Club Shay Shay - Clinton Portis

Episode Date: September 20, 2021

On Episode 37 of Club Shay Shay, Shannon welcomes in former NFL running back and former teammate, Clinton Portis. Portis played 9 seasons in the NFL, including his rookie year on the Denver Broncos with Shannon. Portis is also in the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame, a 2x Pro Bowler and one of the 80 Greatest Redskins.The former teammates reminisce on the time Portis wore a heavyweight wrestling belt to the field and proceeded to run for 218 yards with five rushing touchdowns. They go on to discuss Portis spending his first million in the league and Shannon catching the young RB sneaking out past curfew. Portis lists the current top 4 running backs in the NFL and tells Shannon his Mt. Rushmore of Miami Hurricanes. He discusses his early retirement, the story of him getting traded to Washington and much more in this episode of Club Shay Shay.#DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Renee Stubbs, and I'm obsessed with sports, especially tennis. Tune into my podcast each week to hear me and my friends in the community

break down the latest matches, including the US Open. Plus hear from some of the biggest names in the sport about what the future holds. It's about belief. And once you break through that, then you know you can win a Grand Slam. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast every Monday on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, hustle, pay the price. Want a slice, got the roll of dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life. All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, hustle, pay the price. Want a slice, got the roll of dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life. That's why all my life, I've been grinding all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Che Che. And the guy that's stopping by for a drink and conversation today is a two-time Pro Bowler.

He's a 2002 Offensive Rookie of the Year. One of the 80 greatest Washington football team players. 2001 National Champion on the University of Miami. University of Miami Sports Hall of Famer. my former teammate Clinton Poulter. Pope, what's up? What's good, bro? How you doing? Man, I'm good. Good to see you. Long time no see. I used to see you back when you were still playing and I was going to the barbershop down in Atlanta and but this is my first time seeing you in a while. How you being? I'm good, man.

I reach out to you, you'll respond. You got big time. You started Club Shea Shea. I'm just glad to finally get an invite, man. First of all, you know how long Club Shea Shea been in existence. Club Shea Shea was in existence when you came to Denver. Hey, I know, but to finally have the world see it and trying to get that opportunity, I'm like, hey, I'm waving on your IG.

Sharp, hey, hey, it's me. You know what I mean? I can't even get acknowledged. Well, you know what? You in Club Shea Shea, you spent a million nights in Club Shea Shea. Explain to people, because people are like, did you really have a club? Can you explain to people? Because I know they've asked you, because you and I played together,

and they asked, was there ever really a Club Shea Shea? explain to the people that's going to be watching this what club shea shea was hey listen club shea shea it kind of remind me of uh uh the boom boom room from life you know I mean club shea shea in the boom boom room the same thing it's been our imagination but ever like I said it's finally come to light and everybody get a chance to see it. I think you do a great job with your interviews, having people, getting the truth out of people. So it's been something that's been in the making, just like Eddie Murphy. If he ever would have got out and got a chance to get the boom boom room started, it would have been a beautiful creation. Well, I'm glad you don't come to the, I'm glad you don't come to the club

to club Shea Shea and the Mo with $100 trying to roll dice and think you're going to break the dice game up with $100 in your pocket and borrow money from everybody else around the table and tell my man, I'm going to pay you tomorrow. Hey, listen, I bet you I don't owe anybody. And you know

and I know that them $100 stress is a long way. Paul, let's start with, I guess you want to start with your rookie night out. Explain to people about your rookie night out. Explain to them what happens on rookie night out, what's all involved, and what's required of you being, it was you and Ashley Lillard Lee, if I'm not mistaken.

Listen, don't say explain what happened on my rookie night out. This wasn't a situation like I brought this up. You know, it was rookie night in Denver. It was rookie night, yeah. It's rookie night. All the rookies are responsible, and it just so happens, offensive rookies are responsible for taking offensive players out. So since you were one of the high draft picks, you,

Ashley Lee, he was first rounder, you were second rounder. It was your responsibility to get cars to get us to and from the location. It was your responsibility to feed and quench our thirst. That was your responsibility.

So I'm going to let you take it away. So being that that was our responsibility, me and Ashley get together. We say, you know what, man? We need to have an epic rookie night. You know what I mean? So what can we do to make this epic something that's never been done before? Yes. So, you know, I call on my people in Miami.

I say, you know what? I'm having a party out here. We got to take the vets out. We need to have a good time. We need to bring Miami to Denver. And we did that. You know, we had about 10 people come out, and it was probably the best night of a bunch of guys, a bunch of guys and girls all the time.

