Clinton Portis Clinton Earl Portis ( born September 1 , 1981 ) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League ( NFL ) for nine seasons . He played college football at the University of Miami . He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft . Portis is best known for being the starting running back for the Washington Redskins for seven seasons and considered one of the best Redskins in history . College career . Portis starred at the University of Miami . He considered going to the University of South Carolina but a fight that he had at Gainesville High School had his scholarship taken away . He became just the second true freshman to start at running back since the 1975 season . Portis set a school freshman record with five 100 - yard performances , and led the team with 838 yards and eight touchdowns on 143 carries ( 5 . 9 avg . ) in 10 games . He also caught four passes for 44 yards ( 11 . 0 avg . ) and 2 touchdowns . When Portis was still a relative unknown , Lee Corso singled out Portis ' s performance during a defeat by Florida State for hustling and never giving up , saying " that kid can play for me any time " . Portis ' sophomore season was not as successful as he lost his job to James Jackson and rushed for 485 yards and two touchdowns on 77 carries ( 6 . 3 avg . ) in eight games . He also added 103 yards on five receptions ( 20 . 6 avg . ) . However , Portis bounced back in 2001 as the Hurricanes won the National Championship and Portis had his best season rushing for 1 , 200 yards and 10 touchdowns on 220 carries ( 5 . 5 avg . ) . He also added 125 receiving yards . In the Rose Bowl against Nebraska , Portis ran for 104 yards and a touchdown . He also had a long touchdown reception called back on a holding call . Professional career . 2002 NFL Draft . Portis was drafted by the Denver Broncos with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft . Denver Broncos . Portis rushed for over 1 , 500 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Broncos , averaging 5 . 5 yards per carry in that span . The latter is an NFL record for a running back ' s first two seasons . On December 12 , 2002 , Portis became the youngest player ( 21 years , 105 days ) to score 4 touchdowns in a game in a 31 - 24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs . The very next season on December 7 , 2003 , Portis became the youngest player ( 22 years , 97 days ) to score 5 touchdowns in a game . Trade . Before the 2004 season , the Broncos traded Portis to the Redskins for cornerback Champ Bailey and a second - round draft pick in the 2004 NFL Draft which the Broncos used to select Tatum Bell ( and Bell wore Portis ' s number 26 in Denver ) . The Redskins signed Portis to an eight - year contract worth $ 50 . 5 million . At that time , there were criticisms regarding the trade , namely that shut - down corners like Bailey were hard to come by and that adding a second - round pick for Portis was too much and one - sided . Critics also felt that Portis was simply a product of the Broncos ' O - line scheme , and would not have much success in Washington , which was usually suited to more physical , power runners ( such as Stephen Davis or John Riggins ) . Washington Redskins . In the 2004 season , he had to adjust to coach Joe Gibbs ' style of running , which consists of mostly power running . Despite taking his first Redskins carry 64 yards for a TD in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , it was a somewhat rough adjustment for Portis because Denver ' s running style consisted of stretch runs and runs to the outside . The adjustment was made rougher by an offensive line that was depleted mainly due to injuries . He finished 2004 with 1 , 315 yards for a 3 . 8 yard rushing average . He had an especially tough time finding the end zone , finishing with eight total touchdowns ( 5 rushing , 2 receiving , and one passing ) . However , Portis bounced back in the 2005 season . Although Gibbs still ran a power style of football , he implemented more outside running plays into the Redskins rushing attack to better suit Portis ' style of running . Portis had a much better season , proving that he can run inside as well as to the outside and was a better pass - blocker . Although he did not get into the end zone until the fifth game of the season , he finished strong and had 12 total touchdowns ( 11 rushing and one passing ) . On a 14 - yard run against the Philadelphia Eagles on January 1 , 2006 , he broke the Redskins ' franchise record for the most rushing yards in a season with 1 , 516 yards and tied the most 100 + yard games in a season ( 5 ) . He ended the game with 112 rushing yards . By rushing for 1 , 516 yards , he became only the third runner in league history to reach 1 , 500 yards in three of his first four seasons . Portis demonstrated his speed during the 2006 Redskins training camp , running a 4 . 