All-American & Team Captain Tom DeLeone Dies at 65
5/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
May 23, 2016
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tom DeLeone, the All-American center and team captain for the Ohio State Buckeyes and a Pro Bowl performer for the Cleveland Browns, died on Sunday at his home in Utah after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 65.
DeLeone, from Kent, Ohio, and Roosevelt High School, played on Woody Hayes-coached teams from 1969-71 that won two Big Ten championships and was crowned the 1970 National Football Foundation national champion. DeLeone was a three-year letterman and a two-time all-Big Ten Conference selection. He was a team captain in 1971 along with Harry Howard and he was named the team’s MVP at the conclusion of that season.
He was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002.
Taken in the fifth round of the 1972 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, DeLeone played for the Bengals, Atlanta Falcons and Houston Oilers before settling into a starring role with the Cleveland Browns. He played 11 seasons with the Browns, from 1974-84, and started 104 games. He was inducted into the Cleveland Browns Legends in 2011.
Following his football career, DeLeone worked for 22 years in law enforcement, including positions as a criminal investigator with the U.S. Department of Treasury, senior special agent with the U.S. Customs Service and as a member of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the 2002 Winter Olympics, according to the Cleveland Browns web site.
DeLeone is survived by his wife and their three children. Funeral arrangements are pending.
