for gameday broadcasts of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He formerly was an offensive tackle who played 14 seasons with the Browns.

Playing career

In college, Doug 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. 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. 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 on Browns radio broadcasts, a job he holds to this day. He also appears on Browns themed programming on SportsTime Ohio as an analyst.

Combining his playing and broadcasting career, he has been a part of the Browns organization for over 40 years (having played from 1971 to 1984, a radio/TV broadcaster from 1985 to 1995 and 1999 to present, and a spokesman/ambassador for the Cleveland Browns Trust during the team's "inactive" period from 1996 to 1998).

Awards and honors

• 1980 Pro Bowl selection
• 1982 Byron "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year Award
• Inaugural winner of the Cleveland Touchdown Club Humanitarian Award (soon after renamed for Dieken)
• 1992 Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame inductee
• 2003 Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame inductee
• Cleveland Browns Legends Club inductee (class of 2006)
• 2012 Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Lifetime Achievement Award

External links

• Cleveland Browns Honor Roll
• Interview with Doug Dieken, recorded April 2, 2014, at the Cleveland Public Library's Sports Research Center.

1. REDIRECT Template:NFLPA Alan Page Community Award