LITTLE ROCK — Hillis not bothered by curse
Peyton Hillis doesn’t believe in the Madden Curse.
The Cleveland Browns running back reportedly rolled his eyes and smirked when asked if his 2011 season has had anything to do with being on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden 12 video game.
“I’m not even worried about that,” Hillis told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Hillis (Conway, Arkansas Razorbacks) has missed one game because of strep throat, another game and a half because of a hamstring injury and is questionable for the Browns’ game today at San Francisco.
Last season Hillis ran for 1,177 yards, but he has just 211 this season.
“Every time you have a breakout year, the next year, everybody keys you,” Browns receiver Josh Cribbs said. “Everybody is expecting you to have that same year or better.
Everybody’s keying you now.
You’re not going to do as good when everybody’s looking for you.
“Last year, ain’t nobody worried about stopping Peyton. They didn’t know who he was until after a couple games. You can’t expect a guy to do it when everybody’s looking for him to.”
Hillis earned the Madden cover after beating Michael Vick in a fan vote earlier this season. But he’s not using the Madden Curse as an excuse for his performance so far.
“The Lord puts you through things for a reason and it all works out for a purpose,” Hillis said. “No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep a positive mind-set. From here on out, you just got to take it and roll with the punches.”
Said Plain Dealer reporter Jodie Valade: “And hope that, somehow, the curse lifts for the remainder of the season.”Tough crowd
The Texas Rangers lost their second consecutive World Series on Friday night, and Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw has put them in some unfavorable company.
“They spent last winter as reigning American League champions. It was a good time to be a Texas Ranger, the greatest time ever,” Cowlishaw wrote. “Following a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium on Friday night, they will spend this winter as World Series losers. It is, technically speaking, the same thing.”
“And yet nothing about it will feel the same.
“World Series losers. World Series chokers. Baseball’s Buffalo Bills.” Series headlines
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “11th heaven”
From the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune: “Believe it.”
From the New York Times: “For Rangers fans, the promised land was two strikes and a few inches away.”
From The Dallas Morning News: “Classic heartbreak.”
From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Not in the Cards”Quote of the day “We didn’t have our best performance, but we got the win. So we’re going back to Arkansas happy today.” Receiver Jarius Wright on Arkansas’ 31-28 victory against Vanderbilt
Sports, Pages 28 on 10/30/2011