You know, I think it was probably the most epic rookie night ever. But just the entire setup. I remember reaching out to Ashley, like, bro, I done spent $7,000 and the party haven't even started. He like, man, I'm going to send you $10,000, like whatever you need. So I'm like, and it was me and Ashley. He was first round, I was second round. So that's $17,000 before the party even started.

So we got everything. We got all the entertainment set up. And from that point on, I think we turned, what was it, Del Frisco? Del Frisco. We turned it up. But I really appreciate, because, you know, the limos, you did, y'all did me right, because I wasn't riding with anybody else. I had my own limo.

So, you know, I was the only one to have my own limo. I had my own limo. Not only that, you had a stretch limo. Yeah. You had a stretch limo. You couldn't. I needed a 20-pound limo. You had a stretch limo thing to yourself.

Yeah. That's what I needed. I tell people all the time. I said, man, you know what? My time in Denver was short, but there was some memories and some teammates. And I always speak of you and Rod Smith, Eddie McCaffrey,

Al Wilson, Mobs, Ian Goh, guys that just took me under their wing, Middlebrooks, guys that took me under their wings and showed me what it was supposed to be like to be teammates. And when I left Denver, I left Denver thinking every team was like that. You know, I thought that was just the norm in the NFL.

It's going to be this way every way. And I didn't realize what we had and how special it was, you know, coming to a team fresh off the Super Bowl, a couple years removed from the Super Bowl, having veteran leadership, I can think of the billboard being out in Denver when I got in trouble and you guys took up for me. The feather in my helmet when I got in trouble,

you guys took up for me. Walking in the huddle when they called for the warns, and me and TD both standing in the huddle, and called for the ones, and me and T.D. both standing in the huddle, and Bobby T. like, hey, rookie, get over here. And I'm like, you said, you know, you wanted the starters up, so I'm here. You know what I mean? Just all the opportunities that we got, that I got, the knowledge that I picked up being around you guys,

how often you all covered or took up for me, man. It was something special. But you do realize that you ended up spending like, I think the bill was probably like $20,000. But it would have been a lot more because you remember what guys were trying to do. They were trying to put $5,000 bottles of champagne, liquor. They were trying to take live lobster home. And I said, no.

I said, no, we're not going to do this. I said, whatever you want and you can eat it, eat it. But I said, I'm not going to let y'all get these bottles of champagne and these bottles of alcohol and take it home and cost this man $50,000, $100,000. We ain't going to do that. Now, we're going to tax him, but we ain't going to do it like this.

Well, I think the total bill came out to be about $63,000. I think the bill from the restaurant was 20-something thousand. And then when we went out, I think it came out to be about 63,000. But the following year, when the new guys came in, I made sure I got my $5,000. I got me some get back.

So, you know, but not realizing what we were doing, that still was a special night because that's the night that actually led to so much of my career. I think right after that, it was before we played Arizona. Last game of the season, our rookie night was oniday night and sunday i was still hung over and i remember getting ready to walk into coach shenahan office like i was i was bringing my hand up to knock on the door and and you stopped me and say poe what you doing i'm like bro i'm hung over i can't play in this game and you was like man this, this is business. That's not their fault. It's your fault.

So what you better do is go out and run gassers and cold tub and hot tub, contrast whirlpools, and get the liquor up out your system. And I went on to have what I thought was the best game of my career, the Arizona game. I think I had like 22 carries for 220 or something, two touchdowns. Although we won the game, we were out of the playoffs because the team we needed to lose won earlier. So I felt like that was the best game of my career.

When you look back at it, I mean, obviously you were disappointed because, like I said, talking to you and you're like, man, all these running backs that got drafted before me, they're're not better than me you had several guys on your own team get drafted before you you like I'm I'm better than them were you disappointed did you have something to prove when you got to Denver like man they took all these running backs in front of me I'm better than all these guys man you know I had something and i think again uh being able to play with you rod spilt guys who were in similar situations uh that was so great to this nfl uh but got screwed over in the draft or whatever overlooked uh coming to a team that that was full of guys

like that mike anderson orlandis gary td you know, the list goes on of guys that we had that were overlooked but outstanding talent. So when I came to the NFL, I was so angry. And you think about the backs that went in front of me, all the guys that went in front of me combined. You know, I think it was William Green, Deshaun Foster, and TJ Duckett combined. I ended up with more rushing yards, more receiving yards, more touchdowns than all three of those guys combined.