26 second 40 - yard dash . Shortly following that , on August 13 , 2006 , Portis suffered a partially dislocated shoulder in the first quarter of a Week 1 pre - season game after tackling Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Keiwan Ratliff following a Bengals interception . After the injury , Portis said : " I don ' t know why myself or any other player of my caliber should be playing in the preseason . " He added , " I think for the last four years I ' ve done enough to show the world I ' m going to be ready for the season . " There was no immediate indication from the Redskins as to when Portis might return to active playing status . However , he returned early into the Redskins ' " Monday Night Football " game against the Minnesota Vikings , where he gained 39 yards on 10 carries with one touchdown . The Redskins lost 19 - 16 , the clock expiring as Redskins kicker John Hall missed wide left on a field goal . Portis rebounded in following weeks with 16 carries for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Houston Texans , and 27 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars . Nagged by injuries all season , Portis suffered another setback in the first quarter of the Redskins ' November 12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles . Portis left the game with a hand injury and was replaced by backup Ladell Betts . X - rays revealed that Portis broke his right hand during the game . He was operated on and placed on the Redskins ' Injured Reserve list three days later , on November 15 . Redskins agreed to guarantee Portis ' 2008 - 2009 and a large portion of his 2010 base salaries in March . This will equal up to $ 15 million dollars in guarantees . Portis , also got a $ 9 . 32 million " signing bonus " upon restructuring . 2007 . In May 2007 , Portis weighed in on the recent legal problems Michael Vick started to embroil himself in , the upcoming charges would include dogfighting , which is a felony . Portis took a controversial view of the situation stating , " I don ' t know if he was fighting dogs or not , but it ' s his property , it ' s his dog , " Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis told WAVY - TV in Virginia . " If that ' s what he wants to do , do it . I think people should mind their business . " He further went on to state in the same interview that " I know a lot of back roads that have the dog fighting if you want to go see it . " Later that same Monday , he released a statement through the Redskins ' website quickly backtracking on his previous statements , " In the recent interview I gave concerning dog fighting , I want to make it clear I do not take part in dog fighting or condone dog fighting in any manner . " 2008 . In 2008 , Portis fell just short of what would have been his fourth 1500 yard rushing season in seven years , finishing with 1487 yards and an average of 4 . 3 yards per carry . His season was highlighted by a five week stretch in which Portis gained nearly 700 yards , ending in an October 26 victory over the Detroit Lions . During this span Clinton Portis joined O . J . Simpson as the only players in NFL history to rush for at least 120 yards in five consecutive games twice in a career ( Portis first did it over two seasons with four games with Denver in 2003 and one game with Washington in 2004 ) . Portis led the NFL in rushing as late as November 23 before nagging injuries and limited playing time slowed him down ; he gained only 281 yards in his final five games as the Redskins lost four of five to miss the playoffs . Despite this , he was selected to the Pro Bowl over DeAngelo Williams , despite Williams having better stats at the end of the season . Some controversy was caused on December 9 , 2008 when Clinton Portis made negative statements about Redskins coach Jim Zorn in his weekly appearance on WTEM - AM radio , criticizing Zorn for giving inconsistent messages and sarcastically calling him a " genius . " Portis was still smarting from his lack of playing time in Sunday ' s 24 - 10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens , when he was removed from the game after the first series of the second half . 2009 . During a Week 9 game versus the Atlanta Falcons , Portis suffered a concussion . The hit caused Portis to lose consciousness and leave the game . Portis missed four consecutive games with concussion - like symptoms . Portis went to see a specialist in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania on December 1 , 2009 . It was reported that on December 8 , Portis was officially placed on injured reserve . It took four months four months to gain clearance to play again . 2010 . The start of the 2010 season saw the reunion of Portis and newly - appointed coach , Mike Shanahan , Portis ' former coach from his first two career seasons with the Denver Broncos . Despite a positive outlook with a new coaching staff , injuries continued to plague Portis as he had to deal with abdomen and groin injuries . During his seventh year as a Redskin , Portis played only five games and tallied only 227 yards rushing throughout the season , which included two touchdowns . Both touchdowns were scored in the September 19 home game versus the Houston Texans . Despite the mildly impressive showing , the Redskins lost in overtime , 30 - 27 . 2011 . On February 28 , 2011 , Portis was released by the Redskins after failed contract re - negotiations and repeated injuries . Following his release , Portis felt that passion had been missing from the team since Gibbs retired , saying , " I never seen nobody give up or with their head down with Coach Gibbs . As many close games as we played . . . you can ' t say one time that we gave up . There was a passion and toughness amongst everybody on that field to fight until time expired . " Retirement . On August 21 , 2012 , Portis announced his retirement . He was 77 yards short of the 10 , 000 yards rushing mark , making him 27th all - time rusher . He officially retired on August 23 and during the press conference it was announced that he made it into the list of the 80 Greatest Redskins of All - Time . After retirement , Portis admitted to have suffered 10 concussions . Personal life . Portis is the cousin of current Toronto Argonauts quarterback , Josh Portis .