There is a group of Cleveland Browns fans that are so loyal and so passionate that they sit in a section of the stadium known as the "Dawg Pound."
These fans have sat through years of foul weather, foul football and have never stopped believing in the Browns; they have never stopped believing that they would be winners some day.
The last two seasons, under head coach Eric Mangini, the Browns suffered through two straight 5-11 seasons.
There was one major bright spot for the Browns and the Dawg Pound in 2010 -- running back Peyton Hillis.
After coming over in a trade from the Denver Broncos, Hillis got a chance to be a feature running back in the Browns offence and he flourished. Hillis had five 100-yard games and ended up running for 1,177 yards.
The highlight took place when Hillis ran roughshod over the Patriots. That day Hillis ended up shredding the Pats defence for 184 yards and two touchdowns.
For his efforts, Hillis was named the AFC offensive player of the week. A Browns running back hadn't won that award since Terry Metcalf back in 1992.
In the off season, fans voted Hillis as the cover boy for the new Madden 12 video game.
He had an average performance by his standards in Saturday's pre-season game against the Packers. He carried the ball five times for 16 yards and caught one pass for eight yards. Hillis did his part in the Browns 27-17 win as he ran in for a three-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.
There is a very good reason why the Cleveland Browns waited until the very end before introducing the running back. Without question, Hillis received the biggest ovation from the Browns fans once his name was announced over the public address system. For whatever reason, this humble and polite young man from Arkansas has become a bit of a folk hero in Cleveland. Hillis is at a loss to explain the affection Browns fans have given him.
"You know, it's always been a blessing. I don't deserve any of it. I'm just happy that the Lord gave me an opportunity to be out here in front of everybody. I'm glad I get a response from everybody and hopefully that can continue with good play on the field from my part."
It is entirely understandable why Browns have quickly fallen in love with Hillis. He's a 250-pound power running back who has deceptive speed in the open field and likes to leap over diving tacklers.
Center Alex Mack is as much of a fan of Hillis as the denizens of the Dawg Pound. "What's really good about Peyton is that he's a nice big pounder so that when you don't have an extra blocker, he brings his own blocker. You have to get those extra yards and he can get those. At the same time he also has some ability to get there in the open field and just run. So you really have the best of both worlds." says Mack
The senior editor of Cleveland Browns Daily, Vic Carucci, has been covering the NFL for 32 years and is one of the most respected reporters that cover the league.
He feels Hillis has a rare combination of power and size that you just don't see in the NFL very often. "I see parts of the Larry Csonka power guy. I think about Eric Dickerson who could chug his legs and when he got past the line of scrimmage he was exploding through. And that's the part of Hillis that's so deceiving. When you see this mountain of a player, of an athlete, hit the hole your first instinct is short yardage, goal line and leave it at that. But when he finds that space and gets into the open field, good luck trying to catch him." said Caruccci.
After hearing all of this, it's difficult to believe that the Broncos traded him to the Browns in the first place. Before the start of the 2010 season, the Broncos dealt Hillis and two draft picks to the Browns for Brady Quinn. So far it looks like a trade that then Broncos coach Josh McDaniels will never live down.
Hillis admits that he didn't have a good initial reaction to being traded to the Browns. "It's one of those things, I came to Cleveland and I wasn't expecting much. I came to a running back family with a great coach in Gary Brown (The Browns running backs coach) and he's really done a lot for me. He's made me feel accepted and made me feel wanted along with the fans of Cleveland; it's been a dream come true."
While much has been made in Cleveland about new Head Coach Pat Shurmur and his installation of the West Coast offence, that won't take away from the impact Hillis will have on the Browns offence.
If anything, the plan is to get Hillis more involved with Colt McCoy throwing him passes out of the backfield. The Browns hope that the sight of the 250 pound Hillis facing an undersized defensive back in open space will be a mismatch that produces big results.
If there is one concern with Hillis it is that his take-no-prisoners style of play could possibly lead to a serious injury. But the possibility of injury won't make Hillis back off; which is just another reason why Browns fans love the guy so much.