And it was just one of those chips. Nothing against them, you know, having that attitude and mentality and believing in myself, saying, hey, you know what? I should be the third pick in the draft because I understood David Carr to the Houston Texans. They were a new franchise. I understood Julius Peppers to the Carolina Panthers, who were a new franchise, and he was a hometown guy. And number three, I told the Detroit Lions,

hey, y'all need to draft me a trade with somebody so they can draft me. And I think they took Joe Harrington. I remember Arthur Blank laughing in my face. You know, he was like, kid, where do you think you should get drafted at? I said, man, in order for you to get me, you got to trade over the Lions at number three. He was like, no, serious. Where do you think you should get drafted? I said, no, serious.

Trade up to number three and select me. When I look at your numbers, your first two years in Denver, you said a rookie franchise Russian record with 1,508 yards. You had 17 touchdowns. You was offensive rookie of the year. You came back the following year, and I think you went 1,599 and 20-plus touchdowns. And then you're the youngest player at 21 years, 105 days,

to score four touchdowns in a game. And I told you this at the time you was doing it. I said, Port, you don't realize how special you are. I said, I play with TD. I say, talent. I play with Jonathan Ogden. I play with Ray Lewis. I play with John Elway.

I say, none of them got the talent you got. Do you realize what you can do in this league? I said, you could be a Hall of Famer. Yeah. You know, again, it's some many conversations that we had that seemed like, you know, just regular guys talking crap, shooting shit that came about with you. I can think about the day that Jamal Lewis broke the Russian record. You might have forgot this.

Jamal Lewis broke the Russian record. We were getting forgot this. Jamal Lewis broke the rushing record. We were getting ready to play the Chargers in a 4 o'clock game. On the sideline walking out, you come out and say, Pope, man, what you going to do today? I say, you know, I'm going to ball out. You say, man, J. Lewis just broke the rushing record. What you going to do? I said, okay, I'm going to go get it.

First quarter, I had seven carries for 121 against the Chargers. I ended up getting hurt because I got stuck in the clay, and I think I broke a rib or something trying to make a move in the second quarter. But I was on my way all because you came out and brought that information to me. All because you came out and said, hey, Pope, what you going to do? Let's get it done. That's what I told you. I had seven carries for 121 at the end of the first quarter.

You know, and I think I was well on my way if I wouldn't have gotten hurt. I used to watch you in practice, and you would tell me in practice, you're talking about, Sharp, watch this. I'm going to do this. You know Bobby T hated when the backs would dance around. You get one cut. You're like, Sharp, guess what I'm going to do this. You know Bobby T hated when the backs would dance around. You get one cut. You're like, Sharp, guess what I'm going to do. I'm going to take the ball and I'm going to pretend like I'm going to go left

and I'm going to come all the way back and nobody going to touch me. And they would hand you the ball and it wasn't cut off. You could have ran where you wanted where the hole was open, but you would do it just because to show me what you were capable of doing. And I'm like,

this, you know what, what he said he capable of doing. And I'm like, this, you know what, did what he said he was going to do. And I was constantly in your ear. I was like, Pope, you don't realize just how special you are. You was. Man, I think when I talk to people, I always say, they say, you know, what gave you the confidence? What was the moment that you realized you could play this game?

And I always say from the confidence that you guys had in me, which was you, Rod, Eddie, Mac, always talking crap. I remember after every game, you would show me your check. Like, hey, Pope, man, you balled out. Thanks for getting me paid and showing me your check. You know, and Rob would come by and laugh. But the signature game, I remember us playing in San Diego, Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison, who I admired, like looked up to as a kid. I'm like, man, that's Junior Seau, that's Rodney Harrison.

And after our first game in san diego those guys running over to me at the end of the game and saying hey young fella we love watching you you could be special in this league and to think about the teammates you know i always admire you and rod and look at you all like big brothers, and you two were some of the few that could say something to me, and I actually acknowledge it and straighten up, you know what I mean, because of the respect. So when you look at the confidence that came from having the guys yourself, having the Rod Smith, having the Al Wilson guys that not only talk the talk, you all walk the walk as well.

So just having that man and being able to look and say, you know what, these guys believe in me. These guys are going to do whatever it takes. And here I am having fun. You know, people say, well, what was the difference between you and Denver and you in D.C.? And I'm like in Denver, I'm like eighth, ninth on the totem pole, maybe lower than that. But I didn't have a care or worry in the world because I had big brothers.

