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Peyton Hillis

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Peyton Hillis Olivia Seals loves you. !
Cleveland Browns
Personal information
Born: (1986-01-21) January 21, 1986 (age 38)
Conway, Arkansas, USA
Career information
College:Arkansas
NFL draft:2008 / round: 7 / pick: 227
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2011
Rushing yards:2,161
Average YPC:4.2
Rushing TDs:20
Receiving yards:805
Average YPR:8.0
Receiving TDs:3
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Peyton Hillis (born January 21, 1986) is an American professional football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Hillis attended Conway High School in Conway, Arkansas and was a highly touted recruit. Hillis chose to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he was primarily used as a fullback. After being drafted in the 7th round of the 2008 NFL Draft, Hillis rose to the top of the depth chart as the starting fullback for the Broncos before being ushered to the starting running back position due to injuries to the running back corps. After spending two years in Denver, Hillis was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2010. In 2011 Hillis won a nationwide vote which put him on the cover of Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 12.

College career

Hillis during his college years at Arkansas

Hillis attended college at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville from 2004–2008, majoring in Sociology. As a true freshman, Hillis gained 240 yards rushing, 97 yards receiving, and scored 8 touchdowns, ranking 4th in the SEC in total touchdowns and tying Georgia's Thomas Brown for most touchdowns scored by a SEC freshman that year.[1]

Sophomore year

His sophomore year, Hillis accounted for 947 all-purpose yards (including more than 200 in kick-off and punt returns) and seven touchdowns while also serving as a blocker for up-and-coming star running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

Career statistics

Rushing Receiving Kickoff Returns Punt Returns
Year G Att Yrds Avg TD Lg Rec Yrds Avg TD Lg No. Yrds Avg TD Lng No. Yrds Avg TD Lng
2004 10 63 240 3.8 6 42 12 97 8.1 2 18 7 128 18.3 0 30 0 0 0 0 0
2005 11 65 315 4.8 3 32 38 402 10.6 4 45 3 65 21.7 0 23 16 165 10.3 0 27
2006 10 13 57 4.9 1 12 19 159 8.4 0 21 1 18 18 0 18 8 92 11.5 0 27
2007 13 62 348 5.6 2 65 49 539 11 5 34 1 2 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 0
Totals 44 203 960 4.7 12 65 118 1,197 10.1 11 45 12 213 17.8 0 30 25 257 10.3 0 27

Professional career

2008 NFL Draft

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press Wonderlic
6 ¾ * 240 * 4.57** s 1.59 * s 2.68 * s 4.24 ** s 7.15 * s 35" ** 9 9 * 26 reps 17
* represents NFL Combine **represents Arkansas Pro Day IN 2010 had 2,900 yrds

Hillis was selected by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round (227th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Denver Broncos

2008 Season

At the start of the 2008 season, Hillis was listed as the Broncos' starting fullback. He played in his first NFL regular season game on September 8, 2008, gaining 14 yards on three rushing attempts and four yards on one reception as part of a 41–14 Broncos road victory over the Oakland Raiders.[2] Later in the season, he recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game with seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in a 26–17 Broncos home loss to the Miami Dolphins on November 2, 2008.[3]

Following an injury to Ryan Torain in the Broncos 34–30 comeback road victory over the Cleveland Browns, Hillis was named Denver's starting running back. His first start at the position netted him 44 yards and two touchdowns on only 10 carries as part of a 24–20 road victory over the Atlanta Falcons.[4] Two weeks later, he recorded his first 100-yard rushing game with 129 yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts in a 34–17 road victory over the New York Jets.[5] The performance earned Hillis multiple honors including being named Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week as well as FedEx Ground Player of the Week alongside Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who was named NFL Air Player of the Week.[6] The string of victories and accolades built up anticipation among Broncos faithful for Hillis to continue as running back for the rest of the season. However, the season already plagued with running back injuries continued, with Hillis suffering a season-ending injury in a 24–17 home win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Coming down from an acrobatic catch of a Cutler pass with his right foot planted, Hillis was hit from both sides by Chiefs' free safety Jarrad Page and cornerback Brandon Carr. The hit doubled Hillis over, causing a 2–3 inch tear in his right hamstring behind the knee, which forced him to miss the rest of the season.[7] Despite his limited playing time, Hillis ended the 2008 season as the Broncos' leading rusher with 343 yards and 5 touchdowns and was expected to return as a significant offensive presence for the 2009 season.[8]

With the loss of Hillis, depth at the running back position was practically nil and the Broncos fell to 8–8 on the season and failed to make the play-offs. Due to a lack of post-season berths in recent years, Broncos Coach Mike Shanahan was fired during the off-season and replaced with Josh McDaniels.[9][10] McDaniels' first order of business was to recruit new talent to fit his playing scheme, which involved adding depth to the running back position with first round draft pick Knowshon Moreno and free agent Correll Buckhalter.

2009 Season

Despite rising to the starting fullback position and becoming the leading rusher the previous year, Hillis had only 54 yards on 13 carries in the 2009 season. As the Broncos offense collapsed late-season and Hillis still saw no significant playtime, fans began speculating about a disagreement between Hillis and McDaniels as had been the case with other Shanahan carry-overs.[11]

Racial discrimination has also been mentioned as a potential cause as Hillis is one of a very limited number of white running backs in the NFL.[12] In a post-season interview, Hillis expressed disappointment over his playtime on the season, but remained tight-lipped about the controversy, maintaining that conversations between him and McDaniels were "friendly".[13] In the same interview, Hillis was quoted as saying his future in Denver was "up in the air". On March 14, 2010, the Broncos traded Hillis to the Cleveland Browns along with a sixth-round pick in the 2011 Draft and a conditional pick in the 2012 Draft in exchange for quarterback Brady Quinn.[14]

Cleveland Browns

2010 Season

Hillis' arrival in Cleveland was met with anticipation after the results of his active stint in Denver during the 2008 season.[15] During the 2010 preseason, the Browns distributed snaps evenly between Hillis, Jerome Harrison, James Davis, Chris Jennings, and Montario Hardesty (upon returning from injury).[16][17][18][19] Hillis' best pre-season rushing game came in Week 2 against the Rams when, getting the majority of the snaps, Hillis ran for 51 yards on 12 carries (4.3 ypc).

