sport historian
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- Dec 18, 2004
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The Hillis situation continues to develop....As I noted at the time, any way you look at it, missing a game for strep throat, diagnosed a full two days beforehand, is mysterious and unprecedented. Here's another tidbit, from Rotoworld, indicating that his teammates clearly feel Hillis cares more about his contract status:
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that there is belief in the Browns' locker room that Peyton Hillis sat out Week 3 because he's more concerned with his contract than playing at less than 100 percent.
In fairness to Hillis, he has a well-earned tough guy reputation, and was clearly incredibly sick leading up to Week 3, losing 10-12 pounds during the week because of strep throat. "That shouldn’t be an issue," said Hillis, playing for just $600K. "That’s not an issue in my brain. I’ll go out there and I’ll play. But if I know I’m not 100 percent and I can hurt my team, I’m not gonna risk myself." Hillis only got 10 carries in his Week 4 return.
Hardesty has done absolutely nothing to warrant more than a few change of pace touches per game. The fact that he was being used constantly as a third down back in today's game, instead of Hillis-known to have perhaps the best hands of any RB in the league-says an awful lot. Even more worrisome (and incomprehensible) is Hardesty's use at the goal line, instead of the incredibly powerful TD machine Hillis. Watching Hardesty prove conclusively that he can't catch even as well as a typical hands of stone NFL back was almost surreal. Even for the NFL, this was over the top.
It will be interesting, again, to see if any of the brain dead jock sniffing "journalists" in the local media grill Shurmur about the mind boggling lack of touches for Hillis. If he even bothers to respond, my guess is this idiot will attribute it to Hillis still "not being quite 100%" and/or "wanting to see Hardesty." There is obviously a belief, in "the locker room" (and you all know who controls every locker room) that Hillis should have played last week, and is "concerned about the money." Yeah, we all know the black players don't care about money.
I knew it would look ridiculous for Hillis to miss a game over something like that, and he is really paying a steep price for it. Whatever minimal support he had on the team (from either the black majority or white weasals like McCoy- who threw him under the bus unnecessarily earlier this week) has eroded away now. As sad as is sounds, Shurmer is bound and determined to put Hillis in his rightful place- at fullback, blocking for a natural afflete. The only thing keeping him in the mix for any touches is the fact that Hardesty is so shockingly horrible- even the DWFs may protest if they stopped giving him any carries. However, all it will take is one long run, through a Priest Holmes-sized hole, for the morons in the stands to fall in love with Hardesty.
At this point, Hillis needs to stop being humble and question his startling lack of usage, like any black RB with half his talent would. The team will not give him a huge new contract, and unfortunately I don't see any other NFL team signing him for big money to be anything other than an Alstott-type of half- starting back. This is par for the course for this criminal league.
And in another shocking development, the only other white RB playing significant snaps in the league goes down early with an injury. Even more startling is the fact that rookie Ridley looked great in his absence. As was mentioned earlier in this thread, this is it for Woodhead in any meaningful role with the Patriots. It's tragic, but that's just what happens in this league. If Peyton Hillis can miss ONE game and be thrown into a full blown RBBC as punishment, what do you think a guy like Woodhead's chances are, especially when the black RB (Ridley) really does look impressive?
Good for Decker. Good for Jordy- although he was stupid to sign an extension for that kind of money. Even Rotoworld acknowledged what a bargain it was for the Packers, who will now tie him to their team until Nelson is 29. With Jennings still young and the flashy Randall Cobb coming on (not to mention the young James Jones signing a similar deal earlier this season), there is little chance for Jordy to ever develop into a true #1 WR, which he should be. But as a typical white player, he probably would have signed in the worst place possible if he became a free agent (ala Drew Bennett) anyway. Let's hope today's excessive snap count for Jordy wasn't just a one game bone toss for signing such a modest contract.
The Hillis situation is essential to our cause here; the Caste System can never be dismantled if hate crimes like this go unnoticed, unacknowledged and unpunished. This guy was the star of his team last season, and so far all we've had since the "strep throat" incident are ex-players like Golic blasting him, leaked reports (obviously from within the team) about suspicions regarding his desire to play without a new contract, his QB giving his backup some totally undeserved praise and now his coach curtailing his role dramatically, to almost an even time share with his hapless, incompetent backup Hardesty. No one on the team has defended him publicly. None of his teammates support him? If this is not a conspiracy, what is it?
People involved in a conspiracy conceal what they are doing. That isn't happening here. The new management in Cleveland is not committed to Hillis as the Brown's number one runner. Nobody has to "conspire."