Even if you don’t believe in the Madden Curse, Peyton Hillis was under a lot of pressure in Cleveland last year. After a breakout season in 2010, Hillis was expected to be the workhorse back in new Browns coach Pat Shurmur’s offense, and everyone was expecting big things from him.
The pressure got to Hillis during a major disappointment of a 2011 season, and now that Hillis is in Kansas City, he says one of the things he feels best about is that there’s not a lot of pressure on him with the Chiefs.
“Whenever you’re having a down year it’s always tough, especially when you expect a lot from yourself,” Hillis said on NFL Network. “Bad things happen, but you move on from it. That’s what I’m taking for my mindset is this year: Do the best I can and help this team win. I’m mostly enjoying coming out here, having no pressure and coming out to just play.”
In Kansas City Hillis will share playing time with Jamaal Charles and Dexter McCluster and won’t be counted on to carry the load the way the Browns wanted him to, and that may be the role he’s best suited for: Hillis had a great season in 2010, but in 2011 he didn’t look like he was prepared for the pressure of being the go-to guy. In Kansas City, he’s not.