0:10

Welcome to a special edition of the

0:12

best podcast available on Jason

0:14

Gibbs alongside Andrew Gribble. It

0:17

is a special week here in Barria

0:19

as the Browns salute one of their own

0:22

radio radio analysts and former

0:24

great on the gridiron, Doug Deacon

0:27

Gribbs. Uh, fifty

0:30

years. That's longer than

0:32

you and I have both been alive. That's how long

0:34

Doug Geacon has been affiliated with the Cleveland

0:36

Browns. You and I have had plenty

0:39

of experiences with Doug in our

0:41

nine plus years of doing this. Uh.

0:43

Just an unbelievable person on

0:46

the field, off the field, and

0:49

a wonderful guy to get to know and

0:52

just talk a little bit

0:54

about your experiences. And

0:57

it's a it's an emotional week, I think for all

0:59

of us as Doug gets ready to wrap up

1:01

a legendary career here with the Browns. Yeah.

1:04

I mean you you threw it out there with the numbers.

1:06

I mean fifty of seventy five years essentially,

1:09

so that's two thirds if I do my math correctly

1:11

there with where Doug Deacon has been a part of the Browns.

1:14

And I think it was Tony Grossi who pointed this

1:16

out, but just think of all the games

1:18

he has been to, Like he has been

1:21

to all of almost all of those games

1:23

because he started every game, uh,

1:25

and he had the contecutive games

1:27

streak and he's only missed two games while being

1:29

in the booths. So he has been home road for

1:32

all of these games since nineteen seventy one

1:34

when the Browns drafted him. Uh. And then for all

1:36

of us to get to work with Doug and really more

1:39

importantly talk with him on the practice fields

1:41

during during training camp and things

1:43

like that since he's always around here. Uh.

1:45

Just a remarkable guy, uh,

1:48

a guy that can needle everyone. And I

1:50

think that's a good thing. That's the best quality

1:52

of Doug. If you're being needled

1:54

by Doun, that means he he likes you and is

1:57

welcome you into his kind of his inner

1:59

circle. But it's a very large inner circle,

2:01

because I don't know if anyone has more friends than Doug

2:03

Deacon And so it's just an incredible

2:05

guy that I remember growing

2:08

up watching The Morning Exchange in

2:10

the early nineties when he was made his regular

2:12

appearances there, and then for me

2:14

and my childhood, this is not a

2:17

darker chapter in Brown's history, but there was a lot of

2:19

Brown's games that didn't get

2:21

put on TV. Uh, they were blacked

2:23

out, and so you'd had to listen to the radio

2:25

to hear the games, especially in the nineties.

2:27

So I grew up on that. And then you just,

2:30

uh, it becomes the background voice.

2:32

And and anytime you're driving or

2:35

just hanging outside and listening in your garage,

2:37

Doug Deacon has always been there. So, as Jim

2:40

said, it's going to be hard to

2:42

imagine a radio broadcast without Doug

2:44

moving forward. But just an incredible achievement

2:46

to register fifty years of the franchise.

2:49

It really is pro

2:51

bowler. Uh. Winner

2:54

of the Byron Whizzer White NFL

2:56

Man of the Year Award. He was the inaugural

2:58

winner of the Cleveland Touchdown Club

3:01

Humanitarian Award that was soon renamed

3:04

for Doug. Greater Cleveland

3:06

Sports Hall of Fame Inductee two

3:08

thousand three, Ohio Broadcaster

3:11

Hall of Fame Inductee two

3:13

thousand and twelve, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission

3:15

Lifetime Achievement Award, and plenty

3:18

of other accolades as

3:20

well. And Gribbs,

3:22

you said it, you know, if he was messing

3:25

with you, he he liked

3:27

you. And it was also

3:29

the case on the road where you could find

3:31

Doug at the hotel bar

3:34

taking care of people, uh, picking

3:36

up tabs for Browns fans when we were on

3:39

the road, picking up our tab and

3:41

drinking plenty of libations,

3:43

telling stories, and it was always

3:45

great to be uh traveling

3:48

with Doug Deacon and be around him, especially

3:50

in the hotel. Yeah. And I think when

3:52

you think about it, that this is a franchise that's

3:54

undergoing a lot of transition over the years, but

3:57

Doug has kind of been the one stable

3:59

part of it and throughout it, whether it was

4:01

as a player or a broadcast

4:03

or or that kind of murky in between where he

4:05

was working for the Cleveland Browns Trust, He's

4:08

been an incredible representative

4:10

of the franchise. And I think, as many people

4:13

have alluded, you know, this is Doug stepping away

4:15

from the booth. But I don't think we've seen the last

4:17

of Doug or around here at the Cross Country Mortgage

4:19

Campus, no question about it. He

4:22

has made his home here since nineteen seventy

4:24

one. He was born in street Or, Illinois, went

4:26

to the University of Illinois. Coming

4:28

up today on this podcast,

4:31

Gribble and I are going to get out of the way because at the

4:33

end of the day, it's about Jim Donovan

4:35

Doug Deacon. For the last twenty three years,

4:38

the two half teamed up to bring you

4:40

every game on the University

4:42

Hospitals Cleveland Browns Radio Network.

4:45

Twenty three years, a lifetime of

4:47

stories. We hope you enjoy

4:49

this special edition of the best podcast

4:52

available. Hi everybody,

4:54

Jim Dotto that alongside with my broadcast

4:56

partner on the Browns Radio Network, Doug Deacon.

4:59

I have said that thousands

5:01

and thousands of times,

5:03

but time is growing short. Now

5:06

Doug is announcing that he's stepping

5:08

away from the Browns Radio broadcast

5:11

booth in the analyst position on the Bronze Radio

5:13

Network. And uh so we're

5:15

here to talk about an amazing career.

5:18

So as I said, Doug, I've said that thousands

5:20

of times, and and I'm just finding

5:22

out about this. What the heck is going on? You're leaving

5:26

the time to get get on

5:29

or get out? All right?

5:31

So, um here we are twenty

5:33

three years, you and I together. But let's

5:36

do the map. Tell me, let's go through all the

5:38

years. How many years as a player with

5:40

the Browns fourteen fourteen

5:43

years on the field with the Browns and

5:46

in the broadcast booth. Oh

5:48

ever since uh from eight five

5:51

on, I think

5:53

it's we're probably at about thirties

5:57

some Wow, that's

5:59

amazing. That's half a lifetime. I

6:02

gotta get a computer to figure that stuff out. So

6:06

let's begin, because the precious

6:08

part is coming to the Browns as

6:11

a player. You came out of the powerhouse,

6:13

out of the Big Ten, the University of Illinois,

6:15

to come to the Cleveland Browns. And

6:17

the story is amazing because

6:20

you thought you were gonna be a tight end coming to the

6:22

Browns. Uh, and suddenly you became

6:25

a tackle. Take us down the road

6:27

and Doug Deacon arriving in Cleveland

6:30

to become a player and a part of the Cleveland

6:32

Bronx. Well, it's a little bit different

6:34

than it is today. I got a phone

6:36

call at home. Back then they didn't

6:38

have the draft on TV. And get

6:41

this phone called Nick Scourage, the head coach

6:43

of the Cleveland Browns. We just drafted

6:46

you in the sixth round. Okay, great,

6:48

great great? And I heard the word as

6:50

an offensive tackle, and I said, Hey,

6:52

any chance I can play tight end? He said,

6:54

well, we'll see when you get here. Well, when

6:56

I got there for Mini camp or rookie

6:58

camp, they gave me a seven me three numbers, so I

7:01

knew that was kind of the end of it.

7:03

But so they brought me in and

7:05

they prior to uh,

7:08

you know, after they had drafted me and I had a meeting

7:10

downtown with the owner, Art Modele and

7:12

some of the people and got done.

7:16

Art has this guy that was kind

7:18

of go for Bernie Harriston, and he says, hey,

7:20

can you take Deacon to the airport? So

7:22

I said, he said, yeah, I can do it.

7:24

So he takes me down to the Higbie building says

7:27

there's a rapid tranch, it's going west and Den's

7:29

get off. So that was my welcome

7:31

to the NFL in Cleveland. It's

7:34

a little different than all these courtesy cars

7:36

that. Yeah.

7:39

Well, the ironic thing is, prior

7:41

to playing in an NFL game, I only saw

7:43

one live. Somebody

7:46

had given me tickets in nineteen seventy to

7:48

go up to see the Bears play

7:50

a team called the Cleveland Browns,

7:52

and uh, that was the only NFL

7:55

game I ever saw live before I played

7:57

in one. Now, let me ask you this, when

7:59

you went to that game? Was that game at Wrigley

8:01

Field? Ye? At Wrigley Field. How

8:03

about that? So Doug saw the Bronze play

8:05

at wrigley Field, not the Cubs.

