Oct/14/08 10:07 PM Filed in:
Clinton
Portis
Clinton Portis posted
MVP-caliber numbers this past Sunday, but true
MVPs don't let their squads lose to the lowly St.
Louis Lambs. By now, everybody's heard Portis'
grumbling about his Washington Redskins not having
their mind right heading into the Rams game, but
the person who really needs to pay close attention
to those comments is Clinton Portis himself.
I have a hard time swallowing this "Mr. Serious" spiel
from Portis. After all, this is the guy who's concocted
more stupid characters than Eddie Murphy played in
"Norbit." This is the guy who once chuckled with Chris
Samuels about Michael Vick's dogfighting ring. This is
the guy who once wore a Ric Flair-style gold title belt
on the Denver Broncos' sideline, despite not being the
champion of anything I'm aware of. This is the guy who
guaranteed the Redskins would earn a berth in last
year's NFC Championship game, but ultimately didn't
deliver.
Portis can run around in phony championship belts and
play all the fake characters he wants, but until he
displays some real character, his Skins aren't going to
win any real championships.
Portis has six rushing TDs on the season and leads the
league in both rushing attempts (136) and yards (643).
Recently, he has been even more impressive, posting
three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances. Portis
also hasn't fumbled yet this year and is a stud blocker
in pass protection. But the Redskins need more -- they
need Portis to be their unquestioned leader.
Jim Zorn is a first-year coach who isn't exactly Tom
Coughlin when it comes to his temperament. Jason
Campbell hasn't done enough yet to be the true leader
of that locker room. Mr. Taylor just got to Washington.
Chris Cooley is too busy accidentally exposing himself
on the Internet. If someone's going to step up and be
the face of the Redskins, it's going to have to be you,
Sheriff Gonnagetcha. What's truly "gonnagetcha" team
somewhere is you stepping up and becoming a leader.
Portis should have let his teammates know they weren't
taking a desperate Rams team seriously enough.
If Portis had stepped up, assumed a larger leadership
role and talked some sense into his teammates before or
even during the game -- for instance, when Marcus
Washington went all "8 Seconds" and celebrated a
routine play against a league laughingstock -- I
wouldn't be writing this right now. Santana Moss's
brutal two weeks wouldn't have mattered. Pete Kendall
getting all young Tiki Barber with the pigskin?
Wouldn't have mattered. None of it would have mattered,
because the Redskins would have won that game.
Portis can come out and give us all the lip service he
wants, but if he led half as well as he played last
week the Burgundy and Gold would be sitting pretty in
the NFC East right now. Instead, the Redskins pulled an
even bigger Week 6 choke-job than the rival Dallas
Cowboys and New York Giants did. Coach Janky Spanky can
keep making excuses for his team, but until he truly
steps up and becomes the man in D.C. he'll be Christian
Slater (he's still alive?) -- his own worst enemy. If
he does step up, I can see him winning the MVP award
and carrying his team deep into the playoffs.
(foxsports.com)