Clinton Portis's message to the haters

Clinton Portis has given so many terrifically defensive radio and television monologues over the year that it's hard to impressed by much anymore, but Tuesday's opus to Comcast SportsNet's Kelli Johnson cannot be ignored. Especially the first line, when Johnson asked Portis if his doubters continue to provide motivation.

"I really be wanting to give people my ass to kiss," he said. "Like, real talk."

Ah yes. That's the good stuff. More real talk, please.

"What I realized is, you can't please people," he continued. "People will never be satisfied. There's always gonna be a story of negativity. And I think so many people didn't want to see me in a Redskins uniform, so many people wanting to be able to hate me, so many people wanting to be able to write me off, but I'm still here. You know, I'm still here. I've still got a lot left in the tank, and I appreciate them for the motivation that they gave me, and they make it easier."

Frankly, that's the two-paragraph version of the entire interview. If you're really into this sort of thing, here's the extended-play version.

"So now when I walk around with my head up high, I don't have to look you in the eye and high-five you, because I don't trust you, I don't think you've got my best interests in mind," Portis said, to you the haters, not you Kelli Johnson. "I think for the true fans -- there's still some true Redskins fans, some Clinton Portis lovers, some people that appreciate the work that I put in here.

"But for the majority, I really think they're against me, because when I sat and listened to the radio shows and the talk shows for the first time, and hear the commentators and all the sports anchors writing me off -- oh, he's done -- and [about] all the competition that the Redskins brought in....

"I mean, there's so many haters, man, there used to be a point where you wanted to prove them wrong. Now, I think I'm at a position in life where every yard that I get is a yard that's gonna pass me on the charts of somebody, it's gonna put me into elite company in the NFL, and with that I think I can accept the appreciation and my track record in football.

"So all the haters, they gonna continue to be haters. So many people unhappy with who they are, they want to control who you are and where you are. Can't nobody control me. They're gonna stay unhappy, and I'm gonna continue to do the things that I do to shine and make you hate me."

Mid-season form, no? Portis and his haters have some sort of strange symbiotic relationship at this point, both happily sucking each others' third-person blood.

Want more? Johnson asked Portis whether the hate hurts, after a while.

"It do," he said. "It hurt, it's an aggravation, because if you're gonna turn on that film, I've been in D.C. for seven years. Five out of those seven years that I was healthy, you can't tell me I wasn't one of the best in the game. And I think I provided so much spark and gave so much and showed so much heart and left so much on the field for an organization, for an area, for a fan base, for the Washington Redskins.

"I feel like I always left it on the field. There wasn't a Sunday that you can question what I was doing or where I was or was I dedicated to this organization or this team. But from Monday through Saturday, the gossip come out through you all -- Portis not practicing and Portis a prima donna and Portis want his way and Portis want this and Portis want that.

"You haven't heard me ask for anything, and anything I ever said was the truth. I haven't came out and lied about one situation, I haven't came out and made myself try to look good in a situation, I came out and told the truth every time. How the outside world perceived that or took that was on them. A lot of people think that I pointed the finger -- I listen to shots a long time before I respond, and so many people still taking shots at me. But I think I'm at a place in life man, where for you, it'd take more energy for you to sit and figure out what I'm doing than it'd take for me to worry about what you talking about. So I don't."

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(washingtonpost.com)