The End of An Era

(could've picked a million wacky pics of C.P. but chose this one where he scored a TD on their run to the playoffs at the end of 2007, against the Cowboys, and pulled up his jersey to reveal a tribute shirt to Sean Taylor, who had died a couple weeks earlier... shit almost made me cry just thinking about it)

It is a sad day in ol' D.C., as Mr. 1000 Characters Clinton Portis has been released. This had been expected, and Coach Trannyhan made mention of it last Friday at the combine, how they'd like to keep the ol' boy, but the price was just too high. And then C.P. himself said it was happening today on the radio this morning, giving the actual word of the actual release, which somehow is fitting. If there was ever a dude who did not hold his tongue, it was Clinton Portis.
I am sure once he is on the way out, there will be those who cheer his jettison, and talk of a selfish player more concerned with calling attention to himself than being part of an actual winning team. These are the idiot fans that Dan Snyder is able to dupe every spring into thinking that one shiny new part for a broken and busted up machine is going to make it all run right again. I've watched all the games, and C.P. was a head-bussa. He was not afraid to hit a rabid rushing OLB in the fucking face. And he got yards. Sure, he's not as spry as he once was, and the dude broke down the past couple of years. But that's part and parcel with the way he has played. I actually wanted Clinton Portis to break John Riggins' team rushing record, and to this day I still worship John Riggins. That should tell you how highly I think of Portis.
All the wacky characters and strange quotables, that was simply icing on the cake. Clinton Portis has been the single-most enjoyable player on this team since Dan Snyder took over. I mean, that's not saying a lot. I could probably outrun a bunch of crippled kids on Salvation Army crutches, but that doesn't mean I'm fast. But I have loved C.P.'s time in D.C., and I can understand the plight of the fading pro athlete not ready to relinquish his high-dollar role, even though he's probably going to be forced by the NFL market to do just that. Still though, I hope C.P.'s pockets stay tight. And I hope he is happy wherever he lands, and that the folks that get him, who see an aged and potentially washed-up NFL RB refusing to accept the end, realize what a fucking awesome dude he is, and give the dude love.
And now there is another useless fucking football jersey in the closet of our collective Redskins heart. Sometimes I am thankful for Sean Taylor because #21 will always still be #21. They won't run him out of town due to salary cap mistakes made by previous management stooges. They won't condemn him to the bench after main paging his jersey four months earlier on the team website. #21 will always be #21. And knowing how C.P. was the first big-name that Joe Gibbs brought in on his second stint (which I did not dislike then and do not know - Champ Bailey wanted WR money, and wasn't worth it, even as a shutdown corner), and it was C.P. who pestered Gibbs that drafting Sean Taylor was the right thing to do. In four years of Gibbs 2.0, they made the playoffs twice, the second run coming after Taylor's murder, Portis's best friend dead, and the team played shaky but like beasts for the right copule of weeks. Portis mentioned the Gibbs year on the radio this morning, how that was the one time he was here when dudes played for 60 minutes, when no one gave up.
This is a poisoned team, a deeply deeply poisoned team. As sad as I am that Clinton Portis will no longer be a bright spot in my falls, following these goddamned Redskins, I am glad he was cut loose for his own good more than whatever salary cap issues were the real caues of it. You have made a wonderfully sweet lemonade of this poison for far too long, Mr. Portis. Godspeed you twisted fucking freak, both physically and psychologically. You will always convert the 4th downs of my heart.