September 6, 2007: An Open Letter to Clinton Portis
Clinton Portis
c/o Clinton Portis Foundation
1712 NE Waldo Road
Suite C
Gainesville, FL 32609
rodneylong@clintonportis.com
Members of the BMTG Senior Council have brought charges that I may have been remiss in assigning you as my third alternate running back for week 1 in the 2007 BMTG Football Tournament. It has also been suggested that I should issue an apology to you for this apparent transgression in the form of an open letter. Instead I have chosen to send you notification as to why you have not placed higher in my roster selections.
While some critics may question your abilities, stating that your initial success in the NFL with the Denver Broncos was a product of their offensive line, I believe you have proven you have the physical talents to be one of the dominant running backs in the NFL. While your first year with the Washington Redskins (2004) was rough, scoring only 5 rushing touchdowns and averaging 3.8 yards per carry, you bounced back in 2005 and scored 11 rushing touchdowns and averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Unfortunately your critics stance that the Redskins offense was suited to more physical, power runners may have been proven true in 2006 when you were brought down by injuries twice; a partially dislocated shoulder in a preseason game against Cincinnati, and the season ending broken hand suffered against Philadelphia week 10.
But even those injuries aren't enough to prevent me from including you on my starting roster. What concerns me is your heart; your desire to play competitively. After your 2006 preseason injury you made the following statement: "I don't know why myself or any other player of my caliber should be playing in the preseason." This is the statement of a man who does not love to play football; a man who is no longer thankful he gets to make his living playing a game that others play for the pure joy of competition. Hollywood has made a sad cliché of the professionally athlete who loses his competitive edge once they have signed multi-million dollar contracts. From Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), the high-priced prima donna who refuses to field the ball properly for fear of debilitating injury in Major League, to Eddie Martel (Brett Cullen) as the all-star quarterback who gets supplanted by Shane Falco (Keanu Reaves) in The Replacements.
Is it possible the fat contract you signed after your stellar seasons with Denver has taken away your desire to compete against the NFL's best? I certainly hope not, but one fact remains: you haven't played a down of competitive football since week 10 of 2006. You haven't played at all during the 2007 preseason, and have limited your participation in practice, ostensibly due to tendonitis in your knee.
Perhaps you have been working diligently to prepare for your return to the field, and have been saving yourself for the regular season. But until you demonstrate that you have recovered from your injuries by playing at least one down of football against an opponent, you will not move above the third alternate running back on my weekly roster. Until you prove you still have the desire to compete in the NFL, and are once again a force to be reckoned with, you will remain an alternate on my roster.
Please accept my sincere wishes for a successful return to the gridiron in 2007.
Best regards,
BJ (official non-BMTG member)