You know, I mean, I had I had Shannon, I had Rod, I had Al, I had guys that were going to take up for me and show me the ropes. When I got to D.C., it was like the wild, wild west. It was a change of everything. And eventually we got that together. And once we got it together, I think we had an opportunity to make a run. Maybe 05, we had a golden opportunity. 07, if we didn't have the tragedy of Sean, I think in that those two, two years, we had an opportunity to do something special and it just

just didn't happen. How different do you believe your career would have been had you stayed in Denver as opposed to go into the what is known as the Washington football team now? You know, again, I think even staying in denver jake had just come uh greaser was gone jake had been there it was still a change i don't think people realize that uh kubiak kubiak left when i left so uh it's easy to say well man if if you were to stay in Denver, look at what you would have had. But I was used to Kubiak.

So Kubiak was gone as well. So it's not a guarantee. Coach Shanahan was an awesome coach. But I felt like when we were there, Kubz was the man. Kubz don't get the credit he deserved throughout the NFL circles. But Kubz was the man. And he left as well. So for me, it's one of those situations.

The AFC was totally different from the NFC. In the AFC, I remember game plans. I remember playing the Raiders one year, and we had a game plan that you weren't even involved. They just say, hey, Shannon, you know what? Raiders don't have any DBs. You're not even going to be on the field. We're going to spread them. I mean, we're going to put wide receivers on the field.

It was game planning. It was our game planning, your opponent. And when I got to the NFC, it was tough man football. It was, hey, who the baddest? The Eagles going to line up, punch you in the mouth. The Giants line up, punch you in the mouth. The Cowboys coming off the corner to punch you in the mouth. So it was just tough man football.

And then having the Bears, the Bucs, like all the teams that we were playing against were the best defenses out at the time. You know, I don't think people remember those, the Jaguars, other 2000s, you know, under. Tom Coughlin, under their coach. You know, I don't think the Jets defense, the Vikings, the Bears, these defenses wasn't giving up hundred yard rushes.

And to go in and be the one that break those molds year in, year out was awesome. So I don't really look at my, oh, man, I left Denver and I fell off. I think I came to D.C. and I became a complete back because in Denver I didn't have any pressure. It was fun. In D.C. I had all the pressure of the world to carry an organization. And I think I stood firm and took lead to that challenge. So it wasn't as exciting. to lead to that challenge.

So it wasn't as exciting. It wasn't as, you know, highlight real worthy as it was in Denver. But I think the growth of me as a complete back really showed once I got to the rescue. Did it force you to grow up because all those Santana was there and later Sean Taylor, rest his soul, came there? I don't know if the guys that when you got there, you were still a young player. But when we always looked at you, man, that's Pope. Hey, we got to look out for him.

You were like the little brother. And no matter what you did, you were still the little brother. We still got you. Even though you did something that might be something effed up, we was going to go to Mike and say, Mike, we got it. We got it. We're going to take care of that. Now when you go to Washington, you got to fend for yourself, bro. So you're right.

When I got to Washington, it was a difference because they were coming off of what Coach Gibbs was just getting in. So he had to put his stamp on it because they were coming off of Spurrier. And from what I heard of Spurrier, it was like a country club. So the leadership and, you know, it was like, oh, these are the guys that's getting paid. So they hang together and these are the guys. It was all screwed up, but I think we got it right.

You know, I think we got it right. And guys bought in, you know, that first year, 04 was just a competitive, competitive year of learning for us, you know. I had Lavernius Coles and Rod Gardner with me, and we were the offense. Like, L.C. left the Redskins after having 99 catches, said, hey, man, we don't throw the ball enough. And I remember talking to L.C., like, bro, you can't leave. And that same, because L.C. wanted to leave,

it gave us an opportunity to bring in Santana. And that put me back with my dog, my partner, my day one. And I think that created something special. Having Sean T. come to the team, I think that created something special. Having Sean T come to the team, I think that created something special. In Denver, I don't think I would have had those opportunities to go talk to the higher-ups and say, hey, man, we need Sean Taylor. Like, let's get Sean Taylor. Or let's trade for Santana Moss.

I don't think I would have had that voice, you know. I don't think I would have had that voice. You know, I think having a voice to bring in Brandon Lloyd, the team not understanding how to use him, and all of a sudden he'd leave and go to the Pro Bowl. You know, that lets you know that he could play. What he was doing in San Francisco was amazing. You know, us losing Ryan Clark and bringing in Adam Archuleta, we had so many pieces that happened that shouldn't have happened.

