Portis Isn't Winning Any Fans Among Teammates

I just received a few more texts and calls from league sources about the Mike Sellers-Clinton Portis incident, and this is not good for the Redskins.

Some people in the locker room wouldn't have been too upset if Sellers had landed a couple of blows (no punches were thrown), because Portis's act has worn real thin with some of his teammates, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. His teammates long ago accepted that Portis holds himself to a different standard and often has simply chosen not to practice, and that Portis's chummy relationship, at least in prior seasons, with owner Daniel Snyder is what it is.

Through a team spokesman, Portis and Sellers declined comment.

But for Portis to actually go to coaches to request/demand that a teammate be removed from a game? As word emerged about Portis's effort to essentially have Sellers demoted during Sunday's16-13 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, many players were upset that Portis even felt emboldened enough to attempt to make such a play.

But, really, why should they have been surprised? In an excellent piece on Portis written by my guy, Barry Svrluga, back in August Vinny Cerrato, Washington's executive vice president of football operations, said former coach Joe Gibbs referred to Portis as an assistant general manager. On Wednesday, Potis jokingly said he got "fired. They released me from that duty. Right now, I'm just a part-time running back."

Asked about the incident after practice, Zorn played down the argument.

"These guys love each other. They absolutely love each other," Zorn said. "This is just how a team goes. I thought it was great. There's no fisticuffs. There's no shoving and pushing. These guys just, you know, ah, 'You didn't say hi to me.' 'No, you didn't say hi to me.' You know? I don't know really what the discussion was.

"In reality it's just a lot of nudging and posturing. It's just something that goes on. These guys are like brothers. And they care about each other. Seriously, it's not an issue."

Zorn was asked whether the events of the week at Redskins Park -- which in addition to the Sellers-Portis incident also included the hiring of a consultant, Sherman Lewis, to help Zorn on offense and the decision of defensive coordinator Greg Blache to reduce his involvement wit the media -- have created a perception that things aren't going so well.

"Only if you [reporters] create that perception," Zorn said. "There's nothing in our locker room that would cite that:"

To be sure, Portis has been a productive player throughout his career with the Denver Broncos and the Redskins. He hasn't attained the type of superstar level, however, that leads some players to set themselves apart from their teammates, sources said. Portis had played through pain, runs hard in games and has been effective in blitz pick-up -- but so what? All these guys have some form of pain.

Middle linebacker London Fletcher also has been among the most productive players at his position in the league, and he continued to practice hard last season while dealing with various injuries. Left tackle Chris Samuels takes practice reps despite a knee problem that could eventually cut short his season. And right guard Randy Thomas also continued to apply himself during practice while dealing with, well, pain from many areas on his body until his season ended because of a triceps injury.

Sellers has been an effective blocker for many years. He has opened many holes that have helped Portis become the league's highest-paid running back at the moment.

Granted, Sellers did mess up on that goal-line play. He blocked the wrong guy and acknowledged he did, but no one is perfect.

Apparently, though, Portis believes differently.



(washigtonpost.com)