8:08

Everybody he saw the Browns play ad

8:10

Wrigley Field. When you walked into the Bronx.

8:12

What was the state of the Browns at that at

8:15

that point, I mean, there were still a lot of

8:17

great players that may be coming near the end

8:19

of their career there. Yeah, we were playing

8:21

on fumes from the sixty four championship

8:23

team. You know, I had a chance to play next

8:25

to Gene Hickerson, the Hall of Famer for

8:28

three years, you know, an unbelievable player.

8:31

Obviously, Leroy Kelly was still there.

8:33

Bill Nelson was the quarterback. They drafted

8:36

Mike Fipps third overall, but

8:38

he hadn't been able to beat out Bill

8:40

Nelson. And so it was, you

8:43

know, it's kind of a transition from that sixty

8:45

four championship team. You know, on the defensive

8:47

side they had Walter Johnson, Jerry

8:49

shirt, Joe Jones, Jack Gregory

8:52

h the linebacker was Jim Mused and Dale Lindsey,

8:54

John Garlington, and then the defensive backfield

8:57

it was Ernie Kellerman and Walt Sumner,

8:59

Clarence got Ben Davis Dog

9:02

tell me this, Um, you were always so

9:05

devoted and passionate to

9:07

the path of getting Jean Hickerson into

9:09

the Hall of Fame. And you just mentioned that he

9:12

was here, and you were proud to be a part of

9:14

an offensive line and around him.

9:16

Um. And it took a long time. And I know you've

9:18

mentioned this to me and to others it took

9:20

too long to get him into the

9:23

Hall of Fame. But I mean, that was really

9:25

quite a guy behind and just a phenomenal

9:27

player that maybe slipped through the cracks

9:29

in the process of getting a guy into

9:32

the Hall of Fame. And so finally he got there.

9:34

Well, he finally got there. And I think, you know, unfortunately,

9:37

you know, there's a promotional part about getting

9:39

players in the NFL, and because

9:42

of some feelings within the organization

9:44

and Jean, I don't think he was you know,

9:47

promoted, uh in regards

9:49

to trying to get him in. And you

9:51

know, unfortunately, by the time he did get in, he

9:53

at Alzheimer's and you know, it just wasn't

9:55

the same event that you had had hoped

9:58

it to be. And I

10:00

remember being down at Kenton for the induction

10:02

and going in and seeing Jean in

10:05

the locker room after they had introduced him,

10:07

and it was it was a tough

10:09

thing. Yeah, it really was an

10:11

incredible moment. Doug. Was it a lot of

10:13

fun? I mean when you tell me the stories

10:15

about playing for the Browns back in those

10:17

days, um, it just seemed like it

10:19

was a lot of fun because the fans were so

10:22

close to you, and and you

10:24

know, guys weren't making five million

10:26

dollars. No they

10:29

weren't. I assumed you were not either.

10:32

No, Uh, you know it

10:35

was you know back then. The one thing

10:37

that you know is really different from today

10:39

is you only had forty three guys on the team.

10:42

So you know, when you got

10:44

hurt, you better been real hurt if you

10:46

weren't gonna play. And you

10:48

found that out. You know, you always heard

10:51

the coaches talk about dependability and

10:53

accountability, and when

10:55

you only have forty three guys, sometimes

10:58

you have to play hurt and you know later on it

11:00

catches up with you. But uh, you

11:02

know, you wouldn't do it any other way.

11:04

Your best shot do you think to

11:07

go all the way and the Browns go to the

11:09

Super Bowl. When you were a player, you probably

11:12

had to think that not only was

11:14

the team great of the cardiac kids

11:16

in nineteen eighty, but things were going

11:18

your way that year. I mean, there were some pretty magical

11:20

come from behind victories. You had a quarterback

11:23

that just had an amazing touch,

11:25

Jim Bryant, Pype, you had, you

11:27

were pulling out games in the last second

11:30

with these herculean comebacks. Um,

11:32

and you're at home in the opening round of the playoffs.

11:35

Yeah, and you know, it's it was one of those

11:37

seasons where, like you said, you

11:39

know, the close games we won, and we've seen

11:41

you know, Brown's team to do that before. But

11:44

you know, we got to the playoffs

11:46

with the Raiders came out here. It

11:49

was probably one of the worst days weatherwise

11:51

in the history of the NFL. And uh,

11:53

you know, it wasn't so bad on the players

11:56

as it wasn't the poor people sitting in the stands,

11:58

because there where on

12:00

you know, Cement and I'm sure the

12:02

coldness just went right up. And if you're a player

12:04

and you're moving around, it wasn't

12:07

that bad. And you know, as an offensive tackle,

12:09

anytime you get conditions like

12:11

that, the other guy slows down, so everybody

12:14

comes down to your speed. Tell me

12:16

about the historian though. Um,

12:18

when you were a Brown's player on that

12:20

particular team in that year, you

12:23

had these amazing, you know, come

12:25

from behind victories, but also these welcome

12:27

homes when you went on the road

12:29

and the airport would just be stuffed

12:32

with fans. I mean, it was like when

12:34

the Beatles landed in New York when

12:36

they finally came over for the Ed Sullivan Show.

12:38

It was really unbelievable, wasn't it. Oh?

12:40

Yeah, I mean and you know when we clinched

12:43

the division down in Cincinnati in the last

12:45

game, Uh, you know, we got

12:48

to the airport and the mayor

12:50

was there, the greetist, George Voinovich and everything,

12:53

and uh, you know, it was everything

12:55

was cardiac kids, and you know, Brian Pipe

12:58

was League MVP, did an unbelievable

13:00

job. Uh. You know. It

13:02

was one of those seasons where the ball bounced your

13:04

way and we were very fortunate to be able

13:06

to take advantage of it. Yeah. What was

13:08

the suddenness like of losing

13:11

that playoff game? That

13:13

was like, you know, playing

13:15

your stereo full blast and all of a sudden,

13:18

somebody pulls the court. The stadium

13:20

got so quiet, you know. Uh

13:23

it was you know, we were going down to drive

13:25

to uh, you know, get the winning

13:27

score and we get intercepted

13:29

by a guy that, you know, according to some

13:32

people that played for the Raiders probably

13:34

couldn't catch you know, ten balls in a

13:36

row, let alone that one. But

13:38

you know, it was, it was, you know, a

13:41

lot of energy and then all of a sudden, it was just

13:43

like totally quiet. And you know, I remember

13:45

going home after the game and I just didn't want to

13:47

go out, and my brother was in town. He

13:49

said, come on, let's go out, and it

13:52

was it was just amazing the way that people received

13:55

the team, and you know how much appreciative

13:57

they were of the players on it.

14:00

Yeah, was it something that you

14:02

know, it just seemed that the players

14:05

just so enjoyed being with the fans

14:07

too. I mean, you all had like Monday

14:09

and ideals when there was when Monday night football

14:11

was red hot Browns player

14:14

would be appearing in a holiday in near you,

14:16

and the place I would be jamped. I

14:18

mean it would be jammed on a Monday night. It didn't

14:20

matter whether you were Bryant's side or

14:23

if you were the holder on on on the point

14:25

after. I mean, it was just it was just an

14:27

electric wasn't it. Yes, it was. In

14:29

fact, you know, I hosted one of those for about

14:31

six or seven years, and I'd always

14:33

you know, getting one of the guys to come over, and

14:35

you know, the place would be backed and would be jammed

14:38

and uh uh you know, and

14:40

it was a good group of guys. You know, we played

14:42

as a team. I mean, I go back to

14:44

my first year we made the playoffs.

14:47

In one we played the Colts.

14:49

They went on and won the championship.

14:51

The next year we played the Dolphins, uh

14:54

in their undefeated season, and we

14:56

actually had them down a little

14:58

bit at the beginning of the game and then my fips through

15:00

five interceptions, so that didn't

15:02

then well. But you know, then

15:04

you go maybe eight

15:06

years before you get a chance to get back in the playoffs.