You know, we lose Ryan Clark and Antonio Pierce. Those guys should have been in the organization because they wanted to. They wanted to be, and they had bought into the system. So when we lost those guys, you bring in Adam Archuleta, you pay another guy. bring in an Adam Archuleta, you bring you pay another guy. The experiment was bad because you got guys who really wanted to be there that we let go for guys who didn't really bring anything to the

table. You spoke some about your finances and when you first got to Denver, you signed for X amount of dollars and then then, so you tell the story, your second round draft pick, obviously that's not where you wanted to be, but it is where you got drafted. You get your money, you sign the contract, they give you your check. What are you thinking? I'm thinking, shit, I got to hurry up and get my deal done. Because in the assumption that I was going to be a first-rounder,

myself, Phillip Buchanan, who was my right-hand man coming out of college, going out and running a 4-2-6, 4-2-7 on pro day, everything aligned for me to be a first-rounder. Correct. on pro day, everything aligned for me to be a first round. Correct. And prior to the draft, the Falcons go trade for Warwick Dunn. And my former coach, Bush Davis, go draft another running back in William Green. So much stuff out of my control happened that I go to the second round,

which, you know, at the 1.3, I think I signed for 1.3 mil, which turned out to be $858,000 when I received my check after taxes. But then you don't realize the fee, you know, I had to pay my agent who was David Ware at the time. I think soon as I signed my deal, before I cashed the check, he called me like, hey, send me that money back the same day. I'm like, I'm late for training camp. I haven't even deposited the check. He's like, yo, man, send me send me send me this money that you owe me. And I think at the time I owe him maybe $400,000. Just from off-season spending,

traveling, his fees, whatever that was. Then I get to Denver. You buy a house. You buy a car. That money go quick. Get mom a house. I didn't get mom a house yet.

I didn't get her house until I went to D.C. Okay. So when I got to Denver, you know, I got my crib. And the following year, before we played the Chiefs, you know, I remember going to the bank, Wells Fargo, you know, heading towards C-470, right? Mm-hmm.

That Wells Fargo on the left. I remember going to the bank and having $121,000. You know, I go to the bank, I got $121,000 and betting on myself, I say you know, this is one of those make or

breaks. I went and bought a G-Wagon and a SL500 the same day. Sure did. I go back the same day. But it was betting on myself, like, knowing we were playing the Chiefs. The platform was there. The opportunity was there. And it just so happened I go out.

People don't believe how that game happened. You know, people don't believe in, man, how you knew this game was going to happen. What made you bring the belt to the game? When did you bring the belt on the sideline? And I'm like, bro, if you really think about this game, I show up with the belt. At halftime, I had 12 carries for 52 yards. I bring the belt out on the sideline, the second half, but guess who brought the belt out? Shannon I bring the belt out on the sideline the second half, but guess

who brought the belt out? Shannon Sharp brought the belt out. Shannon Sharp is the person that brought the belt out to the sideline for the second half. Shannon Sharp is the person that helped me put on the belt in the fourth quarter. No one realizes

how this game actually happened to go ahead. How those runs plan, you know, looking at the sideline, seeing priest homes and knowing, man, I got to outperform priests. You know what I mean? And priests, a dog priest, priest was a dog at that time. And that chiefs offense was just unstoppable. Paul, you remember, you remember we had lost to them.

We were beating them the whole game. And that punt return by Dante Hall. You remember how Dante Hall ran that punt back for like 93 yards. It was so loud. An arrowhead. He shook so many people. Dante Hall

always messed up my highlight reel. If I did something big in the game, it's going to turn around him and Priest coming right behind each other. And I always tell people, if Dante Hall could have played in this era today, he would have been the coldest receiver of all time. If Dante Hall was on the field right now, the stuff that receivers, slot receivers are doing, man, that's nothing.

Dante Hall, true. But when you go into that game, and we knew, look, that was pretty close to the last game of the season because they had beaten us earlier with that big, that long post. I think it was week 14. Okay, yeah. I think it was week 14. And so you get off and, you know, you got the belt. Pastor Troy gives you the belt.

And I think you were afraid to break out the belt because Mike was going to look at you like you crazy, like what the hell you doing, rookie? So you get a belt to me because, you know, at that time, I'm the senior statesman. Me and Mike had the main piece. We had our differences early on. But he was like, okay, 84, whatever you think is going to be. Because it was my job to get everybody ready to play. That was always, all right, 84, get them going,

even in training camp. You know, I used to come in there, hey, we gotta strike up the band today. Boom, boom, boom. And you know, I'm banging on lockers and everything. Everybody getting high. So that was my job. So you give me the belt, I'm like,

hey, Sharp, take this out. I'm like, for what? You ain't did what I'm put the belt on you for. You got 50 yards. You ain't get no belt put on. And then it just took off. I knew what time it was. I knew what time it was.

