TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Browns rookie Chris Kirksey is the incredible shrinking linebacker.
A glitch in the popular Madden 15 video game has reduced Kirksey from a 6-foot-2, 235-pounder to a 14-inch player, running around on the field among giants. Kirksey has always played the video game with his brothers and friends and he’s taken the mistake — and attention he’s gotten from it — in stride.
Kirksey posted “No matter how small you are, have big dreams, and live big!” on his Twitter account.
Kirksey wasn’t aware of the gaffe until he started receiving text messages from friends earlier this week. He checked out the game and noticed he was not only playing for the wrong team, the Tennessee Titans, but he’d been miniaturized.
“I couldn’t even see myself I was a little dot moving around,” he said.
Kirksey has taken some playful joking from his teammates. As two reporters approached him for an interview following practice Wednesday, linebacker Craig Robertson shouted, “Leave him alone, he’s 1 foot, 2 inches!”
Kirksey doesn’t know why the game singled him out and minimized him. But it hasn’t stopped there.
“Somebody went onto Wikipedia and changed my height,” he said. “It’s pretty funny.”
The Browns drafted Kirksey in the third round of this year’s NFL draft from Iowa. He had a strong preseason and was recently voted the team’s top rookie at training camp by media members.
Cleveland opens the NFL season on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
___
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