15:09

Yeah, when we've been on the road so many times

15:11

all around the NFL. I mean a lot of

15:13

alumni guys that you played with will

15:16

come in and visit the team hotel back

15:18

when you could visit the team hotel and

15:20

you know, have dinner with you and things like that. Who are

15:22

some of your favorite teammates. I know, Dino

15:25

Hall never missed an opportunity too

15:28

when we were in the area, no matter where we were

15:30

in the area. Do you know, Hall would make sure

15:32

that he dialed you up and get dinner and great

15:34

guy. But I know there have to be a

15:36

lot of teammates that really are high

15:38

on your list. Well, yeah, do you know obviously

15:41

Brian Sipe, Jerry Shirk, uh, Dave

15:44

Busuli is still here. Uh

15:46

you know, Dave Logan, you know in Denver. Dave

15:48

you know, is doing the broadcasting out

15:50

there. Uh, you know, the guys on

15:52

the offensive line, Henry Shepard, unfortunately,

15:55

the late Tom deal leone. Cody Risen

15:58

was another one that was just it was like

16:00

my son, uh you know, and he

16:02

he was a guy that was was going to quit the team

16:04

one year and his

16:07

dad had passed away, and you know, so we had

16:09

to talk and you know, Cody stuck around and

16:11

he went on to have a very productive

16:13

career. Uh. Clarence Scott came

16:15

in in with me. Clarence was probably one

16:18

of the classiest guys I've ever seen. Then

16:20

he had Greg Breud who was just you know,

16:22

a lot of fun to be around, and it was. You

16:25

know, I go back to the original guys Dale Lindsay,

16:27

who is a coach at San Diego University.

16:30

Uh, he coached with the Packers,

16:32

he coached with the Browns. Dale and I are you

16:35

know, still close, uh, you know. And then

16:37

there's some guys that were you know, friends that

16:39

have you know, unfortunately passed on and

16:42

you and you there were so many pranksters

16:44

and you might have warned the sea on your jersey

16:47

for that as a captain of the Pranksters, but

16:49

there were just so many. There was a lot of high

16:51

jakes that went on during the

16:53

season, during training camp wherever

16:56

you guys were getting set for the upcoming

16:58

season. It seemed like a really close punt. Yeah

17:01

it was. And you know the thing is we all

17:03

had fun together when you were at training

17:05

camp. You know, you had the two days,

17:07

but after that second practice, you know you'd

17:09

head out to get some uh

17:12

replenish your fluids. And

17:14

it was you know, it was always you know, it was always

17:17

a good time. When when I started, we trained

17:19

in Hiram. Hiram was a drytown,

17:21

so after practice it was like us thirty drag

17:24

script to either get to the riverside in or

17:26

go to Garrettsville, and uh, the

17:28

thing I learned, you know back then, and he used

17:30

to make you sing if you came in late. You

17:33

couldn't. You didn't have to sing because nobody was

17:35

left. Tell

17:37

me this, Why was it so important

17:39

or what was in the decision to stay

17:42

in Cleveland. You stayed here. Um,

17:45

you're playing days would come to an end and you

17:47

were going to live here. And you still live

17:49

here. And other players have done that, which

17:52

um, and maybe you know the players of today don't

17:54

do that so much because they have

17:56

homes everywhere. But I mean, the fact of the

17:58

matter is that a guy like you

18:00

decided, Hey, listen, I liked it so much

18:02

here, I'm gonna stay here. Well,

18:05

yeah, and I think you know, my first year,

18:07

I went, after my rookie year, I went back

18:09

to Illinois and got my degree. I needed six

18:11

hours. So then my second

18:14

year I had a knee operation. I

18:16

went back home in Illinois and I

18:18

was a substitute teacher in the off season.

18:21

Then my third year, I had another

18:24

knee operation on the other knee, and

18:26

I said, you know what, I think I'm just going to stay around

18:28

Cleveland because you know, the medical facilities

18:31

were much better, and I could

18:33

rehab here. I mean some of the ways

18:35

they used to rehab you on the old days. Uh,

18:38

I think you'd get arrested for today.

18:42

I'll tell you this. Was it a

18:44

tough decision to retire as a player. Yeah,

18:48

you know, I always felt that

18:50

you never said you were going to retire, because

18:52

if you said you were going to, you play like you

18:54

were going to. And I was always

18:57

leary of. I didn't want

18:59

to be that guy that was just getting that last

19:01

check. I wanted to be that guy that earned that last

19:04

check. You know, when I came

19:06

to town, I was only here a short period of

19:08

time, and we were hustled out

19:10

to Bria, to that tiny little locker

19:13

room right on the campus of Baldwin Wallison. You were

19:15

announcing your retirement and

19:17

you were you were leaving, and you

19:19

were not going to play um but

19:22

lo and behold, you didn't miss a beat because

19:25

you were going to go right into the radio booth. How

19:27

did that all come about? You know, it's

19:30

a lot of sports, you know, is about

19:33

talent. Another thing is it's about

19:35

timing. And you know, it's like when I

19:37

got drafted here as an offensive tackle, never

19:40

played. Dick Shafraff

19:42

was in his thirteenth year, and uh, you

19:44

know, all of a sudden, as a young guy,

19:46

you looked pretty quick, pretty fresh, and

19:48

pretty raw. But it just gave me an

19:50

opportunity to play. And uh, much

19:53

like in the radio booths. When I retired,

19:56

GiB Shanley had decided that he wanted to

19:58

go to uh Los Angeles

20:00

to get a job out there. So there was

20:02

an opening in it, and so you know, I applied

20:05

for that and it, you know, turned

20:07

out, you know what,

20:09

thirty some years later, I'm still doing it. Yeah,

20:12

unbelievable, there you go. Wasn't

20:14

Joe Tate a factor too, Doug, Didn't he talk

20:16

to you about possibly getting into

20:18

broadcasting and told you, you know, you might be pretty

20:20

good at this. Well actually

20:23

the guy that said, you know, he had a pride

20:25

this when you're done was GiB Shandley. But then

20:28

once I got into it, uh,

20:30

you know, I wasn't totally happy

20:32

with you know what, I was doing it,

20:34

and I called Joe Tate. Somebody

20:37

said Joe was a great guy and he'd be

20:39

glad to help you, and Joe Joe

20:41

Tate came over to my house and we sat down and listen,

20:43

listened to some recordings, and uh,

20:46

you know, he told me what sounded good, what sounded

20:48

bad, what I should say, what I shouldn't say,

20:50

and uh, you know, Joe is

20:52

like yourself. He was, you know, the top of the game.

20:54

So I remember this, Dug. I thought it

20:56

was a very very unique

20:59

broadcast booth when you first

21:01

joined it. Uh, and to fill the folks

21:03

in, it was really really kind

21:06

of a new way of doing a

21:08

typical NFL broadcasting, and

21:10

especially a radio broadcast. And

21:12

let me describe it. Doug was the analyst,

21:15

but there were co play by

21:17

play guys. Jim Mueller had been

21:19

Gibb Shanley's partner for a long

21:21

long time, and I was working with Jim at the time

21:23

at Channel three, and so it

21:26

just seemed the natural step he would take

21:28

the spot and go in and take Gibbs position

21:31

he had waited for a long long time, and

21:33

he did, but only a percentage of it

21:35

because Nev Chandler was

21:38

over at Channel five. He had left the Indians radio

21:40

broadcast and gone over to Channel five

21:42

when Gibb went out to Los Angeles, and

21:45

he was also a play by play

21:47

guy, so it was Doug, Jim

21:50

Mueller, Nev Chandler and

21:52

Jim Muller would do the first quarter, Nev

21:55

Chandler would do the second, Jim would

21:57

do the third, Nev would do the fourth.

22:00

The first game you guys did together in

22:02

the regular season, I don't know if you're gonna remember

22:04

this, but you know, I have a crazy memory. It

22:06

was against the Cardinals at the old

22:08

stadium and the game went over time

22:11

and they took a commercial break and Mueller

22:13

and Nev come out and they go, you know what,

22:15

we didn't have a rule for this, who does the play

22:17

by play in the overtime? But

22:20

it was kind of a different setup, wasn't it.

22:22

Yeah, it was totally different, and uh,

22:25

you know then the next year they decided

22:27

to change it. But you go back to when

22:29

we were doing those games, we

22:32

weren't in a radio booth

22:34

per se like we are today. We

22:36

were on the roof of the stadium, right

22:38

next to the cameras that they videoed

22:41

the game tapes. And the

22:43

bathroom was, lack

22:45

of a better term, it was an outhouse. It was.

22:48

There was no flushing, no flushing that toilet.

22:51

I believe they call that the latrine I

22:53

believe with a little hole cut through

22:55

a wall, I think, or through the floor. Um,

22:58

doug it you you hit it in

23:01

the broadcast side of things.

23:03

Really at the right time you talk about Tim

23:06

and Kozar arrived. The

23:08

team was getting good. They had that

23:10

defense that had a real spirit to it. The

23:12

town was just in love with

23:14

that dog pound. Um you had

23:17

Mac and Biner. The USFL had

23:19

really helped the Browns out by giving

23:21

them some great players. Well I envied

23:24

you guys. You were you were on top of that,

23:26

you were in that wooden booth, on top of that old stadium.