You know, that whole week, after I bought the two cars, after I bought the two Benz's, I bought the G-Wagon, I bought the SL. After I bought them, I went home. This was like Wednesday. I called Pastor Troy. I said, hey, Troy, what's up? You know, we chopping it up during our weekly talk. And I said, hey, bro, y'all come out here and bring the belt. He was like, what? You feel like that? I said, man, y'all jump a flight. Come out here. Bring the belt. Like, don't worry about nothing else. I told I didn't tell anybody I had got the cars.

I didn't tell Mama. I didn't tell nobody nothing. When I pulled up at the stadium with the top down, bumping that, that we ready, it was trouble. That was the first time I'd actually seen a G-Wagon. Bro, I just, I knew it. You know know i knew i was betting on me um and that was an opportunity um but what's crazier than that is that was week 14 like within three months of that bro i was traded like i was gone yeah basically that was it part of look we stayed at the hotel the night before the game we stayed

in the eminence do you know that i looked out my window many a night and who did i see leaving after curfew did you did you you didn't even know i knew that did you till i'm telling you to the day first off you all if you always left early in the morning right so after curfew i would i mean i always parked my car up front and i would leave at like six o'clock in the morning to go home because my mom sometimes you go home to eat breakfast sometimes you know this was go this was the beginning yeah this was the beginning but then all of a sudden i realized all these cars parked at the front definitely ross smith car parked at the front of the hotel and when i leave at six in the morning everybody car gone everybody car gone. So I'm like, what, what these guys doing? I listened in means they said you can leave.

I mean, after bed check. So in the morning, so I realized guys were leaving at 12 Oh one. That's in the morning. Nobody was getting in trouble. So I started leaving at 12 or 1. Bed check was at 11. I take me an hour power nap and go home. No, they weren't supposed to leave either. But I'm talking about, I'm looking out my window. I'm like, man, that Poe, where the hell he going? I mean, two, they just, you know, two, a crying dog was the only one that did the bed check. They did the bed checks at home, and different coaches did it,

I mean, on the road. But at home, I look out my window, and sure enough, just like Clark, I can set my watch back. Yep, there go Pope. I'm like, man. Listen, I deserve that, man. I deserve it. I just need to sleep in my own bed. Hold on. I just need to sleep in my own bed

I just need to sleep in my own bed Pope How you figure you deserve it I gotta stay I'm staying You wanted to stay You used to look forward to coming out Bothering everybody

You wanted to be at the hotel You wanted to be around the guy. I wanted to go home and be in my bed. I wasn't going out. That's what's crazy. People give me this party boy image. I wasn't drinking. I wasn't going out.

I wasn't doing anything. I just did stuff my way. When your agent called and told you that they were trading you to Washington, what went through your mind? Man, you know, it was actually before the agent called and told me. I remember being at the Pro Bowl, and I did an interview with this beat writer named Adam Schefter from Denver.

And I do an interview with Adam Schefter and I go back to the bar. I'll never forget. It was me, Peyton Manning, Donna McNabb, Joy Porter, sitting

at the bar at Provo drinking Mai Tais and everybody talking. It was like breaking news when we come back on ESPN. Everybody was like, man, who got in trouble? What happened? The breaking news was Portis won't stop. Everybody looking around, I'm looking around too. Who's Portis? And everybody looking around, I'm looking around too.

Like, I didn't. No. No, this is no, no, no. This is bad. Like, I didn't ask to be out. But some of the questions that Adam asked me at the time were, I say, I don't know. You got to talk to my agent. You know, he was like, you outplayed your contract. Do you think the Broncos are going to pay you?

Should this happen? Should that happen? I'm like, bro, I don't know about all that. Like, I'm just here repping the Broncos. Like, I'm living my life. I'm enjoying it, having a good time. Right. And that, you know, all of a sudden, that's what started the trade talks.

But it was only one team that I felt like didn't pass over me. So I didn't want to be traded. But once it came up, it was like the only team who didn't have a first round draft pick was the Redskins. So I'm like, I tell Drew, I'm like, the only place I would go is the Redskins. And they had just gotten Coach Gibbs. So I'm like, the only place I would go is the Redskins. And they had just gotten Coach Gibbs. So I'm like, the only place I would go is the Redskins. I won't even go anywhere else because everybody else passed over me. So that was the only trade destination that I would possibly work out a trade with.

