alright Gimpypimp....
- Thread starter thascary1
- Start date
Hope he has a big game...we're gonna need it. I'm sure there will be stories from all the ex-Browns coming this week too.
Droughns ready to take on old team
Jeff Walcoff, Staff Writer
10.16.2006
Surely Sunday will be a bittersweet moment for Browns running back Reuben Droughns.
When his club faces off against the Denver Broncos at Cleveland Browns Stadium he'll be playing against the team that gave him his first opportunity in the NFL to succeed as a starting running back, but also the team that traded him shortly after he finally found success at the game's highest level.
Droughns never had trouble gaining big-time yards during his time as a football player. But nonetheless, it was the NFL that took the vastly successful running back and turned him into a mere blocking fullback.
After two tough seasons in the NFL as a Detroit Lion, the 2000 third-round draft pick and former first-team All-Pac 10 choice from Oregon found himself starting at fullback for the Broncos.
Used to carrying the ball and making plays, Droughns was satisfied with his chance to get on the field but still longed for the spotlight he always held before.
"I knew my place," Droughns said. "When I was there, we had some great backs with Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary and Quentin Griffin. I knew my place was to learn the offense and do what I could do and play some special teams."
"But the whole time I wanted to be a tailback. I knew my place and as long as I kept digging maybe I'd get a few plays here or there. My thought process was, anytime I touched the ball make the best of it."
After two years as a fullback, Droughns' opportunity to return to the position that got him to the NFL in the first place finally came. Early during the 2004 season, injuries thinned the Broncos' running backs unit, sending Anderson and Griffin to the sidelines.
Denver running backs coach Gary Kubiak approached Droughns with the possibility of moving back to tailback.
"I was nervous," Droughns said. "(Kubiak) knew I was nervous, but I was excited at the same time. It was an opportunity for me to really step up and see if I was capable of being an NFL running back."
During his first game as the feature back, Droughns rushed for 193 yards on 30 carries during a 20-17 win over the Carolina Panthers.
He proceeded to rush for 916 yards in his first seven games as the starter. He finished the season with 1,240 yards on 275 carries. His yardage total ranked sixth in the AFC and ninth in the NFL.
But despite Droughns' new success, when the Broncos' other backs returned from injury, he got wind the team was going to ask him to move back to fullback -- a move that would be difficult for the natural running back to make after what he had just experienced.
"I didn't want to take a step back when I had just taken a step forward," Droughns said. "When we found out the things we found out, we decided to ask for a trade."
On March 30, 2005, Droughns was traded to the Browns for defensive lineman Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers -- both of whom now start on the Denver defensive line.
Droughns proved his worth the following season, silencing skeptics who long said success by Denver running backs was more a product of the system than the back. He rushed for 1,232 yards on a Browns franchise-record 309 carries.
He said he's still grateful to the Broncos for giving him a chance to succeed in the NFL, but that doesn't mean he isn't circling Sunday's game as one in which he'd love to perform especially well.
"They gave me the chance and opportunity to succeed," he said. "Playing them again is going to be smiles. It's going to be exciting to play against some of the guys I practiced against.
"(But) I do want to have a good game because it's a home game, we need to get a win and I'm going against my old team. I want to show them what they got rid of."
Droughns ready to take on old team
Jeff Walcoff, Staff Writer
10.16.2006
Surely Sunday will be a bittersweet moment for Browns running back Reuben Droughns.
When his club faces off against the Denver Broncos at Cleveland Browns Stadium he'll be playing against the team that gave him his first opportunity in the NFL to succeed as a starting running back, but also the team that traded him shortly after he finally found success at the game's highest level.
Droughns never had trouble gaining big-time yards during his time as a football player. But nonetheless, it was the NFL that took the vastly successful running back and turned him into a mere blocking fullback.
After two tough seasons in the NFL as a Detroit Lion, the 2000 third-round draft pick and former first-team All-Pac 10 choice from Oregon found himself starting at fullback for the Broncos.
Used to carrying the ball and making plays, Droughns was satisfied with his chance to get on the field but still longed for the spotlight he always held before.
"I knew my place," Droughns said. "When I was there, we had some great backs with Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary and Quentin Griffin. I knew my place was to learn the offense and do what I could do and play some special teams."
"But the whole time I wanted to be a tailback. I knew my place and as long as I kept digging maybe I'd get a few plays here or there. My thought process was, anytime I touched the ball make the best of it."
After two years as a fullback, Droughns' opportunity to return to the position that got him to the NFL in the first place finally came. Early during the 2004 season, injuries thinned the Broncos' running backs unit, sending Anderson and Griffin to the sidelines.
Denver running backs coach Gary Kubiak approached Droughns with the possibility of moving back to tailback.
"I was nervous," Droughns said. "(Kubiak) knew I was nervous, but I was excited at the same time. It was an opportunity for me to really step up and see if I was capable of being an NFL running back."
During his first game as the feature back, Droughns rushed for 193 yards on 30 carries during a 20-17 win over the Carolina Panthers.
He proceeded to rush for 916 yards in his first seven games as the starter. He finished the season with 1,240 yards on 275 carries. His yardage total ranked sixth in the AFC and ninth in the NFL.
But despite Droughns' new success, when the Broncos' other backs returned from injury, he got wind the team was going to ask him to move back to fullback -- a move that would be difficult for the natural running back to make after what he had just experienced.
"I didn't want to take a step back when I had just taken a step forward," Droughns said. "When we found out the things we found out, we decided to ask for a trade."
On March 30, 2005, Droughns was traded to the Browns for defensive lineman Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers -- both of whom now start on the Denver defensive line.
Droughns proved his worth the following season, silencing skeptics who long said success by Denver running backs was more a product of the system than the back. He rushed for 1,232 yards on a Browns franchise-record 309 carries.
He said he's still grateful to the Broncos for giving him a chance to succeed in the NFL, but that doesn't mean he isn't circling Sunday's game as one in which he'd love to perform especially well.
"They gave me the chance and opportunity to succeed," he said. "Playing them again is going to be smiles. It's going to be exciting to play against some of the guys I practiced against.
"(But) I do want to have a good game because it's a home game, we need to get a win and I'm going against my old team. I want to show them what they got rid of."