Browns Lose a Member of the Kardiac Kids

Kent native, former Ohio State Buckeye, Cleveland Brown and two-time pro-bowler, Tom DeLeone passed away on Sunday. DeLeone had been battling brain cancer.

DeLeone was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1972 and later played for the Browns during the Kardiac Kids era from 1974-84.

DeLeone told Rob Oller of the Columbus Dispatch that as a player, he would ignore injuries as much as possible because he didn't want someone to step in and take his job.

“You might get a little dizzy out on the field from getting hit in the head, but if you put down your helmet somebody is going to take it and they’ll put someone else in,” he told Oller. “And I didn’t want that to ever happen.”

DeLeone is a member of the Cleveland Browns Legends Club and the center-quarterback combination of DeLeone and Sipe is part of Browns lore.

• Get Free Newsletters, Real-Time Alerts for Your Ohio Patch

After retiring from football, DeLeone was a criminal investigator with the U.S. Department of Treasury and a special agent with the U.S. Customs Service. After his retirement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2007, he was a substitute teacher in Park City, Utah where he lived with with his wife, Mindy according to ClevelandBrowns.com.

Even after being diagnosed with cancer, DeLeone maintained a remarkable attitude:

“Just have a lot of faith and keep moving forward,” DeLeone told Oller. “You’re not going to hear any ‘Whoa is me,’ from me, because I’ve had a great run at it.”

[Image source: Pinterest]