Coaching Staff Changes Aplenty For The Tribe in 2012
September 30, 2011Week 4: The Browns Will Win If…
September 30, 2011When Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis was declared inactive due to strep throat during the team’s Week 3 contest against the Miami Dolphins, little did he know that he would be opening up the dam to a sea of criticism. The Madden 12 coverboy came down with the illness late in the week, and despite the fact that he drags trucks and defensive backs alike, some fans of the Orange and Brown decided to question whether or not Hillis was willing to sacrifice a bit of himself for his team.
And now Hillis is answering those inquiries, loud and clear.
“The people that really care about me, and want the best for me would understand,” Hillis following Thursday’s practice. “And the people that don’t, then they don’t. But I can’t control that. And I’m going to do what’s best for me at that point. If it’s going to jeopardize my health in that situation, I’m going to take my own career and my own life in my own hands and do the best I can.”
In a world where the license to publicly criticize is easy to obtain, some opted to question Hillis’ motives – after all, he is in a bit of a contract dispute – as well as his mental and physical toughness. His yards-per-carry is down a tick from 2010, and now his absence opened up a door for second-year running back Montario Hardesty. But something else to consider is that while Hillis may not have risked his body on Sunday, his doing so allowed him to not risk the bodies of the 52 teammates who could potentially come down with the highly contagious illness.
“People just make suggestions and accusations just because they can,” Hillis continued. “They don’t know me, they don’t know my body. I go out there and play hard, but for me, I really think I’m very durable.”
The bruising back went on to classify himself as a competitor who will continue to give his all despite what others choose to say. He also says that he’s willing to do so with a teammate in the same backfield as the Browns continue to hint that fans and the opposition could see he and Hardesty could be behind quarterback Colt McCoy on the very same snap.
We discussed “The Pony” earlier this season, but with Hillis’ absence and the team’s relative unwillingness to rely on Hardesty prior to Week 3 where Pat Shurmur and company were forced to give him 17 total touches; the result was 86 total yards including one very large first down in the winning fourth quarter drive.
Now, with Hardesty proving that he’s further along than the coaching staff had believed and Hillis claiming that he is in fact 100 percent healthy, the two men provide depth to a backfield that was considerably thin just one season earlier.
“Montario is a great player and he did an extremely well when he was out there, he’s really smart and he can contribute,” Hillis said of his teammate. “You don’t have to go out there and do it all on your own, you’ve got a guy behind you or in front of you, that is just as capable of doing anything that you can do. That’s big for me, it’s big for our team and it gives us some depth.”
If the Browns stick to their word this time around, look for fullback Owen Marecic to give way on a few plays with Hillis and Hardesty being split back behind McCoy. At the very least, implementing Hardesty early in the contest will allow for a fresher-legged Hillis, something that paid dividends in the Week 2 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
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AP Photo/Ed Reinke
23 Comments
Anyone who questioned Hillis’s toughness for not playing has obviously never had strep throat. It’s not just a sore throat. It’s a virus that severely affects your whole body. I had it 2 years ago, and I couldn’t get out of bed or eat a single ounce of solid food for 3 days. Plus, as Scott mentioned, strep is so contagious that my doctor actually ordered me not to go to work for at least 2 days.
Was there really anyone criticizing Hills for sitting out? Yeah, it sucks that he didn’t play, but I understand that people get sick, and I don’t want him out there if he doesn’t have the strength to play the way he usually does.
Yeah, some people will do anything to generate a story. Let’s see…1.)The team and Hillis have said that they are interested in a new contract. 2.)Other teammates have secured new contracts. 3.)Hillis gets sick (in Cleveland weather) (at the turn of seasons) (during the beginning of flu season): 1 + 2 + 3 = “OMG! Hillis is playing games and sitting out to prove a point about his contract. (Shock and Awe, Shock and Awe!)”
Now, let’s Grill Hillis about it and see if we can get him to admit to something that wasn’t probably even a thought in his mind due to the fact that he probably couldn’t even think straight due to his illness.
“A sea of criticism.” Really? Where? I noticed a couple of Browns beat writers posting Hillis’ quotes on twitter and I wondered where this was all coming from? Scott – have you read any media critical of for Hillis missing the game? As anyone heard any fans questioning hs toughness? Where is all of this coming from?
“Have you read any media critical of for Hillis missing the game? As anyone heard any fans questioning hs toughness? Where is all of this coming from?”
Bob Golic and Hanford Dixon questioned the move in Browns postgame on 19; Twitter has been rife with people calling him out; On Monday, a WKNR show had a “not sayin, just sayin” take. I’d say that’s a decent amount of criticism from media and fans alike.
I know a few people myself who criticized this and it’s absolutely ludicrous. I heard the guy had like a 105 degree fever or something of the sort and lost a bunch of weight. I’ve had strep quite a few times unfortunately and it’s absolutely awful.
