Portis put on IR, done for '09

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by ethat001

Come on - It sounded like his vision was blurry and he went to see a specialist. I trust him and I think he plays his heart out. I would NOT question his heart. Seeing plays on TV is different than playing the game.

Second, I still think we should not have ever traded for him in the first place. Would have loved to keep Bailey, a Hall-of-Famer, if he would have stayed. Colossal mistake, and we also gave up a 2nd (?) round pick. Portis was great, but (1) Shut-down corners are much harder to find. (2) RB's careers are much shorter (as we're seeing now).

I hope Portis is okay and wish him the best. But time for a new *young* RB in the draft (after offensive line).

I don't share this opinion, but I suppose I can understand the sentiment. The problem is, Champ wasn't going to return to Washington, he didn't want to be here. He said as much pretty often during that offseason and into the next season. Also, the 2nd round pick ended up being Tatum Bell, so let's not get too bent out of shape.

About the larger topic: I'll be sad if Clinton Portis is forced to retire. I've always liked the guy and enjoyed watching him run the football for this team. I'm bothered by people questioning his toughness. He's shown us nothing other than his willingness to compete and lay it all on the line on Sundays. People say, "he threw his teammates/coach under the bus," well, you know what, maybe the guy wanted to win. I didn't care for it when he did it, but it turned out he was probably correct about what he was saying.

Yeah, the guy was a diva, but he always brought it on Sundays. He was pretty much the only reason this team made the playoffs in 2005 and 2007. He put the Skins on his back and he took them there.

Tom Jackson made a very accurate statement earlier in the season when he said, "You see it all the time...running backs get to a certain age and we see them start to age in dog years." At the time he was referring to Ladanian Tomlinson, but I think the same could be said for Clinton Portis. He looked like his skills may have fallen off of the cliff this year. I believe he'd still be able to show flashes of brilliance, but he'll never be the guy he was in Denver or the guy he was in 05 or 07. For that, I believe the Skins should let him go and, if he wants to continue playing, he should do so elsewhere. He's earned the right to not be benched in Washington, IMO.

That said, I hope he walks away. I would really like to see him retire as a Redskin and I would like to think that he'd consider his health before a paycheck. He should have plenty of money, anyway and, from what he's said in some of these articles, I believe he will retire rather than risk further injury.