Clinton Portis Still Playing Mr. Positivity

No one would really blame any player on the Washington Redskins for being less than chipper at this point in the still-young 2009 NFL season. After all, thus far they've gotten worked by a division-rival, squeaked out a 2-point home win against one of the worst teams in the NFL and most recently became the first team to lose to the Detroit Lions since 2007. Anyone from the outside could understand any negative feelings emanating from the locker room.

Running back Clinton Portis, arguably the team's biggest star, isn't hearing it. Tuesday afternoon, Portis was on a DC-area radio show and said all the right things -- even with a touch of delusion.

"Right now we're going through a tough time," Portis said. "Will we make it out of it? Yes. Will it be difficult? I mean, it's a season. Our heads aren't down, we're not throwing in the towel. We've still got 13 games to go play. Now if we throw in the towel now, we're gonna be miserable, but I don't think nobody in that locker room is gonna throw in the towel....I'm not gonna sit and make this a me me me me, because it's not me me me me. As a team, I think we have something special and we can do something special, and I think we will do something special."

According to Dan Steinberg (link above), Portis even dodged questions where the hosts were "virtually begging" Portis to second-guess Jim Zorn's maligned play selection.

Other items of interest from the interview are that Portis likes playing smash-mouth football, jokingly tells defensive coordinator Greg Blache to play him at safety occasionally and that he understands all the negative emotions of the die-hard Redskins fans.

It would be easy to ridicule Portis for saying the team we've seen on the field for the Redskins in the first three weeks of the season is special, but it's good see him displaying this kind of leadership and confidence in himself and his teammates. He's like the antithesis of Terrell Owens, which is totally refreshing.