Peyton Hillis (born January 21, 1986 in Conway, Arkansas) is an American professional football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) since 2010. Hillis played collegiately for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. Hillis was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. 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 2008, 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 will put him on the cover of Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 12. Conte! nts 1 Early years 2 College career 2.1 Sophomore Year 2.2 Junior Year 2.3 Senior Year 2.4 Career statistics 3 Professional career 3.1 2008 NFL Draft 3.2 Denver Broncos 3.2.1 2008 Season 3.2.2 2009 Season 3.3 Cleveland Browns 3.3.1 2010 Season 3.4 Professional statistics 4 Awards and honors 5 References 6 External links [edit] Early years Hillis was born to Doug and Carrie Hillis on January 21, 1986 and raised in Conway, Arkansas . He played football for Conway High School from 1999–2003, where he played primarily as a fullback. As a junior, he rushed for 1,427 yards and 17 touchdowns, adding 133 yards and two touchdowns on receptions. As a senior, he rushed for 2,631 yards and 29 touchdowns on 261 carries for an average of 10.1 yards per carry. For his efforts, Hillis earned numerous Arkansas state football honors, including the 2003 Marvin Delph Award (named after the Conway native and Arkansas Razorback basketball legend), which identifies the Conway sportsm! an of the year, the 2003 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Offensive P! layer of the Year Award, and the 2003 Landers Award, which recognizes the top high school football player in Arkansas. Nationally, Hillis was named to the Parade All-America football team. Rivals.com listed him as the #1 fullback in the country and the #2 prospect from Arkansas for the 2004 college signing season. He was recruited by several schools nationwide including Alabama, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, Tennessee and Michigan, but chose to stay in-state and attend the University of Arkansas. [edit] 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] [edit] Sophomore Year His sophomore year, Hillis accounted for 947 all-purpose yards (in! cluding 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. [edit] Junior Year Hillis' junior year was marked by a change in duty as the Razorbacks began to utilize McFadden and Jones as the feature backs. Hillis remained instrumental to the Razorbacks' offense as a blocker from the fullback and tight end positions, allowing McFadden and Jones to accumulate more than 2000 combined rushing yards and helping catapult the Razorbacks to a NCAA top 10 position. The success continued through week 10 against the Tennessee Volunteers, when Hillis suffered a season-ending deep thigh bruise from an illegal hit after calling fair catch on a punt return. Although the Razorbacks went on to beat Tennessee 31–14, Hillis was out on injured reserve the next few weeks as the Razorbacks lost consecutive games against LSU in the regular season finale, Florida in the 2006 SEC Cha! mpionship Game, and Wisconsin in the 2007 Capital One Bowl. Fo! r his ef fectiveness as a blocker during the first half of the 2006 season, Hillis was recognized as the best blocking back in the Southeastern Conference by The Birmingham News. Furthermore, Phil Steele's College Football Preview rated Hillis as the #1 fullback in the nation for the 2007 college football season. Hillis underwent extensive physical therapy in the off-season to repair damage to his thigh and was slated to return for the 2007 season opener. [edit] Senior Year Hillis' senior year at Arkansas was marked by a more active role in the Razorbacks' offense, balancing duties as a blocking tight end, rusher, and drop-back receiver. He accumulated over 850 all-purpose yards and 7 touchdowns, averaging more than 5 yards per carry and 11 yards per reception while again serving as an integral blocker for repeat 1000-yard rushers McFadden and Jones. He was the team's leading receiver and blocking back with 49 receptions and 52 knockdown blocks on the season.[2] For his recov! ery efforts from numerous injuries throughout his tenure at Arkansas culminating in the 2006–2007 off-season and impressive play during the 2007 season, Hillis received the 2007 Paul Eells Award for the Arkansas player showing outstanding character through adversity.[3] In his collegiate career, Hillis generated 960 rushing yards, 1197 receiving yards, 23 total touchdowns, and added 470 yards on special teams in his four years at Arkansas. One of the most versatile players on the Razorbacks' offensive roster, Hillis was eventually used as a fullback, halfback, tight end, wide receiver, kick returner, and punt returner at different points in his collegiate career. [edit] 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 6 5 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 [edit] Professional career [edit] 2008 NFL Draft Pre-draft measureables Ht Wt 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP Wonderlic 6 ft ¾ * in 250 * lb 4.56** s 1.59 * s 2.68 * s 4.24 ** s 7.15 * s 35" ** in 9 ft 9 * in 26 rep 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. [edit] Denver Broncos [edit] 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.[4] Later in the season, he recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game wit! h seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in a 26–17 Broncos home loss to the Miami Dolphins on November 2, 2008.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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 s! eason already plagued with running back injuries continued, wi! th Hilli s 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11][12] McDaniels' first order of business was to recru! it 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. [edit] 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.[13] 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.[14] In a post-season interview, Hillis expressed disappointment over his playtime on the season
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