Vickers sets no records, but received accolades

By TONY GROSSI

BEREA — Last week in Kansas City, Jerome Harrison and Josh Cribbs set the records. This week, Lawrence Vickers won the accolades.

“He had as good a game as a fullback as I’ve been around. He was killing guys,” said coach Eric Mangini.

“It was over-the-top. He had a phenomenal game. I’ve not seen anything like that. He was crushing people left and right,” said Cribbs.

Special teamer Blake Costanzo, who goes by the nickname “Psycho” because of his fearlessness running down on kicks, was in awe.

“He was just a one-man wrecking crew knocking people to the ground. I mean, it was unbelievable. I’ve never seen a guy play a more physical game in my life,” Costanzo said.

It’s a rare day when two players on the same team break long-standing records in the same game. Harrison’s 286 rushing yards broke Jim Brown’s franchise record of 237, which he set twice, the last time 48 years ago. Cribbs’ two kickoff returns for touchdowns gave him eight for his career, breaking the NFL record set by Ollie Matson 43 years ago and matched by four others.

What’s even rarer is to have one person, Vickers, contribute so much to both performances. He is one of the core players on the Browns’ highly-rated special teams and also received his most play time on offense as the fullback/lead blocker.

“I feel like I was in a zone a little bit,” Vickers said. “When game time comes, I get in a zone where I feel I’m Superman and I felt like I was Superman. Always feel that way, really. I just had a chance to do more. I just wanted to showcase my talent a little bit more.”

After reviewing the tape of the game, Mangini said, “I told him, ‘Whatever you ate, share it.’ ”

Vickers’ adrenaline rush increased as the running game blasted through the Chiefs’ weak defense. Their 49 rush attempts were the most by the Browns since a 1987 game against Houston when they totaled 51 in a 40-7 mauling of the old Jerry Glanville Oilers.

Most of the runs on Sunday, but not all, were with the 6-foot, 250-pound Vickers triggering the play at the point of attack.

“He’s always loved hitting people,” left tackle Joe Thomas said. “That’s what you want in your fullback. Being able to get a lot of reps with him in the game [resulted in his big day]. The running game doesn’t always include the fullback, but it did in Kansas City.

“As teams are putting more guys in the box against us, as it gets later in the season and throwing isn’t as easy with the conditions, you’ll see a lot of teams put the safety in the box, and one of the best ways to deal with that is let the fullback block the safety.”

Vickers also had a pancake block on Cribbs’ first TD return of 100 yards that drew attention in the film review.

“We had a bunch of pancakes, just didn’t have any syrup,” Vickers said. What would be the syrup in a football game?

“The syrup would be just every time Josh would take it to the crib,” he said. “That’s what we look for any time, anyway. So when he doesn’t, it’s like, ‘What happened? What went wrong?’ And when he does do it, it’s like, ‘There goes another one. There he goes again. Pay the man.’ That’s our little slogan, ‘Pay the man.’ ”

Vickers is in the final year of his rookie contract and will be a free agent — restricted if the league bargaining agreement is not extended, unrestricted if it is. He has received some notoriety league-wide, but not enough to get the votes for the AFC Pro Bowl team.

He picked the right time to have his best game, coming the weekend before players and coaches cast their ballots. The teams will be announced on Dec. 29.

“Absolutely, I feel I’ve been the best [fullback],” Vickers said. “And I feel like a lot of people are getting a chance to see that.

“Obviously, we don’t play a lot of games to where the nation gets a chance to see it, but I wanted to just play so that everybody would be able to hear about it just in case they didn’t get a chance to see it.

“I’m just trying to work myself into position where I can be that guy where people look on the ballots for the Pro Bowl and people automatically say, ‘Yeah, that’s the guy you want to pick.’ ”

You’ve got to figure he got the votes of the Kansas City Chiefs, at least.