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Hillis preparing to be better in 2011
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis (40) fumbles the ball as he is hit by Buffalo Bills defender Jairus Byrd (31) during the first half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010. Bills linebacker Paul Posluszny (51) assists on the play.
By Mary Kay Cabot
Plain Dealer Reporter
CLEVELAND
On any given day in the town of Conway, Ark., Browns running back Peyton Hillis can be seen trudging through his neighborhood towing a half-ton truck.
On lighter training days, he’ll lug a small car or all-terrain vehicle around the block.
“I know it’s weird, but if you saw it, you can see it works,” he said. “It’s just something a buddy of mine came up with and I’ve been doing it since my junior year in high school.”
One thing is for certain: The newly-minted Madden 12 cover boy and 1,000-yard rusher hasn’t let success or fame go to his head.
“You can never get complacent,” said Hillis, who beat out Eagles QB Michael Vick for the Madden 12 cover that will debut in August. “All of this has been exciting for my friends and family and the people of Conway. Things like this don’t happen around here very often and the people are very proud of me. It just makes me want to work that much harder for them, for the Cleveland fans and the people I grew up with. It’s truly a blessing.”
When Hillis isn’t attached to a hunk of metal, he’s doing a variety of other things to prepare for the season.
“I have coaches from Conway High working me out and all kinds of local fitness experts,” he said. “I’m doing yoga, MMA and things like that. I’m an unorthodox player, so I have to do things that fit my kind of game.”
Family and friends have also been able to help with the fumbling issue that plagued Hillis last season. After leading all running backs with eight fumbles in 2010 and tying for third among all NFL players with five lost, Hillis knew he had to take some drastic measures in the offseason.
“I’ll carry a ball around with me all day and ask people to try to knock it out of my hand when I least expect it,” he said. “I’ll give them some money and stuff so people get pretty geeked up about that. It just helps me to take care of the ball without even thinking about it.”
So has it cost him an arm and a leg?
“Sometimes they’ll get it out, but most of the time they don’t.”
For the folks who think that Hillis wore down toward the end of last season, guess again. He was playing with cracked ribs for the final three games that made every breath, every move excruciating.
“I broke them at the very beginning of the Cincinnati game [Dec. 19] and then aggravated them in the Baltimore game the next week,” he said. “They were really bad in the last game against Pittsburgh, too [six carries, 13 yards]. It was tough to cope with, but I did it because I wanted what’s best for the team and I wanted to play for the guys. I wanted them to know how much the team meant to me, and I wanted to do them that favor.”