Redskins running back Clinton Portis verbally took on John Riggins again today. It echoed the comments he gave to the Washington Examiner for a story that ran Aug. 9 (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sports/Running-past-Riggins_-Redskins-record-8077764-52793847.html)
Here’s what he said back then about Riggins, who had taken a couple shots at him in the offseason:
“I can’t understand it,” Portis said. “Riggins, being a running back in this organization and a person in this area all the time, should know better than anybody what I go through as a running back. He had a great offensive line. Myself? Every year I’ve been here my line starts out great and then we have to fill in by midseason because we’re always losing a guy. Ray Brown comes out of retirement. Lennie Friedman comes out of retirement. Cory Raymer comes out of retirement.
“If he feels so sad about it, then I’ll get one yard behind it and walk off the field if he wants it to stand on. It’s not that serious to me. For him to take shots, I’d rather come in and blast off at him as well. But having the appreciation of him in this community and the groundwork he laid before me, I would be wrong to take that shot. É One day I might really speak my mind to him.”
The Hall of Famer Riggins helped Washington win one Super Bowl and reach a second. Portis has played in just three playoff games here, winning once. Both started their careers elsewhere: Riggins with the New York Jets; Portis with the Denver Broncos. Both have been a bit eccentric.
But, as Portis points out, Riggins played behind a line considered one of the best of all-time.
“He still had to go out and get those yards,” Portis said. “But the only thing that’s been constant with me is my fullback [Mike Sellers]. He had the Hogs as an offensive line. They had everything.”
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