23:28

But man, that place rock. Those had

23:30

to be fun Sundays. Yeah,

23:32

they were. I think, you know, the excitement

23:35

of you know, the games and

23:37

you know, you know you go

23:40

through swales. I think you know, as an

23:42

announcer, as a player. Uh Well,

23:44

like I said, when I came in the first two years we went

23:47

to the playoffs and I thought, oh, this is easy, man, We're

23:49

gonna do this all the time. Well that

23:51

was and seventy two.

23:53

It wasn't ntil lady that we went back, and

23:55

then then the strike year and eight two we went back,

23:58

and then all of a sudden, you hit adult

24:00

and then as you mentioned, Kozar and that group came

24:02

in. In the first year, they went down

24:04

to Miami and got

24:06

beat down there. But then the second

24:08

year, you know, now we're playing for the a f C championship

24:11

for a couple of years. Yeah, remember

24:15

the build up during the week for those

24:17

playoff games when you're playing

24:19

at home. And they got ready for the Jets

24:21

game and they played on a Saturday.

24:23

And remember, um, we would go we would

24:25

leave town and if you were covering the

24:27

Browns, you could go with them. And I was covering

24:30

the Bronze, so I went with them, and you were

24:32

getting ready for the radio broadcast, and

24:34

we would go down to Florida. We went down to Dodgertown,

24:37

didn't we and the Bronx would get ready. I remember

24:39

sitting with all of the guys, all

24:41

of the Browns players and the Bronze had

24:43

to watch the wild card game that

24:45

Sunday afternoon to see who they were going to play,

24:48

and the Jets ended up winning the game. But we were

24:50

down where the Dodgers would get

24:52

ready for spring training and get ready

24:54

for the regular season, and and that's where

24:56

we were. It was amazing and I think it was two fold,

24:58

Doug number one, to get out of the weather,

25:01

but number two, there was so

25:03

much hysteria around the city

25:06

with the players that I think they wanted to get them

25:08

out of town a little bit. Yeah, they

25:10

wanted to isolate them. And you know it's

25:12

funny you go into that obviously

25:15

double overtime game against

25:18

the Jets and you know, one

25:20

of the all time classic games. Uh.

25:24

But then you know, the next week, unfortunately

25:26

it was the Broncos coming in for the championship

25:29

game. But with all

25:31

the hysteria of the Browns, you

25:33

know, doing so well, what goes

25:35

better than a song about the Cleveland Browns,

25:38

you know, you know, everybody has got

25:40

their things. So my neighbor was

25:42

Pat Daily, the singer, and I talked to Pat

25:44

and we came up with the song, and we're gonna

25:47

get it pressed on the forty five

25:49

records and sell that at the stadium, uh,

25:52

you know. And unfortunately that the records

25:54

didn't come in on time, so they

25:56

didn't come in for the Jets game, where we would

25:58

have sold them all out. They come in for the

26:01

Denver game, and Daily has got ten

26:03

cartons in his basement across the streets. Really,

26:08

uh, those will be collectors

26:10

items, don't they. Huh, absolute

26:12

gold. I'm surprised they weren't do that, your solid

26:15

gold. Wait, do you see what you getting next

26:17

Christmas? Doug?

26:20

Those losses in those a f C Championship

26:23

games, I mean, first of all, when

26:25

Brian Brennan catches the past, you

26:28

have to think in two weeks, you're gonna be broadcasting

26:30

a Super Bowl, You're gonna be in Pasadena

26:32

and the Browns are gonna be playing the Giants. You had to

26:34

think that was gonna happen, didn't you. Oh?

26:37

Yeah, I mean you thought, you know, now we've we've

26:39

got it. You know, this is our game. And unfortunately

26:41

it was a guy with the number seven on on the

26:43

other side of the field and just didn't turn

26:45

out quite that well. Yeah. The following

26:47

year, then we go and the fumble

26:50

happens at Bile High Stadium. Um,

26:52

and you had quite a trip home, didn't you, from Denver?

26:55

After that? I mean, the humiliation of losing

26:57

that game and a heroic, heroic

27:00

comeback by the Browns and Ernest

27:02

Binder in the game, and unfortunately

27:04

Binder then has the ball knocked out going

27:07

in for what looks what looks is going to be

27:09

the time touchdown. Um, and

27:11

then you go to the airport to say, geez,

27:14

let's get home and you can pick it

27:16

up from there. Well, as the airplane

27:18

started to take off down that runway

27:21

at full speed, all of a sudden

27:23

it hit the brakes and uh came

27:25

to stop. There was a malfunction, and

27:28

uh there was probably

27:30

gonna be a malfunction in the bathroom because there

27:32

was a line about ten deep in each bathroom.

27:34

After that thing, you hit the brakes real hard.

27:37

So we ended up going back

27:39

to the terminal and

27:41

getting another airplane. But you

27:43

know, in the meantime, you obviously everybody

27:46

was kind of thirsty from the game, so we

27:49

cleaned out the airport bar. What

27:52

a night, What a night to find

27:54

down when you get off the plane, did you kiss the ground?

27:57

And Hopkins, when you finally got home, there was actually

28:00

some guys that didn't want to get back on the

28:02

next airplane. Yeah, hop on that. Doug

28:05

nev was a great, great broadcaster, and

28:07

he left us all too soon. You were

28:10

a great partner with him. Uh,

28:12

he was sick. I often

28:14

think that in his years when he

28:16

was really battling cancer, the

28:19

job of being able to go to the game and work

28:21

with you and do the Browns game kind of kept

28:24

him going, it really did. He fought

28:26

so hard to stay in that

28:28

boot. And he was so great at it,

28:30

wasn't he Well, he was like you, he

28:33

was a prose pro and he

28:35

was a perfectionist and he worked

28:38

hard at it, and you know he he

28:40

enjoyed it. And growing up in Cleveland,

28:43

you know, he it was his team and everything,

28:45

and he got the opportunity and he had been

28:47

the second fiddle to give for many years

28:49

and you know this is it was his opportunity

28:52

to go. And uh, yeah, it

28:54

was. It was tough, you know as time

28:56

went on to lose him, because

28:59

you know he was that was a good great

29:01

guy. Yeah, just a great guy,

29:03

absolutely, And he left us far too

29:05

early, no doubt about it. Um.

29:08

And I know that was a great team. You were a great

29:10

partner to him, Um.

29:12

And and then we moved on and and Casey

29:15

Coleman went in and came in and

29:17

took over when when Ned

29:19

was to the point where he could not do the games

29:21

anymore. And then he passed. And

29:24

I always thought that Casey had he had big

29:26

shoes to fill not only then

29:28

he had to take the place of GiB Shanley and

29:30

Nev Chandler and these were great, great

29:32

voices of the Browns. But he

29:34

also had to he also had to kind of, you

29:36

know, walk in the shadow of his dad, Ken

29:39

Coleman, who was a great voice

29:41

of the Cleveland Browns. I mean, Casey grew up

29:43

around the Browns because of his dad. Yeah,

29:46

and Casey had a different style, you know,

29:48

totally different than you know. Casey

29:50

was more laid back and you know, yeah,

29:54

he would make a call to tackle it by number

29:56

thirty five and you go check that at number twenty

29:58

eight. And I kept going, e, Casey, we're

30:00

on the radio. You don't have to say check that. People don't

30:02

know you made a mistake. But Casey

30:05

was, Yeah, he was more laid back and just

30:07

kind of took it in his big thing.

30:09

And he used to like to say, well, we're in the shadows

30:11

of our goal post, and uh, you know, yeah,

30:14

you know. Unfortunately we lost Casey too,

30:17

Yeah we did. And I'll never forget

30:19

the day. Doug Um and Casey

30:21

and I had kind of a connection

30:24

because he had spent a lot of his youth growing

30:26

up in the Boston, and that was where I was from

30:28

because Casey's dad was the voice of the

30:30

Red Sox on the radio. And I

30:32

can remember that we had come off a road

30:35

trip and I think we were on the bye week, the

30:37

three of us, and he called me up in the middle of an afternoon.

30:40

I'm sure he called you at that point

30:42

too, and I thought he was calling me to

30:44

talk about the Red Sox were playing that

30:46

afternoon in a playoff game, and I thought he was gonna

30:49

say, hey, hey, buddy, what do you

30:51

think is gonna happen in the game today?

