Mount Rushmore of Browns left tackles – From ‘The Toe’ to Thomas, quite a lineage at left tackle

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 17th in a series of stories about the Mount Rushmore-worthy players – the best players – in Browns history. Today we look at left tackles.

By STEVE KING

There are some positions on the Browns where the identities of who would be on that particular Mount Rushmore is hardly a mystery, or hard to determine.

Indeed, they are no-brainers.

Left tackle is easily one of those positions.

In fact, it is one of the iconic positions in team history, both in terms of excellence and longevity, in more ways than one.

So, then, to immediately declare that Lou “The Toe” Groza (1946-60 and 1962-67), Dick Schafrath (1959-71), Doug Dieken (1971-84) and Joe Thomas (2007-17) are on the Mount Rushmore of Browns left tackles doesn’t spoil this story for anybody at all.

So, for 37 consecutive years (1948-84) after Groza became the starter at left tackle in 1948, the Browns had a Mount Rushmore at that position, which is the second-longest consecutive streak in club history behind only kicker (44, 1946-89).

Here’s a capsule look at this quartet of left tackles:

LOU GROZA

The Martins Ferry (Ohio) High School and Ohio State product is the only player not just in Browns history, but also in pro football history, who is a true Pro Football Hall of Famer at two positions, including also at kicker, of course. He made the Pro Bowl nine times, all in the first 10 years he spent in the NFL from 1950-59, during which time he played both positions at a very high level. Those trips, then, were for his excellence at both spots. He blocked for four HOF running backs, and he protected the blind side of a HOF quarterback.

DICK SCHAFRATH

Like Groza, Schafrath played at an Ohio high school (Wooster) and at Ohio State. He took over as the starter in 1960 when Groza retired temporarily because of back problems, and he did so well that he remained in the lineup when Groza returned in 1962. A second-round pick in the 1959 NFL Draft, at No. 23 overall, as a skinny 217-pounder before he started to fill out a little bit, Schafrath made the Pro Bowl six times, which is the same number, or more, of some other Browns in the HOF, but he has never joined them there, which is both a shame and an injustice.

DOUG DIEKEN

After many years of wear and tear because of football, and also following a 62-mile run from Cleveland to Wooster as a promotion for a car dealership in spring of that year, Schafrath’s body broke down in the first part of the 1971 season and the baton was handed to Dieken halfway through the year. One of the toughest players the Browns have ever had, he never missed a start, and hardly any plays, until he retired after the 1984 season. He holds team records for most consecutive games (203) and most consecutive starts (194), and made the Pro Bowl in that Kardiac Kids season of 1980. That’s not bad for a guy who had been a tight end at Illinois and wasn’t drafted until the sixth round, at No. 142 overall, in 1971.

JOE THOMAS

He needs no introduction to anyone. Taken with the No. 3 overall pick out of Wisconsin, becoming the fourth – and final — member of the Mount Rushmore of Browns left tackles to come from a Big Ten Conference school, he became a starter at the very start of his career in 2007 and just stayed there. His 167 consecutive starts puts him second in team history behind Dieken, but, even more impressively, his 10,363 consecutive offensive snaps is an NFL record. So, he was not only great, but also a great ironman. He eventually tore his triceps against the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 21, 2017, and retired in the ensuing offseason. He made it to a club-record 10 Pro Bowls and is a certainly to be the 16th Browns player – and 17th member of the organization overall — to be inducted into the HOF in several years when he becomes eligible.

NEXT: Tight ends.

Cleveland Browns:

• “Charles Walls hired as national scout after 7 years with Packers” (BrownsZone)
• Joe Thomas on All Decade Team (Browns Daily Dose)
• “Goodson Thinks He’s Ready To Fill Void In The Middle Of Defense” (OBR) 
• Doug Dieken and Jim Donovan are simply the best (Browns Daily Dose)
• “Jarvis Landry providing mentorship for ‘eager to learn’ WR Donovan Peoples-Jones” (Browns.com)
• 6+4+3=2 Shirts under $15!
• “Projecting Browns’ defensive depth chart: DL gets boost around Myles Garrett” (ESPN)
• “Josh Gordon will be applying for reinstatement soon” (PFT)

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