Written by Thomas Moore

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If anyone was still wondering what went wrong in Denver and why the Cleveland Browns were in no hurry last season to extend the contract of running back Peyton Hillis, Thursday answered a lot of those questions.

And it left us wondering who is in control of Hillis’ brand.

But let’s back up a day.

On Wednesday, Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas was asked about last season, when Hillis, now with Kansas City, was voted Madden cover boy, wanted a new contract, went through multiple agents, missed several games (one with strep throat), was the subject of an intervention by his teammates and generally made a nuisance out of himself.

Did we leave anything out? Oh yeah, Hillis allegedly wanted to retire so he could join the CIA.

“I think it was better for both sides (that Hillis left),” Thomas said in multiple published reports. “At that point, the situation with him here was toxic. He didn’t want to be here and players didn’t want him here and it’s better just for a fresh start at that point.

“You think strep throat and I don’t know whatever else injuries he had should keep you out of an NFL game? Or several? All I know is Alex Mack had appendicitis. His appendix blew up, and he played.

“(Peyton) decided that his contract was more important than coming out and playing and helping his team win, and it left us without a running back. To have Peyton going through a contract dispute and basically refusing to play, it was a big distraction.

“(Peyton) decided to go about trying to get a new contract a certain way and ended up hurting the other 52 guys in the locker room.”

Yeah, but tell us how you really feel, Mr. Thomas.

On Thursday, Hillis, who signed a one-year contract in the off-season with the Chiefs, fired back.

“It’s kind of like a crazy ex-girlfriend,’’ Hillis told The Kansas City Star. “It’s been over a year. Get over it. I guess when you get paid over $100 million dollars by one team, it’s kind of easy to point the finger at other guys and try to hate on them for trying to get another contract.

“I don’t have any bitterness or resentment or regrets. I did what I did. There are always regrets in every process or things you wish you had done better. Now is now. I’ve got to do the best I can for me now.

“I’m not talking about anybody. I’m trying to go about my life like everybody else. I’m trying to play and I’m trying to make a living.’’

Pretty tough talk from a player that has missed three games already this year and has only 193 rushing yards on the season and just one rushing touchdown.

Both Kansas City coach Romeo Crennel and Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur wisely decided to stay out of it.

“He’s been good ever since he’s been here,” Crennel said. “I have no problems with him. He does everything I ask him to do. He’s been productive on the field other than the times he’s been injured, when we didn’t have him on the field.’’

“I would say this, I want to comment specifically on how things this year relate to this year’s game,” Shurmur said on Thursday. “I’d prefer my players say nothing, but I realize that that’s not the case. If you’ve got any questions or you guys want me to comment on anything as things relate to this year, I’d be happy to.”

The whole Hillis situation reminds us of a presentation we attended a few weeks ago where two well-respected business professionals talked about some of the traits that help make people successful.

There were a few takeaways from the presentation:

• People will respect you for who you are and for your integrity,
• The most important thing you have is your character.
• Be on time.
• Do what you say you will do.
• Finish what you start.

 

It only took until Week 5 of last season for Hillis to tarnish his image and use up all the good will he earned in the 2010 season, when he rushed for 1,177 yards and ran for 11 touchdowns. And once it became clear that the Browns were not going to hand Hillis a big-money contract based on one year of production, he clearly decided he wasn’t going to finish what he started.

Things may have worked out for Hillis it he would have just listened to Thomas and the team when they tried to help him.

“People who thought they were very close friends with him ... he wouldn’t listen to anybody,” Thomas said. “He thought he knew what was the right way to do it and it ended up hurting everybody, not just himself. It was a tough situation.

“I think he was just getting some poor guidance on how to go about his business. I don’t begrudge a guy for trying to get his contract. This is a business for us just like it’s a business for the owners. I just think there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it, and the way he chose really hurt the team.”

Of course, Trent Richardson is better than Hillis anyway, so everything worked out for the best as far as the Browns are concerned.

And, if nothing else, this midweek contretemps has worked to spice up Sunday’s match-up between the four-win Browns and the two-win Chiefs.

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Speaking of Thomas, he was named the Browns’ 2012 Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Thomas, who also earned the honor in 2010, is the only two-time recipient of the award in franchise history.

"The Cleveland community’s extremely special to me,” Thomas said. “It’s a community that’s very much like the community I grew up in, in Milwaukee. To be able to be part of a Midwest community with such fantastic people has really been a special part of my career. I just really like getting totally involved with community service and charities in this area because I have really fallen in love with the people.”

The award, which was created in 1970 and renamed after Payton in 1999, recognizes a player’s off the field community services activities as well as his playing excellence.

(Photo by Getty Images)