Running back Earnest Byner pushed his way — literally and figuratively — onto the roster 40 years ago, and in doing so, he has become the focus of Part 10 of this Roy Hobbs series of Browns players who came out of nowhere to do big things.

Nobody — probably not even the Browns themselves in at least some respects — paid that much attention to Byner when they took him in the 1984 NFL Draft. That’s because he arrived in the 10th round — near the end of the draft — after playing at tiny East Carolina.

But as training camp got going, Byner started turning heads.

“He pushes the pile,” head coach Sam Rutigliano kept saying when asked about the then-bespeckled Byner.

And when the preseason ended and the Browns made their final cuts, Byner pushed his way onto the roster. He forced the Browns’ hands. They had no choice to keep him.

It also didn’t hurt that Mike Pruitt, one of the best backs in the league during the Kardiac Kids days, was nearing the end of his career. The Browns needed a replacement.

By 1985, Byner and rookie Kevin Mack became only the set of backs from the same team to both rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Byner also went on to become an outstanding pass receiver out of the backfield.

By the end of his six-year career — spent in two stints — ended following the 1995 season as the original Browns franchise prepared to relocate to Baltimore, Byner had become one of the top rushers and pass-catchers in team history.

NEXT: Jim Brown was right.

Steve King