ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -With a Southern twang, a hankering for Hank Williams and exotic cowboy boots, Peyton Hillis isn't your average starting NFL tailback.
"I'm definitely different than a lot of other people," the Denver Broncos rookie said. "I can be me and who I am."
Just who is Hillis?
He was the lead blocker for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones at the University of Arkansas, the afterthought in the Razorbacks' backfield on draft day.
With McFadden and the Oakland Raiders coming to town Sunday, it's Hillis who will be starting and McFadden, still working his way back from a toe injury, who will be on the sideline as a sub.
Jones, meanwhile, is done for the year. The Dallas Cowboys placed him on injured reserve Thursday with a toe injury he sustained while rehabilitating a strained hamstring.
"I'm going to have to give him a call," Hillis said upon hearing the news. "I hate that, just because I know how good of a guy he is. Everybody saw his talent earlier in the year."
Not all that many saw Hillis while he played third fiddle at Arkansas.
McFadden and Jones had all the hype and both were picked in the first round. Hillis slipped all the way to the seventh and final round.
He started out as a fullback and special teams player, but a slew of injuries required his switch to tailback. Hillis made the most of his first start there last weekend, rushing for 44 yards and two touchdowns in Denver's 24-20 win at Atlanta.
Hillis humbly downplayed his contribution.
"The odds of me doing what I'm doing, it's astronomical," he admitted.
McFadden disagrees. He knows Hillis' brutal blocking had a lot to do with McFadden twice finishing runner-up in the Heisman race.
GoldDomer4Life 