And once the chatter started and the back and forth started, I think Drew kept me in the house for about three or four days trying to get the trade done you know they went from uh indy um they went from indianapolis to uh the trade talks which was like a week later at the time like march the third or something uh free agency so for like a week i'm just sitting still scared to walk outside just trying to make sure nothing happens to mess this up and uh once the opportunity came about i talked to coach shanahan and it was just one of those situations and he was like hey you don't have to leave like we can pay you and keep you here um and we we feel like we're going to be able to get champ bailey

regardless um and we would like to keep you you know we uh they were really trying to set the market on how much running back gets paid which at the time i think curtis martin was the the lead dog uh in that and so they were trying to set the market to say, no one is willing to pay this amount of money. And the Redskins jumped to the forefront with the bag. So, Porter, when I look at you, look at the era in which you played. You played with LaDainian Thomason, Edrin James, Priest Holmes, and yourself. LaDainian in the Hall of Fame, Edrin in the Hall of Fame.

Had Priest Holmes not suffered that career-ending injury? Look what you had to injury. I still believe that. I just don't believe, Porter, you worked as hard as you needed to work to be what you could have been. I believe you left the Hall of Fame career on the table. I've told you that. This ain't something I'm just not sure.

You could have been that. You have. and i look at it totally different because i feel like i did all the work uh that i needed to do and i look at i was having this conversation recently about guys and workouts you know i wasn't a guy for workouts that that just wasn't me i hated weights um but on when it came game day, I was the toughest, strongest man on the field. So I didn't see too many other people diving in 300-pound guys' chests. I didn't see too many other people hustling 70, 80 yards trying to throw a block, you know, to carry out my fate, run to the other side of the field, come back, crack back, then carry the ball. I didn't see no more dudes doing

that. I was the only one playing at that level. Every Sunday that I touched the field, I felt like I was the baddest man on the field, no matter who the person was across from me or no matter who my teammates was. I stepped on the field and I walked off the field feeling like, hey, I was the toughest man out here today. So that workout stuff just wasn't for me.

Poldis, think about what you're saying. Poldis, think about what you're saying. You play in the NFL. Not a contact sport, a collision sport. The most physical, grueling, demanding sport there is. And you're saying, workout ain't for me. And you don't think that's better? Poldis, you left the game at 30.

Bro, I left the game at 30 for a different reason like i left the game at 30 because i realized it didn't matter once sean t once once they moved sean t locker out of the locker room my love for the game disappeared you see you see what i'm saying like everybody looked like oh man you left the game so early. No, I sat in a locker room where for a guy that we looked at as a god, and I saw them remove his locker and put someone else there to create space. It was plenty of space in the locker room. You could have built a new locker. You didn't have to remove Sean Taylor's locker.

At that time, I was too sensitive. You see what I'm saying? I was too sensitive at that moment. And it happened too early. Right. You know, now I think it's a great idea that everyone gets to see it. And, you know, it's in the stadium and every fan and any anybody who wants to acknowledge Sean or see Sean gets an opportunity to walk past that locker and take a picture. But at that time I, I could never swallow that pill. You know,

when I see a guy that, that did everything that laid it on the line and he became replaceable that quick, it changed my outlook. Like, because, you know, I was one of the most competitive guys. It didn't matter what it was. I didn't have to know how, but I believe in me, you know? So when I see a guy like Sean, who still has an effect on the world, so positive after all the negative that happened.

You know, like, in the beginning he was a villain. And he turned that villain into the most lovable, respectable guy that you could possibly find. You know, everybody is influenced by Sean Taylor. I played with Ed Reed and Sean T. It don't get no better than that

as teammates. Not to mention anybody else that I played with. But I played with Ed Reed and Sean T. It don't get no better than that as teammates. Not to mention anybody else that I played with. But I played with Ed Reed and Sean T. Like, bro, you got to be kidding me. And when I see a guy that could have been the face of the NFL, the best player in the NFL, and you remove his locker, I just never, along with me having a coach that didn't understand me, you see what I'm saying? Like everything happened at the same time. I lost my grandmother. Sean get killed. We bring in a

coach that I didn't see eye to eye with that, you know, I felt like was trying to sabotage me. When I'm trying to put it on the line and do everything that you're asking of me instead of throwing me under the bus. So, it was so much happened in 07-08. Coach Gibbs was your head coach? Man, I'm talking about Coach Zorn, not Coach Gibbs. Coach who? Coach Zorn.

Okay. Coach Zorn, exactly. Right. You see what I'm saying? You don't even know who it was. Coach Zorn. So. You see what I'm saying? You don't even know who it was. Coach Zorn. So it was so much happened that took the love away from the game because you feel like, man, I'm going out here and fighting.

I'm throwing haymakers. I'm throwing punches. And I'm running through walls, whatever it take. And now my head coach punching me in the back of the head. Like, I'm trying to fight for you. You punching me in the back of the head. Right. So it was just one of those situations

that my appreciation and love I felt like wasn't reciprocated. So it separated me from the game. So that's why I retired. That's why I walked away from the game. Because I couldn't give it that same... I didn't care anymore.

