As I'm sure you all have heard, the Washington Redskins have placed Clinton Portis on injured reserve with an abdominal injury. It's too early to speculate on whether this is the end of his playing career, but the fact is that his 2011 salary of $8.254 million is both high and fully unguaranteed. There's a very good chance his Redskins career is over.
And what a wacky career it was. Love him or hate him, Portis sure made things interesting. He arrived with tons of fanfare thanks to the Champ Bailey trade, and he had his good moments and his bad ones. He was eccentric, he was productive, he was snarly and he was injury-prone at times. He essentially ran the gauntlet of emotions, both internally and among the fanbase. Rich Tandler of CSN Washington probably summed it up best when he wrote that Portis was great, but could have been even better.
So with all this in mind, it's time to start thinking about Portis' Redskins tenure. Mister Irrelevant got the ball rolling with this fitting Thanksgiving tribute, and we'll continue the discussion with this question: what is the one Portis thought that comes to mind when you first think of the guy? We'll play word/moment association below the jump.
- Portis' very first run with the Redskins: a 64-yard score against the Buccaneers.
- Portis' tribute to the slain Sean Taylor back in 2007, showing his compassionate side.
- The many characters that Portis played during interviews, including Coach Janky Spanky, Southeast Jerome, and many more.
- Portis' pass blocking was second to none. Here's him laying out Mathias Kiwanuka.
- Portis carrying a mediocre 2005 Redskins team to the playoffs, notching at least 100 yards in each of the last five games to allow the Redskins to run the table after a 5-6 start. He also had six touchdowns during that stretch. His 1,516 yards on the season broke a Redskins single-season record.
- Portis also carrying the 2007 Redskins to the playoffs after the death of Taylor. He had 126 yards and a touchdown in a late-season win over the Giants (who eventually won the Super Bowl), and then had 104 yards and two touchdowns in the Week 17 win over Dallas to get the Redskins in.
- Portis being hurt a lot, like he was in 2006 and this season.
- Portis flipping out at coaches. There are several instances of this, but the most memorable was in 2008, when he was incensed at Jim Zorn for sitting him for most of a December game against the Redskins. In his weekly appearance on ESPN 980, Portis sarcastically said "we got a genius for a head coach, I don't know, I'm sure he on top of things. He's got everything figured out."