I love Clinton Portis. I'm not a Redskins fan, but Portis is all that's right with the NFL. He doesn't take himself too seriously, he's been one of the best running backs in the league over the last seven seasons, and he can block his ass off.
And once you get past the fake teef, Urkel frames and suspect fashion choices, Portis often has something interesting to offer. Like, say, here. (Okay, bad example, but this is solid stuff.)
Today, during the John Thompson Show, Portis was asked about the news that "Adam" Pacman Jones had been suspended for at least four games. As the Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg writes, Portis sort of sympathized with Mr. Pacman.
"I really think that situation man probably was blown out of proportion, I really do," Portis said of the Pacman fight. "And I think it might have just been somebody watching and seen the altercation and it wasn't nothing that couldn't be handled amongst men, you know? Bodyguard or no bodyguard, if you're around somebody constantly, tempers gonna flare. As men you exchange words. ...
"And I think with Pacman, to come back, to really have this opportunity was a golden opportunity for him, and all of the sudden it's been taken away by the outside world. And now you're under such a tight microscope that you can't fall, or you can't have a disagreement with a grown man. You know, I could see if it was pistol play or if he strangled him or choked him out while he was driving, but you know, if it's man-to-man and we bump chests and push each other, you know, I don't think that's an altercation worth taking football away from him. But, you know, wrong place wrong time is all I can say."
I love that Portis points out that it's not like Mr. Pacman strangled his bodyguard while he was driving. Since, you know, strangling him under any other circumstance might be acceptable. (I'm pretty sure that wasn't the implication, but it's still funny. To me.) Hey, it's just like the time Portis sorta sympathized with Ron Mexico, puppy murderer! And I'll repeat here what I wrote then:
Portis is a 26-year-old professional athlete. Neither his age nor his profession is an excuse for what he said, but he's a football player. ... He's just a guy in his mid-20s who also happens to be very, very rich. For some reason in this country, if you have money, you're supposed to have thoughts on every news story that comes across the wire.
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To summarize: Portis is mostly awesome, but sometimes says things a lot of us might disagree with. Which means he should probably run for office or something.