30:53

And he calls me up and he says, hey, I've got pancreatic

30:56

cancer. And again just

30:58

like now, uh what a

31:00

fight by Casey. He was our sideline guy,

31:02

Doug, and and uh, you know,

31:04

you instituted a tradition when

31:07

he was away from us undergoing treatment

31:10

that at like twelve thirty fifteen

31:12

minutes before we would go on the air on a one

31:14

o'clock typical broadcast, you'd pick

31:16

up that phone and we'd call him and get on and say

31:18

how you doing. And Casey

31:21

actually ended up, you know, buying the house

31:23

next door to me, and uh, you

31:25

know it was it was it's tough.

31:27

You know, you lose somebody that you're working with, and then

31:29

you're you're losing a neighbor to Uh

31:32

you know, but you know, you see

31:34

these guys on the football field and you think

31:36

how tough they are. Then you see

31:38

some of the guys you broadcast with, and

31:40

you realize that the guys on the football field aren't

31:42

the only tough guys. Yeah, Doug, when

31:45

the Browns moved, how did that hit you? Because

31:48

you were a bronze player, Uh,

31:50

you stayed in Cleveland, You're a Browns legend,

31:53

You're a Brown's broadcaster, so

31:55

your work situation is

31:57

going to change a great deal. How did

31:59

it hit you when they left? I

32:01

mean it was it was like a sucker punch. I

32:04

mean, I guess you

32:06

know, you heard rumbles that you know they

32:08

might be leaving and stuff like that, and you know,

32:10

you just really didn't believe it until the

32:12

Plain Dealer had it on the headlines.

32:14

And there are some other things

32:17

I guess that I should have known it was going to happen,

32:19

but uh, you know, you just didn't

32:21

want to believe it. And I

32:24

guess the toughest part about that was, you

32:26

know, watching the people in the stadium,

32:28

especially when they walked out after that last

32:31

game. You know, you know,

32:33

every grown adult had tears in their eyes

32:35

and uh you know most

32:38

of them had you know, stadium seats

32:40

underneath their arms too. But

32:43

you know that you know, to see this,

32:46

you know, city be deprived of

32:48

something they love so much. And you know

32:51

whether or not Art was right or wrong, uh,

32:53

you know, it just was the wrong thing to do,

32:56

which leads me to our model, because

32:59

you had a lot of years

33:01

to have your relationship grow

33:04

and wind and go down

33:06

the road, and they were I know, they were bumpy

33:08

parts to the road when you played for him.

33:10

I mean, you tell the story about you went out to breakfast

33:13

to negotiate your contract with him and he

33:15

made you pick up the tab at Perkins or something

33:17

like that. Uh. But

33:19

you know he always wanted to see you

33:22

post move when the Browns

33:24

came back and we would go over to Baltimore.

33:27

So if you could put a bow on

33:29

on your relationship with him

33:31

through the years and what it was like

33:34

in and maybe the last time you saw

33:36

him, I can remember you snuck over and saw him over

33:38

in Baltimore. Well yeah, he

33:40

you know, like I said,

33:42

what he did was wrong and it's unfortunate,

33:45

but you know, it was the case when free

33:47

agency came in. He was a millionaire

33:49

and a billionaire's game and he just

33:51

couldn't afford to do the signing bonuses and

33:53

things like that, you know. And I

33:55

think he truly loved Cleveland and he you know,

33:57

would have loved the state here and he got in

33:59

the stadium. But uh,

34:02

you know, I remember I called Ozzy one time

34:04

and you know, Art was in the room, and uh,

34:06

I'm talking to Ozzy and he says,

34:10

you want to talk to deacon, and

34:12

Art goes, you don't want to talk to me. So

34:14

that was it. So then you know, when

34:17

we'd go over to Baltimore to play, I would

34:19

go down to Uh. I went

34:21

down to see him in his loads and to say

34:23

hello, and you know, and David,

34:26

his son, was there, and Art was in the

34:28

bathroom. This was at halftime, so he only had

34:30

you know, a short window of time. And

34:33

I kept waiting for Art to come out, and kept waiting

34:35

for him to come out, and uh, you

34:37

know, he didn't. So if I finally knocked

34:40

on the door and I says, hey, Art, it's a deacon. You

34:42

don't owe me any money. You could have came out and

34:44

I left and that was the last

34:46

thing I ever said, art model. And

34:49

then you know, when when he passed away, the

34:51

Mr. Lerner flew some of the

34:53

Browns out to Baltimore for his funeral.

34:56

The Browns are coming back in ninet and

35:01

everybody in their uncle wants to be a part

35:03

of the broadcast team. How badly did you

35:05

want it? And I was amazed that you even had to

35:07

go through the whole audition

35:09

thing, after all, you had the job

35:12

before they moved. Well, yeah,

35:14

and I think you know, obviously it was a job

35:16

I enjoyed. And you know, the thing

35:18

that goes with the job, you usually get some kind of TV

35:21

gig, you know, to get something going

35:23

to Uh it was

35:25

you know, it was it was different. Uh. You

35:27

know. The thing that they did was they had a couple

35:29

of luncheons, one with over

35:32

in Pittsburgh with the Steelers and one in Cleveland

35:35

to uh kind of renew

35:38

the rivalry. And uh,

35:40

we went over to Pittsburgh

35:42

and they did one and I remember I was

35:44

sitting at the table and all of a sudden

35:46

Jack Lambert was there, and Jack comes over

35:49

and say hello, and these two

35:51

young players sitting next to me go, that was

35:53

Jack Lambert. I said, yeah, And

35:55

he didn't come over to say hello to anybody,

35:58

but that was you know, that was Jack I had. You

36:00

know, we competed against

36:02

one another, but you know, off the field. But

36:05

Jack was a good guy. But you

36:08

know, they gave us, you know, an audition

36:10

they had. You know, I don't I think, who

36:12

did you audition with Brian Brennan.

36:15

Yeah. Let me let me set it up for everybody,

36:17

because it really it will

36:19

happen into a lot of my investigative

36:22

reporting skills that I've honed

36:24

through the years. Uh Well, first

36:26

of all, let me just say to everybody, they could

36:28

write a book about naming the

36:31

radio broadcast team for the Rocks

36:33

when they came back in and

36:35

it would have been a great thriller. I really think it would have

36:38

hit the would have hit the top spot because

36:40

everybody wanted the job. Everybody,

36:42

whether you're a former player or you're a

36:44

sportscaster, everybody wanted

36:46

it. So when they finally whittled

36:48

it down in Doug mentions,

36:51

there is an audition and it's done

36:53

on a Sunday afternoon down

36:55

at the studios of Magic

36:57

one oh five because Clear Channel was the

37:00

carrying broadcast partner, they

37:02

were the flagship. They had won the rights

37:05

for the Browns radio broadcast. So at Magic

37:07

one of five point seven, which was downtown

37:09

in the Hat Factory district in Cleveland

37:12

on a beautiful spring Sunday

37:15

afternoon, the remaining people

37:17

that were competing for the job were asked to come

37:19

in and they were going to give you one

37:21

quarter of whatever you did as an

37:23

analyst or as a play by play guy, and

37:25

they would team you up and make make

37:28

these semi broadcast teams. And

37:30

the game was the New York Giants

37:32

against the Philadelphia Eagles, and you called

37:34

it off a television screen and

37:37

it was the Fox Television broadcast

37:40

of that game from the from the preceding

37:42

season. Um And being an

37:44

Irish Catholic altar boy

37:47

that studied Latin when the mass was in

37:49

Latin, I played by the rules.

37:52

Others did not. I understand.

37:56

One of them is right now the man I am talking

37:58

to admit now, I think this will really

38:01

it will help you when you're in front of our when

38:03

when you're in front of our eternal maker, that you

38:05

clear this sin off of your soul. There's

38:09

rules, and there's there's getting an edge

38:11

and to

38:14

the test before the test. Yeah,

38:17

and you know sometimes you know, you'd like

38:19

to see what the test is all about. And

38:21

uh, I had a roommate, Dale

38:24

Lindsey, who played linebacker here, who was coaching

38:26

in the NFL. And they told us what game was

38:28

gonna be. And I said, hey, Dale,

38:30

can you give me, uh this

38:33

game? Oh yeah, yeah, I said it out tomorrow.

38:35

So I watched the game about three times

38:37

before I got to the broadcast. So

38:40

and I said, oh boy, it looks like a good time

38:42

for a screen pass. Well, boy was a screen pass.

38:45

This guy is smart. But

38:49

you know, if

38:52

you can find an edge, we'll just say

38:54

I did it the Bill Belichick way. That's

38:56

why I've always said, that's why you got along

38:58

so well. And you're good. I mean,

39:00

you know you got along with Belichick. Um,

39:03

here's the amazing thing, everybody,

39:05

Um, Doug and I never worked together

39:08

during the audition process. Doug

39:10

worked with play by play guys and I worked

39:12

with different analysts. Yeah, I worked with Hanford,

39:15

I worked with Brian Brennan, I worked with Bob

39:17

Golick. But never you now,

39:20

I want to further that about these luncheons.

