FAYETTEVILLE - Former Arkansas and current Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis will be on the cover of the “Madden NFL ’12″ video game.
Hillis won a month-long fan vote, edging Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in the final round, which ended Wednesday. Hillis also beat Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in head-to-head voting as part of the 32-player bracket.
Hillis, a Conway native, rushed for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns, and caught 61 passes for 477 yards and two more scores last year in his first season with the Browns.
His success prompted discussions centering around race, becoming the first white player to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark in the NFL in 25 years.
Hillis spent four years at Arkansas, playing in a talented backfield that included future NFL first-round picks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Used primarily as a fullback, Hillis finished his college career with 2,156 yards of total offense and 23 touchdowns.
Hillis was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the final round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He started eight games in two years in Denver before being traded last March.
First released in 1988, “Madden NFL” is one of the most popular video game franchises annually, selling millions of copies each year. The release of this year’s game is scheduled for Aug. 30.
You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
Way to go Peyton Hillis….keep running that ball to victory!!
Congrats, Peyton! One of my faves while you were here, and one of my faves since you’ve been in the Pro’s.
Congrats Satan, I mean Peyton, Hillis!
I wish you were still in Denver, what a goof by mcfuc@up to trade you. Congrats on your success. Keep running wild!!!!
How could you give it to a former number 1 pick in the NFL draft? Hillis si a real rags to riches guy.
I am so proud of Peyton! He was so cute on SportsNation. The one thing I noticed was that he thanked the Cleveland Brown fans for voting for him, but there were thousands of votes from Arkansas fans, too. Hate that he didn’t give props. Very deserving, though.
GirlHog…true, I’m in the military and my boss is a huge Cleveland fan and when I told him Peyton won, he said…”man, a lot of Cleveland fans must have voted”. Of course, he knew nothing of the contest…but I voted at least 5 times for Hillis.
David, first of all, thank you for being in the military and defending our country! Second of all, I did read later on another website that Peyton thanked the Arkansas fans on his twitter. It would have been nice on national television, though.
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as i am watching i want to use my mouse and stat playing