Doug Dieken


Douglas Heye Dieken is the radio color analyst for gameday broadcasts of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. As an offensive tackle, he 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 48 years–as a player from 1971 to 1984, a radio 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