39:23

I mean, I don't know about you, but I mean

39:25

I would walk the floors and I wondering if I

39:27

was going to get the job because it was taking

39:29

so long. And finally

39:31

there was the second of these Pittsburgh Cleveland

39:34

luncheons. And the reason they were doing it, folks,

39:36

was because the Browns were gonna play their first game

39:38

against the Steelers when they came back

39:40

in the regular season at at

39:42

you know, at in Cleveland. And

39:45

so it was at the Renaissance downtown. I don't

39:47

know, it might have been still Stow first then Doug, but it was the Renaissance

39:49

and it was packed, and

39:51

I was the m C and

39:54

I on one side I had Al Lerner and

39:57

on the other side I had Dan Rooney.

39:59

And you got up and delivered this speech,

40:02

and I have to tell you, those two guys,

40:05

both of them were buckled over in laughter,

40:08

okay, because you really hit it out of the park.

40:10

I mean, you pulled out one of your great Kawana speeches,

40:13

really really

40:15

nailed it. And I said, Doug

40:17

Deakin is going to get the drump. Do you remember

40:19

that day? Oh? I remember that day? And

40:22

Uh, you know, we we worked on you know, the

40:24

presentation, and uh, it was

40:27

the day after that day I got

40:29

a phone call tell me, you know, you're

40:31

gonna do the game. So uh and

40:33

you know what had happened is when we

40:35

were over in Pittsburgh to do their luncheon,

40:38

they just had some dry conversation and

40:40

I think Robert Jackson said somebody,

40:43

he said, why don't you get Deacon to go up there and talk because

40:45

he can bust chops with the best of them. So,

40:48

uh, you know, they asked me to go up

40:50

and I said, okay, we'll go up there, and we were prepared

40:52

for it. Yeah. Man, you were ready to go.

40:55

Gosh. I mean it was like watching a Vegas

40:57

nightclump routine. I mean, you were not ready to

40:59

go. If only it weren't a Tucks I

41:01

mean something, you would have been really ready.

41:03

All right. So we we go to the Hall of Fame game,

41:05

Doug. That's our first game that we're gonna do together.

41:08

And the Browns are gonna open up the preseason. They're gonna

41:10

play five preseason games and they're

41:13

gonna open up at the Hall of Fame game on

41:15

the weekend that Azazie Newsom is inducted

41:17

into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and they're gonna play

41:20

the Dallas Cowboys, and it

41:22

was exciting. Now. I know a lot of people look at the

41:24

Hall of Fame game now and go, oh

41:26

gosh, when's that thing gonna be over? But

41:29

around these parts and the fact that the

41:31

Brons were back for the first time in

41:33

three and a half years, right, Uh,

41:35

it was like it was like being in the

41:37

Super Bowl, wasn't it. Yeah, I mean

41:40

the obviously there was a lot of energy,

41:42

you know, from the fans that have been frustrated

41:44

and you know, finally got their team back, and uh,

41:47

you know, you didn't know what you're

41:50

gonna get. You know, you're you're putting a product

41:52

out there. Obviously, the NFL

41:54

wasn't as generous in the supplemental

41:56

draft as they were with Caroline

41:58

and Jacksonville, so you know, the

42:00

Browns were a little bit behind the eight ball. And

42:03

the thing the thing I always remember

42:05

about that game, we stated that holiday

42:08

in there and we had hired a

42:10

new head of security, lou Marletti,

42:12

who was the former director of the Secret

42:14

Service. And when I walked

42:16

into hotel and I saw ten you know, policeman,

42:19

you know, stationed around. I

42:21

said, boy, this is gonna be a little bit different,

42:23

but you know that's the way, you know Lou, And

42:25

you know Lou was hired by Mr Lerner because

42:27

you know, he appreciated those people that had

42:29

worked for the government probably hadn't been compensated

42:32

to the level he thought they should have. So Doug

42:34

and I are doing the game and the Brons win, They

42:37

win in overtime. Um, and the legend

42:39

of Phil Dawson starts because

42:41

he wins the game for them with a kick. And I

42:43

remember turning to you after, you know,

42:45

the game was over, and I think we're getting

42:47

set to go to the post game, and I said, yes,

42:49

this is gonna be easy. We're not gonna skip a

42:52

beat. We're gonna pick up right where

42:54

we left off in the playoffs. Quickly

42:56

that was dashed. Yeah, that was that quite

42:59

quickly. By I think we opened a

43:01

regular season. Uh we

43:04

was Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Oh

43:06

yeah, and story

43:09

talk about this story about that game. Though.

43:12

Um, they go to Bill Coward before

43:14

the game and they say, hey, do you mind if we

43:17

don't introduce the Steelers your

43:19

team because it's the Browns night you know, and let's

43:21

bring them out. They're back. I mean, the

43:23

place is gonna go crazy. He went, Hey,

43:26

I understand that, no doubt

43:28

about it. And he went into his locker room

43:30

and told his team, they're disrespecting

43:32

you. And I

43:35

think they beat a sporty three nothing, didn't they?

43:37

Yeah, it was it was. It wasn't blowed. I mean, poor

43:39

Tim Couch didn't have a chance. And

43:42

you know, and knowing Bill and

43:44

having had Bill as a roommate when

43:47

he was with the Browns as a player, you

43:49

know, you kind of Hey, Bill, whatever

43:52

we used to do, play racquetball, play basketball.

43:55

It was competitive. I mean we go to

43:57

these charity games and we'd be on the same team

43:59

and he'd be blacking my shot so he could score

44:01

more points than I could. Uh.

44:04

You know. The reason I got him as a roommate

44:06

was I had had a knee operation right before

44:08

training camp, and I

44:11

you know, so we were out of Lakeland

44:13

and the dumpy little hotel out there. So

44:16

I went into the business guy and I said, hey,

44:18

I need a new roommate. Well who

44:20

do you want? I said, well, I want Cower and

44:22

Bill and I wished to run together,

44:25

you know, Uh, in the afternoons after our

44:27

racquetball games. He says, power, why

44:29

do you want Kaur? I said, well, I just had a knee

44:31

operation. There's no remote control. Who's

44:33

going to change the TV? For me? Said? He

44:35

give me Cower and then they trade him.

44:40

That's amazing. Um boy,

44:42

those were tough years. I mean we

44:44

were very naive and and you

44:46

hit on it. It really started

44:49

in the supplemental Draft and there

44:51

was just no way that the NFL owners were going

44:53

to allow the Browns to be like Jacksonville

44:56

and Carolina because remember they

44:58

just robbed everybody's roster and became

45:01

really good, really fast,

45:04

and the owners were gonna not allow

45:06

that to happen again. And it it happened

45:08

to really fall on the Bronx. I mean, this was

45:11

an expansion team Doug to the

45:13

highest definition, wasn't it. Oh? Yeah,

45:15

I mean they I think the other

45:18

two teams, Jacksonville and Carolina, got

45:20

double picks in the first few rounds. They

45:23

just said, no, this is what you're gonna get. And

45:25

then uh uh, like

45:27

you mentioned the other guys that

45:29

we got, I think there was

45:31

less players available than there had been

45:33

with Jacksonville in Carolina.

45:38

All Right, tell me this as we go

45:40

along. Um. You know, people

45:42

often say, how did you guys

45:44

get through all of those tough

45:47

seasons? After all, there was the year they only won

45:49

one game, it was the year they

45:51

didn't win any games. There were a lot

45:53

of years where they won four games. Okay.

45:55

I always said, we always went

45:57

to the stadium and we never knew what was going to

46:00

happen. You never knew what was going to happen. Um,

46:02

So you went in with that, You went in with a blank

46:05

campus every Sunday. But the other thing

46:07

was I just always felt we were two

46:09

guys. They were sitting together,

46:11

we had seats next to each other,

46:14

and we were just watching the game and

46:16

uh, you know, whether it turned out to be

46:18

a win or in a lot of cases it

46:20

turned out to be a loss, you walked

46:23

away afterwards and you just said, hey, listen,

46:25

you know what onto the next one. It was just a lot

46:27

of fun. And I know it would have been great to be doing

46:29

big games at playoff games, but it wasn't

46:31

realistic. And um,

46:34

and yet we were there. We were doing our

46:36

jobs, and I think we had a lot of fun doing it. Yeah,

46:39

we did. And you know the thing is you

46:41

sit there and uh,

46:44

you watched these games, and as

46:46

a player, you know what they're going through,

46:48

you know, and when you get selecked on it. It happened

46:51

to me at Illinois. You know, I went to Illinois

46:53

and they went on probation for four years.

