Former longtime Browns left tackle Dueg Dieken, now a longtime color analyst on Browns radio broadcasts, tells great stories.

More specifically, he’s a great storyteller. He can make average stories appealing, and great stories classics.

He was at his best in the regard about 10 years ago when he told a tale about Tom DeLeone. With the passing of the Pro Bowl Kardiac Kids Browns center last Sunday of brain cancer at 65 years old, it’s time to recount Dieken’s story.

Dieken knew a little bit – but admittedly not that much, really – about DeLeone when the Browns signed the free-agent center in 1975 after he had been cut by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Dieken was a year older than DeLeone and played tight end at Illinois, while the Kent Roosevelt High School product was a center at Big Ten rival Ohio State. In addition, DeLeone was a long snapper with the then AFC Central rival Bengals from 1972-74 while Dieken was getting his career started with the Browns.

So Dieken knew of Tom DeLeone. And not long after DeLeone arrived, Dieken really got to know him.

Early in 1975 as he was learning the ropes with the Browns, DeLeone was still playing behind John Demarie, a longtime guard with the club who moved to center after Bob DeMarco’s retirement following the 1974 season.

In the third game of the 1975, the Browns hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers and a big fight broke out. Now, we can say many times that a big fight broke out when the Browns and Pittsburgh have played over the years, and we would be telling the truth. But this one may have been the all-timer. Even by the rigid standards of a Browns-Pittsburgh fight, this one, on a sunny and warm early-fall day on Oct. 5, 1975 at Cleveland Stadium, stands out.

“Stands” is a good word, because this fight was such a good one that when it broke out on the field, 10 fights simultaneously broke out in the stands around the stadium between fans of the two rivals.

Let’s turn it over to Dieken, who agrees that this was the best-ever Browns-Pittsburgh fight:

“(Pittsburgh defensive tackle) Joe Greene thought that (Browns right guard) Bob McKay was holding him that day, so after this one play, he hauled off and kicked Bob right in the (groin). Then all hell broke loose and a lot of guys on both sides started mixing it up.

“All of a sudden, I see Tom DeLeone, who was standing on the sideline, come sprinting onto the field like a madman. With a full head of steam, he clocks Mean Joe with everything he’s got and just flattens him, and I mean flattens the (not-nice guy). It was really cool. I enjoyed it. All our guys enjoyed it. It got our attention.

“Afterwards, Tommy told me that he did it because as long as he’s around, no one messes with his teammates, especially with his fellow offensive linemen.

“When a new guy comes to a team, all the players stand back and watch him to see what he’s all about. Is he tough? Is he dependable? Is he team-oriented? Does he want to win? All that stuff.

“Well, when I saw what he did to Mean Joe, and then heard him explain why he did it, I thought to myself, ‘You know, I think I’m going to really like this Tom DeLeone guy.’ ”