Clinton Portis is the Redskins top offensive player despite injuries that limited the runner to nine games last season. Josh Portis is vying to become Maryland’s quarterback. The bloodline must have a gamebreaker gene.
“That’s a rare last name,” Clinton Portis said. “I’ve never met any other Portises. [The two] will keep the household name [alive]. I’ll hold my end down on that.”
The two are distant cousins, so much that neither is quite sure how they’re directly related. Kind of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon meets the family tree of football. Clinton is from Mississippi while Josh comes from California. Both passed through Florida in college when Clinton starred at Miami and Josh played one season at Florida before transferring to Maryland last year.
Clinton, 25, is a role model to Josh, 20. Clinton enters his sixth NFL season with 6,453 career yards rushing, including a Redskins record 1,516 in 2005. Josh was a prep phenom — rated the nation’s fifth best passer while finishing all-state and All-Los Angeles first-team as a senior. Josh sees Clinton’s success as his goal.
“We’ve talked a few times. I know there are high hopes for him so I hope they pan out,” Clinton Portis said. “I told him you have to go out and make your own name. I don’t care how much competition you’ve got, [players] have equal opportunity and get the same chance.”
Said Josh Portis: “He calls to check up on me. He wants to see me handle the situation on my own. Be my own man. I don’t need to be babied. He’s there for advice. He’s done that for me.
“I didn’t get to spend time with him. He’s doing his own thing. We’re cousins. We’re not brothers. Brothers would be a little different.”
Clinton Portis missed seven games last season with injuries and has been bothered by knee tendinitis during training camp. Josh Portis sees his cousin’s trials as motivation to overcome his own hurdles. He missed last season under NCAA transfer rules after appearing in six games as a freshman at Florida.
“[Clinton’s] been through a lot. I’ve been through a lot myself, too,” Josh Portis said. “I have the chip on my shoulder for motivation.”
Josh Portis is running a close second to Jordan Steffy as Maryland readies for Villanova on Sept. 1. His athleticism and arm strength border on phenomenal, but Steffy has the key edge in better knowing the system after three years at Maryland.
“My athletic ability is there, but with this playbook you have to follow the rules,” Portis said.
Could Josh Portis one day play in the pros alongside his cousin? It’s possible. Just don’t look for Josh to join Clinton in the latter’s Thursday dress-up sessions. Southeast Jerome is on his own, blood ties or not.
“I don’t pay that no mind,” Josh Portis laughed. “He’s in his own world.”
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
