tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Hillis Rumors Ridiculous

Since the game against the Miami Dolphins, there has been a considerable amount of rumors swirling around Peyton Hillis. Hillis did not play against the Dolphins because he had strep throat and soon after the game reports started flowing that the real reason why Hillis didn't play was because of a contract dispute with the Browns over a contract extension.

Matters got worse when Hillis' agent felt it necessary to come out and say that he advised his client not to play. If I were Hillis I would fire his agent. If you ever had strep throat it can be pretty painful. High fever and the inability to ingest anything other than liquids are usually the symptoms. In addition, it's my understanding that it is highly contagious.

The Browns organization has done a terrible job of defusing this situation. I saw Coach Pat Shurmur's press conference the day after the game. When the issue came up, he said that Hillis was a big part of the team and that when the young man came to the Stadium he told Shurmur that he had strep throat and was running a high fever and couldn't play. Shurmur danced around follow up questions. Having seen people with strep throat you know that they are sick. The head coach could have put up more of a defense for his star running back.

I have not heard anything from General Manager Tom Heckert on the subject. I find that puzzling unless it is the Browns who want to paint Hillis in a negative light thus giving the team a better position with any talks of a contract extension. In addition, if you think back to the Colts and Titans games, Hillis was taken out of a goal line situation against the Colts and then was used as a decoy in a badly designed play against the Titans on a 4th and 1 situation. Is it possible that Shurmur is not enamored with his big bruising running back??? Maybe he doesn't fit in with Shurmur and Holmgren's version of the West Coast offense??

If this is true, then the Browns are making a big mistake. If you look back to the great 49er teams, they had a brusinig fullback by the name of Tom Rathman who did more than block. He was a good receiver out of the backfield and could get tough yards. Hillis is also a good receiver out of the backfield and once he gets going he is hard to stop. I also think he is a better runner than Rathman.

Hillis is the type of back that you need on the shores of Lake Erie during the months of November, December and January. He can grind it out in bad weather conditions and if you give him the ball enough he will eventually wear a defense down. This is what happended in the Colts game as late in the fourth quarter he scored a touchdown on a 19 yard run that sealed the deal for the Browns.

Last week, Hillis hit twitter with a passionate statement telling Browns fans that he loves this team, its fans and the city of Cleveland. I believe him. In watching interviews of this guy, what you see is what you get. I could be wrong but I don't think it was a PR stunt. In my mind, the Browns need Peyton Hillis to be successful and if Shurmur & Company can't find a way to use him then we got bigger problems than trying to figure out what the real reason is for why Hillis didn't play aginst Miami.