46:55

Uh, not because of me, but because

46:58

of what had happened before, so couldn't

47:00

play. As a freshman. We go you know, one and nine,

47:02

oh and ten and three and seven, and

47:05

that's that's just frustrates

47:07

the heck out of you. And then when you play, you

47:09

know, all of a sudden, I come to Cleveland, we go to the playoffs

47:12

the first couple of years, and then things kind

47:14

of go bad until night and

47:16

then they start to you know another the

47:18

strike year eighty two, we got back

47:20

to the playoffs when he added the things. Uh,

47:23

and you know, when you put

47:25

that many guys together, you don't know what you're

47:27

gonna get, you know. The Forrest come said, it's

47:29

like a box of chocolate. But I think,

47:32

you know, you just always hope,

47:34

you know, and I always say I've never played

47:36

in the game. I didn't think I was gonna win.

47:38

And uh, you know, if if

47:40

you don't think that way you're not gonna win.

47:43

Yeah, great moments.

47:45

Um, you know that we had together. Uh,

47:48

William Greenbus that big run. Um,

47:51

you yell out run William run. It makes

47:53

you office hit.

47:58

No one thing. One

48:00

thing I learned is, you know, just

48:02

keep your mouth yet and let the pros handle the

48:04

job. They make the playoffs

48:07

that day, Doug, and it was really

48:09

great. It was the first time I

48:11

felt, Doug, that that

48:13

new stadium felt like the old stadium.

48:16

Yeah, how about you. I really

48:18

felt like that. This is what I remember when

48:20

I first came to Cleveland and

48:22

I was covering a big Brown Steelers game

48:24

or something. Yeah, I mean it

48:27

was old school Browns. You know, it

48:29

was the cardiac kids there. Uh.

48:31

You know, the first couple of years went to the playoffs.

48:34

You know, it was it was nice

48:36

to see the fans rewarded because you

48:39

know, they have gone through some

48:41

pretty bad football for you know, quite a

48:43

few years. And finally, you know, it looked

48:45

like we popped our head out, you know, and we were ready

48:47

to you know, be a competitor on a

48:50

yearly basis. Yeah, and

48:52

then the next week, real heartbreak. I mean, we had

48:54

the thing under control over in Pittsburgh

48:56

and it got away from the Browns and that

48:59

was tough, was in it because they played so

49:01

well. Tim Couch had broken his leg the

49:03

week before in the final game against Atlanta.

49:06

Kelly Holkum came in and played

49:08

incredible football that day

49:10

in Pittsburgh and the week before I helped them get

49:12

past the Falcons, and that was heartburning.

49:15

That was a tough bus ride home, Yeah, it

49:17

was. And you know you mentioned Tim

49:19

Couch. Now there's a guy that deserved

49:22

a better faith than you know what he got

49:24

here because you know, he just never

49:27

had a chance because the cast was never there.

49:29

You know, they had the

49:32

offensive line was kind of makeshift, you

49:34

know, the receivers. Uh, Like

49:36

I said, you know, when you didn't get all those multiple picks

49:39

in the early rounds, they weren't able to

49:41

load up like some other teams had. And

49:43

I have a lot of respect for Tim Couch,

49:45

you know, and the beating he took. And you know, uh,

49:48

in fact, you know, three or four years ago when they

49:50

were looking for a new TV guy, I

49:52

had suggested to him because you

49:54

know, this guy deserved his due for you

49:56

know what he what he did here, because he took a

49:58

beat suck. Then we come to

50:01

and here we are in The Browns are

50:04

terrific, They're exciting, and they

50:06

have this coach that is Kevin

50:08

Stefanski that is just you know, drawn

50:11

up these incredible game plans, and

50:13

and we're in a stadium and they're only allowing

50:16

twelve thousand people in when we're doing the game at

50:18

home, and when they're on the road where

50:20

they have some amazing victories over Tennessee

50:23

and the playoff went over Pittsburgh and the

50:25

win in Dallas and the last second

50:28

wind down at Cincinnati, and we're doing the

50:30

game calling it off a television

50:32

screen at First Energy Stadium. That was really

50:34

something, wasn't it? What a year? Yeah?

50:37

I mean it's the environment, you

50:39

know, obviously it's pretty sterile competitor to

50:41

being there, and uh uh,

50:44

you know it was the thing about it. It was so

50:46

great for the city because first

50:48

off, we beat Pittsburgh to get in, right

50:52

then we beat Pittsburgh to get to the second round.

50:55

Anytime you'd beat back at Pittsburgh back to back,

50:57

it's a good year. Yeah, it really

50:59

is. You Oftentimes you would

51:01

tell me Um through the years

51:04

that you worried that

51:06

players when they would come here in this

51:08

new age of the Browns, um

51:11

you know, needed to understand where they

51:13

were playing Cleveland, who

51:15

they were playing for, an incredible

51:17

passionate fan base, and they needed

51:20

to understand what the rivalries

51:22

meant. And the one that stands out is the one

51:24

with the Steelers. And I think you're right about

51:26

that. I always thought you were right about that. And I

51:28

know you would sit with people in the locker

51:31

room when we could go in the locker room, and

51:33

they would ask you sometimes what is the Steeler

51:35

Pittsburgh Steeler Brown thing all about?

51:37

You know what, you were right. These young

51:39

players needed to learn how much it

51:41

meant to this fan base to beat

51:44

those guys. And one of the guys that you

51:46

know, I used to talk to on a regular basis was

51:48

Phil Dawson. Uh. Phil was

51:50

a football player that kicked and I

51:52

have the utmost respect for Phil. And

51:56

he won one over there with a kick. And

51:58

you know, I caught him at game and I

52:00

said, I gotta tell you, Phil, you

52:02

don't know what you just did. He said, what do you mean? I

52:05

said, I came over here fourteen times

52:07

as a player and I went home and

52:09

fourteen I said, you don't

52:11

know what you just did. Yeah, that

52:14

was the last time that the Brons would play

52:16

at three River Stadium. That was the

52:18

last game that the Browns would play at three

52:20

River Stadium. You know, the other neat

52:22

thing about our twenty three years together is that our

52:24

families became, you know, so

52:27

connected. You know, Megan was in the

52:29

booth when she was really short, and now

52:31

she might be just an inch taller,

52:33

but she's still pretty short. But I mean she

52:35

was there for a lot of years and to her,

52:37

your uncle, Doug and Gott Spencer

52:39

and Ali. I mean, our

52:42

families became I mean, think about

52:44

it. In twenty three years, from

52:46

July to January, you and I were together

52:49

more than we were probably with our

52:51

families. Yeah, it

52:54

was. It was tough. Uh. You

52:57

know. The good

52:59

thing is, you know, you build friendships whether

53:01

you're playing or not, and you know, you still stay

53:04

in touch with you know a lot of you

53:06

know, people that you played with and

53:08

you mentioned you know all I mean the

53:10

greatest guy in the world. I mean

53:13

there's guys that you know, you really

53:15

would like to see again. But unfortunately

53:18

you don't always get that. You know, opportunity and

53:20

you know, the Browns have their alumni golf outing

53:22

and you know sometimes some of them, you know,

53:24

the guys come in. But you know, then

53:27

all of a sudden, you know, you're sitting there and you see, you

53:29

know, the O bit page and you know both Scott

53:32

dies great guy. Uh you

53:34

know, Jack Gregory passes away, great

53:36

guy. You know Tom de Leone,

53:39

one of the best guys in the world. And you

53:41

know it's it's tough, and you feel for

53:43

their families because you get attached

53:45

to their families. And

53:47

my thing used to be, you know, the guys

53:49

that used to have kids. Uh, I'd

53:52

always you know, try to buy them, you know, Christmas

53:54

presents, but then I take the white athletic

53:56

tape and tape them up, so take them an hour and un

53:58

rapid. But uh

54:00

uh you know, and you have

54:03

a lot of friendships like that that you

54:05

just can't replace. Just

54:07

just good, good people. And you

54:09

know, uh, I always thought,

54:11

you know, you have fun with your

54:14

friends, the guys that you respect. And

54:16

as a as a player, you know, sometimes

54:19

I guess I I looked at my friends

54:21

as how they played. You know, those guys

54:23

that played hard, they played tough. They

54:25

were always my friends, you know, the guys that were,

54:27

you know, just trying to steal a check I

54:30

had nothing to do with. Yeah. Um,

54:33

well you had a lot to do with the community

54:35

at Cleveland bow Um you really

54:38

you did a lot of charity work. Special Olympics

54:40

was was very near and dear and

54:42

important in your life and in your heart.