As the regular season began, Hillis' start in Cleveland began much the same way as it did in Denver, listed down the depth chart at both tight end and fullback. Also like his start in Denver, early season injuries to Harrison and Davis thrust Hillis into the starting spot for the Week 3 game versus the Baltimore Ravens.[20] The result was a 144 yard (6.5 ypc) romp against the Ravens' staunch rushing defense, which allowed just 3.4 yards per carry in the 2009 season.[21] Hillis also added 36 yards on 7 receptions for a total of 180 all-purpose yards. The next week, Hillis again ran for over 100 yards at home against the Cincinnati Bengals, leading the Browns to their first victory in the 2010 regular season. A thigh injury in practice limited Hillis in Week 5 against the Atlanta Falcons, though Hillis did add a 19-yard reception for a touchdown, making him the first Browns player since Greg Pruitt to record touchdowns in five consecutive games, though Pruitt's came all through rushing.[22][23] Coming off a bye week in Week 8, Hillis set career marks in both rushing and all-purpose yards against the New England Patriots in Week 9, finishing the game with 184 rushing yards (6.5 ypc) and 220 yards of total offense.[24] Following this game, Hillis was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 9, the first Cleveland Browns running back to win that honor since Eric Metcalf in 1992. In week 12, Hillis joined Marshall Faulk as the only players to have achieved more than 130 yards rushing, 3 rushing touchdowns, and 60 yards receiving in a single game.[25] On December 12, 2010, Peyton Hillis went over the 1,000 yard mark on an 8 yard rush, that was preceded by a 25 yard rush. He became the first white running back since Craig James to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.[26]

Due to his breakout season, Peyton Hillis was the Browns finalist in the Madden NFL 12 cover vote. After upsetting Ray Rice, Matt Ryan, and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers, he advanced to the finals where he faced off against Michael Vick. On April 27, 2011, Hillis was announced as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 12, beating out Vick with 66 percent of the vote.[27] On December 1, 2011, Peyton stated in an interview that he wants to stay with the Browns and also showed support for Ron Paul. He was wearing a Ron Paul bumper sticker on his cap along with a Ron Paul tee shirt with pin buttons on it in the interview.[28]

Professional statistics

Accurate as of January 3, 2011

Regular season   Rushing   Receiving   Kickoff Returns
Season Team GP GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Ret Yds Avg Lng TD
2008 Denver Broncos 12 6 68 343 5.0 19 5 14 179 12.8 47 1 4 65 16.3 25 0
2009 Denver Broncos 14 2 13 54 4.2 13 1 4 19 4.8 6 0 6 134 22.3 24 0
2010 Cleveland Browns 16 14 270 1177 4.4 48 11 61 477 7.8 47 2 – – – – –
Regular season totals 42 22 351 1574 4.5 48 17 79 675 8.5 47 3 10 199 19.9 25 0

Awards and honors

Political activism

Like his teammate Tony Pashos,[29] Hillis has announced his support for Republican Congressman Ron Paul in the 2012 presidential election.[30]

References

  1. ^ Peyton Hillis Biography thru 2006
  2. ^ Broncos vs. Raiders
  3. ^ Broncos vs. Dolphins
  4. ^ Broncos vs. Falcons
  5. ^ Broncos vs. Jets
  6. ^ Broncos FB Hillis Voted Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week
  7. ^ Torn right hamstring to sideline Hillis for rest of season
  8. ^ Hillis NFL.com Bio
  9. ^ Broncos Fire Shanahan After 14 Seasons
  10. ^ Broncos Introduce McDaniels
  11. ^ The Answer is Hillis
  12. ^ Silver, Michael (2010-04-20). Race factors into evaluation of Gerhart. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  13. ^ Peyton Hillis Speaks on his First Season with Josh McDaniels
  14. ^ Broncos Trade Hillis, 6th Round Pick for QB Brady Quinn
  15. ^ Browns Training Camp Notebook for Aug. 1
  16. ^ Box Score for Browns vs. Packers 08/14/2010
  17. ^ Box Score for Rams vs. Browns 08/21/2010
  18. ^ Box Score for Browns vs. Lions 08/28/2010
  19. ^ Box Score for Bears vs. Browns 09/02/2010
  20. ^ Browns Notebook: Who's got the ball on Sunday
  21. ^ Browns vs. Ravens
  22. ^ Browns vs. Falcons
  23. ^ Browns Post-Game Notes
  24. ^ Browns vs. Patriots
  25. ^ Hillis Joins Rams Legend in NFL Record Book
  26. ^ http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/01/peyton-hillis-says-teams-taunted-him-for-being-white-running-back/1
  27. ^ http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/feature/madden2012cover
  28. ^ http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/84129/Peyton_Hillis_shows_his_support_for_Ron_Paul_2012_/
  29. ^ NFL's Tony Pashos Talks About Ron Paul, LewRockwell.com
  30. ^ http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/100029.html
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