Lawrence Vickers played in all 16 games for the Browns last year, starting four. But with his contract up at the end of the 2010 season, and with the Browns’ decision to draft fullback Owen Marecic this year, Vickers figures the Browns are ready to move on without him.
And he says that shows that the Browns simply don’t understand what he can do.
“I am a West Coast fullback,” Vickers told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “That’s what they don’t understand.”
Vickers thinks he should be an even better fit with the new coaching staff than he was with former coach Eric Mangini’s staff, but he doesn’t think the Browns realize what he can do.
“I was on a team where they don’t even use a fullback,” Vickers said. “Mangini’s era wasn’t really a fullback era. I played just on [the belief that] ‘this person has to be on the field.’ Everything I got wasn’t given. I took it. Our offense was based on New England’s. They don’t even have a fullback.”
Vickers thinks he proved his versatility by doing whatever was asked of him, even though he didn’t think the Browns’ offense was well suited to his skills.
“Anybody that watches football knows,” Vickers said. “The last two years, I haven’t caught the ball. I wasn’t a part of the offense. So I made a way for me to be on the field. That’s what a football player does. Anybody that can make his presence on the field without the ball is a helluva guy.”
And Vickers thinks the Browns are going to regret it if he ever plays against him.
“I think people are getting away from the stud fullbacks because there aren’t too many left in the league. But if you have one, you keep him,” Vickers said. “I just hope I don’t have to come to Cleveland in a different uniform because it’s gonna be bad.”