Someone needs to pass the memo along to Hillis about not feeding the trolls.
If I can work with strep throat, so can Hillis! Granted, I often work from home, sitting at a desk, checking WFNY every 30 minutes, and haven’t lifted a weight since 1996 – not to mention the last time I had strep I stayed in bed for 2 days wrapped up in 5 blankets like a little baby – but Hillis should have been out there!! Breathing hard, running as hard and as fast as he can, taking vicious hits and delivering them in return, scoring 4 TDs (okay, maybe 3).
What nonsense. The PD article raising this stink also mentioned that he lost something like 10-12 pounds.(!) Yeah, he should have been playing football with a highly contagious disease, a 105 fever, and at 10 lbs below his playing weight.
@7: HA! Good call.
Scott – I didn’t intend my question to be an attack. Sorry if you took it that way. I don’t live in Ceveland anymore and haven’t for some time. I follow all my Browns news through the web – WFNY, and about a dozen other sites. I try to follow rational, interesting people on twitter. I have no idea about any of the tv and radio media in Cleveland anymore. Its interesting that, given I have no clue what the broadcast media says, I hadn’t heard any of this, hmm? What does that tell you about that type of media?
If all of this makes Hillis pissed ad he wants to take it out on the Titans, well, good.
Can we finally see the “pony” this week? Tracking Hardesty and Hillis on the same play would open up the passing game.
Of course WKNR would rip Hillis. What else do they do but bash our teams? Thank God for 92.3.
” I didn’t intend my question to be an attack. Sorry if you took it that way.”
Not at all. I should have considered including those instances in the post for additional clarity. I just assumed since they were a few days old by this point that they were out there.
I hope the coaching staff is confident enough now to put both Hardesty and Hillis in the backfield. Man that’s gonna be nice to watch.
to play devil’s advocate,
most of us dont have the services of an NFL teams medical staff to remedy/address our bouts with strep, so comparing the average person’s experience and Peyton Hillis’ may notbe too accurate
“Anyone who questioned Hillis’s toughness for not playing has obviously never had strep throat. It’s not just a sore throat. It’s a virus that severely affects your whole body.”
I try not to nitpick about medical stuff on here too much but strep throat is by definition a bacterial infection not a virus. It’s caused by streptococcus bacteria.
A sore throat caused by a virus still sucks, but does not need antibiotics because they have no effect on viruses. Both are contagious and I would not want Hillis anywhere near the rest of the team if he had strep throat confirmed by a throat culture.
Hah, obviously I should have said infection, not virus. My bad. But nevertheless, strep throat absolutely rocked me. I couldn’t walk to get the mail, let alone play NFL football.
There are definitely levels of strep… i’ve had it before and never had a 105 fever and i didn’t lose 10 pounds (although that would be a sweet diet if the rest of it didn’t suck horrendously), but I still can’t believe people were ripping Hillis for this. Like Mark, I don’t live anywhere close to Cleveland so I get all of my info from this site and other places on the web. I hadn’t heard a peep criticizing Hillis, but the fact that it happened ticks me off. I value intelligence and I have pride in the people of Cleveland, and what this tells me is that northeast Ohio has a lot more idiots than I thought.
he should have sucked it up and dressed up like a ball boy and went over the the dolphins sidelines. no one would have noticed
@ Chucky,
Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter whether you have your own personal doctor or if you use Dr. Nick Riviera’s Free Clinic. Ain’t nothing either can do about strep. As 5KMD noted, it’s a virus. Therefore, I doubt the amount of attention Hillis could have gotten from team physicians matters.
In the spirit of 5KMD’s comment, I also try not to nitpick legal things, but does the Devil pay his legal bills on time? Seems like a really bad client. Hope you charge him a really high rate.
Actually strep isnt a virus at all, its a bacteria! OMG! Yes a bacteria called Streptococcus.
What’s all the fuss? You cant expect anyone to play with raging fevers. Besides which the lining in the cloud was a day out for Montario.
However I do question Shurmur’s tactical thinking and deep down deviousness, what any self respecting HC should have asked Hillis to do was go and socialise at the Titans side lines that week. Shared a couple of Gatorade drinks with their D line etc . Bingo! Whadyaknow we play a Titans team of only 10men. Hasselback has to be one of the WR for some of the plays.
Just can’t get the staff these days…
This is great.
Gary: “As 5KMD noted, it’s a virus”
Nope. I noted that it’s a bacteria, not a virus. But I’ll let it go now. But you are right Gary about Chucky. Doesn’t matter what facilities you have available, strep calls for antibiotics, rest, and fluids. You can do that anywhere. He might have been able to get IV fluids with the Browns though.
Sorry, 5KMD – I said the complete opposite of what you said. I meant “bacteria,” but for some reason my brain stopped funtioning properly at that precise moment. Woops. My point stands, despite the mistake.