54:45

You really took an active, an

54:48

active role in those charities. Well,

54:50

you know, the whole time that I played,

54:53

I was single, so I had, you know a lot of

54:55

free time. And my younger

54:57

brother, Uh, they

54:59

started the Special Olympics back in Illinois,

55:02

and my younger

55:05

brother was a Special Olympics athlete. So I went

55:07

around the county and talked to all the high schools

55:09

or the schools that you had specialized classes,

55:12

and uh, you know, tried to get

55:14

the kids, you know, energized to go participate.

55:17

And so they had the first Special Olympics back

55:19

there, and I took my brother

55:21

over and they had he was competing

55:24

in some events, and after

55:27

you know, it was was done, he

55:29

got in the car and he had a jacket on and

55:31

it was kind of a hot day. I said, he don't

55:33

okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I

55:35

said, what do you want to do, let's go to the root

55:37

beer stand when we get home. And we were at a town

55:40

maybe uh twenty miles away,

55:42

and so I get home and our friends z owned this rooper

55:44

stand and my younger brother, you know,

55:46

he goes into the rooper stan and on zips

55:49

his jacket. He's got these four ribbons,

55:52

and you know, he said, what do you

55:54

think of this? Mr? Big Shot? I

55:57

always say, that's the greatest what

56:00

I've ever had in sports?

56:03

Poor uh ribbons,

56:05

Because you know, he passed away in eighty two.

56:11

So um,

56:14

let me ask you as we uh,

56:16

as we get ready to kind of close the

56:18

curtain on this, what

56:21

are you gonna do? What are you do on Sunday

56:23

afternoons. I'll try and figure

56:25

out in the next coming months, what the heck I'm gonna do

56:27

without you. But what are you gonna do? That's

56:30

gonna be interesting, you know. Unfortunately,

56:32

the the back has been

56:35

a little bad, and we haven't played

56:37

golf for a year, and that's kind of what you

56:39

were looking forward to doing when you retired.

56:42

Uh. You know, I got some other injuries

56:46

and illnesses that I gotta get taken care of,

56:48

so I can see if I can get the back taken care of. But

56:50

it's it's just, uh,

56:54

it's it's it's tough. I mean, I

56:58

guess the grand kids are going to get

57:00

a lot more attention. They

57:03

does seem more poppy, Doug than they probably

57:05

want to. Yeah, you know, one of the great

57:07

pictures that you had. I remember when

57:11

your first grandchild was born.

57:13

Spencer had a little boy and

57:15

he was out there he had number seventy three on a

57:17

training camp. The pictures of

57:19

you, your grandson and

57:22

the other seventy three Joe Thomas.

57:24

Oh yeah, I mean, you

57:26

know, it's and I think you know, Joe's got

57:28

the daughters and uh

57:30

uh you know it's you know, I

57:33

didn't get married until after I retired

57:35

and started a family later on

57:37

in life. Uh. You know, some days,

57:40

you know, I sit there and I said, you know, I wish it had

57:42

been nice to have him when I played,

57:44

so they could have seen me play. But

57:46

on the other hand, uh,

57:48

I'd rather than just know me as their dad. Yeah.

57:51

Absolutely, Well, I gotta tell

57:53

you, um, you're a legend. You

57:56

were a great teammate. I know you're a great teammate

57:58

because your teammates flocked to love you.

58:00

You were an incredible partner, but

58:03

a better friend. Well,

58:06

and I'll tell you what. You

58:08

know. You work

58:10

with people, and you know, you evaluate,

58:14

you know what they do to get the job done,

58:16

you know. And I had teammates that you know, would work

58:19

out hard in the off season. I had something that didn't.

58:21

But when it comes to this

58:24

line of business, there ain't nobody better

58:26

knew, Dick. I don't know what

58:28

I'm gonna do because you know, I'm not a good flyer.

58:31

And you

58:35

and I saw. Let me tell you, I saw Jesus

58:38

and my mother when we were trying to

58:40

land from Cincinnati a few years ago,

58:42

and my mom has passed away. Uh,

58:45

and I thought I was gonna be joining them, and thank

58:47

Heavens, you were beside me. I have to tell

58:50

I am white knuckler all the way, and you got

58:52

me through a lot of tough flights. Well. Yeah,

58:54

the thing is, you know, I, you know, planning

58:57

for the fourteen years and playing every game,

59:00

he learned to play hurt, you know, being a torn Carleton

59:02

this knee of broken hand and broken thumb or

59:04

whatever. But I

59:07

never missed the game. But I tripped

59:09

on coming up out

59:12

of the radio booth to go to the bathroom. The

59:14

old crew that used to have us before

59:17

Jason and the rest of the guys. They

59:19

didn't take down the court to the

59:21

heater, and I tripped over and I tore my rotator

59:23

cuff and my bicep, and

59:25

I said, you know what, I couldn't have played the next

59:28

week. I guess broadcasting it's a little

59:30

tougher than playing. I

59:32

always said that that stuff

59:34

that we described as pretty easy. Hey,

59:36

Doug, I love you.

59:39

Congelations you did. You did

59:42

just an amazing You're an amazing partner,

59:45

and we had so much fun that uh,

59:48

you know, it's it's something I'll never forget. And I hope

59:50

you don't either. No, I I don't.

59:52

And I always respect

59:54

your professionalism and your preparation,

59:57

and you know how how

59:59

much you really care about that broadcast

1:00:02

sounding good for the fans below

1:00:04

that are listening. And you know, to get

1:00:07

back to Nev. And I think I've told you

1:00:09

the story when Nev passed away. I

1:00:11

got this letter from somebody. They

1:00:13

said that they had lost her eyesight. They couldn't

1:00:15

watch the Browns games. And

1:00:17

you know, all of a sudden, they were listening to the broadcast and

1:00:20

through the words of you know, Nev. They

1:00:23

they could see the game again, and I said, well,

1:00:26

if that guy who was enjoying it, then he's

1:00:28

enjoying it more now because your

1:00:30

description, I mean, you're the best

1:00:32

in the business. Obviously

1:00:35

a standout at this position in the National Football

1:00:38

League when he came in as a tight end, a

1:00:41

decorated broadcaster. Uh.

1:00:43

And Gribbs, maybe the most important

1:00:46

takeaway from from the interview with Jim

1:00:48

and Doug a humanitarian

1:00:51

and a great person in the community who

1:00:53

has seen and done it all and and has tried

1:00:55

to help wherever possible, Uh,

1:00:58

Gribbs. What stood out to you from

1:01:00

the last fifty plus minutes between

1:01:02

Jim and Duck, Well, I I love this

1:01:05

story about how Doug had

1:01:07

to retry out for the job back

1:01:09

in and you know, Doug,

1:01:12

you know, just like he did on the field with

1:01:14

his uh well documented holding

1:01:18

that that really got under the skin of the

1:01:20

other defensive lineman. He took every

1:01:22

edge he could with getting the job back,

1:01:24

and that included uh using his

1:01:26

network of resources to to get some game

1:01:29

film and look like uh

1:01:31

he was he was Tony Romo before Tony Romo

1:01:33

with predicting the plays and and getting all

1:01:35

that knocked out. So I love hearing about

1:01:37

that, and obviously a touching moment that when

1:01:39

he's talking about his brother and kind

1:01:42

of why he's so involved with Special Olympics,

1:01:44

I mean raising over two and or fifty thou dollars.

1:01:47

Just an incredible, uh journey

1:01:49

he's he's been with the Browns and one

1:01:51

that I don't think is over yet. I think, like

1:01:53

I said, he's going to be around here uh and and

1:01:56

still representing the Browns because that's

1:01:58

that's what he loves to do. Uh. But just

1:02:00

a remarkable guy and

1:02:02

and remarkable achievement that he was able

1:02:04

to do. It will be a special

1:02:06

day on Sunday at First Energy Stadium

1:02:09

the Browns and the Bengals to wrap up the

1:02:12

SLASH season. More

1:02:15

importantly, Doug Deacon Day and our

1:02:17

chance to honor him. The fan

1:02:19

base will get a chance to honor him. Some surprises

1:02:22

coming along the way as well.

1:02:25

For more undug geac in week, including

1:02:27

interviews with friends and former teammates,

1:02:30

videos and more, log on to Cleveland

1:02:32

Browns dot com or visit any of the

1:02:34

Browns social media platforms all

1:02:36

this week. As for the best podcast

1:02:39

available, we are coming back. That's

1:02:41

right. The offseason officially

1:02:43

will get underway and we will be

1:02:46

back with you later on in the month

1:02:48

of January. For Andrew Gribble,

1:02:50

I'm Jason Gibbs. Thanks for watching,

1:02:53

Thanks for listening to the best podcast

1:02:55

available