You see what I'm saying? I didn't care anymore. And that was... Coach Shan. You see what I'm saying? I didn't care anymore. And that was Coach Shanahan came, and I'm reunited with Bobby T, who I got the most respect in the world for Bobby T. To this day, I still talk to Bobby T. He still reach out. You know what I mean? And

when Bobby T came back, I don't even think Bobby T saw the dog that he remembered. You know what I mean? This is my man. to think Bobby T saw the dog that he remembered. You know what I mean? And I couldn't – this is my man. This is Bobby T. This is the man who raised me and put me in position to go out and win. And I can't be – you know, I don't have that dire –

You couldn't give him the effort that you once could. Yeah, because my love wasn't the same. You see what I'm saying? So I felt like i was cheating the game so i wanted out of the game and and you know i even told uh dan snyder when we called dan said no coach shanahan said no to me retiring um both of them said no that's a bad idea but i told him hey bro i'm cheating y'all you know i what I mean? I'm cheating you. I'm cheating my teammates. I'm cheating me because I really don't care. Like I really, it don't matter to me anymore because I don't love this anymore.

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Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends and who doesn't want that listen now on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast you finish with 9,923 yards 75 touchdowns 77 yards of 10,648 yards short of john riggins' all-time Washington football team mark. I didn't know this. You and O.J. Simpson are the only players to rush for at least 120 yards in five consecutive games.

You did it twice in your career. Think about all the great running backs. There are a lot of running backs in the Hall of Fame. There are a lot of running backs currently playing that's really good. There's only two that did that. Bro, you know, when you look at these accolades and knowing what I left this game, knowing what I left on the field, the numbers speak for themselves.

You know, everybody's like, oh, man, you played for nine years. Well, three of those years I got hurt. So I look at that span as a six, maybe a seven-year span. Working out don't stop a concussion. Working out don't stop tearing a groin. Working out don't stop either of those. Nothing is 100%, Portis, nothing. Nothing is 100%, Portis, nothing.

Nothing is 100%. But it greatly reduces the chances, not the concussion, but it greatly reduces the chances of some of those other injuries happening. Don't do that, Portis. Don't do that. You know. Bro, I had freak injuries. I got hurt going to make a tackle in a preseason game that I shouldn't have been in.

I got hurt doing that. You went out there with that same mentality. You hated the preseason. Yeah, but that's real talk. That's real talk. I got hurt in a preseason game. People look at it like, oh man, you was injury prone.

If you put me on the field, only know one speed. I'm going to give you all I got you put me on the field, only know one speed. Yeah. I'm going to give you all I got. Yes. If I'm on the field. So either I'm giving you all I got or sit me on the sideline. Because once I get out there, the competitor is going to kick in. Right. You see what I'm saying?

Yeah. The competitor is going to kick in. So for me, man, I just think the numbers speak for themselves. Yeah. And I got hurt two consecutive years. Right. When you sit and say my numbers, well, you 77 yards short. I got hurt in 09 and 20 team.

I needed 77 yards to reach the pinnacle, which would be 10,000. Those same two years, you say no, but two years span, I could have became the all-time leading rusher in an organization that got a Hall of Famer in Rego. And Johnny Mitchell. So it just wasn't me. Yeah, it just wasn't meant to happen for me because I wasn't chasing a record. Excuse me, Bobby Mitchell.

I didn't care about records. Bobby Mitchell. Yeah, Bobby Mitchell. So I didn't care about records. Bobby Mitchell. So I didn't care about records. I wasn't like, oh man, I want to break Rigo's record. You see what I'm saying? If I would have knew I needed 648 yards, hell, I would have tried

to play through my concussion. No, I'm glad you didn't do that. 648? I need 77 yards. At the time, it wasn't as serious, though. I can remember scoring the touchdown where I couldn't see nothing. It looked like kaleidoscope in the background. But that was a different day. You signed a big contract.

Eight years, 50 and a half million, $17 million signing bonus. You're on top of the world. This is now, you know what? I'm You're on top of the world. This is, this is now, you know what? I'm straight for the rest of my life. What, looking back now, what do you wish you have done differently? Um, bet on me. Like I should have always believed in me. I think I had trust issues, uh, with people just people just knowing the upbringing, knowing the way I grew up, going from Mississippi to Gainesville

to coming to the University of Miami to being drafted by Denver. I didn't trust people that I didn't know. So the moment that I started to trust people that I didn't know, that's what I would have never done. I never would have took the advice because people give you the advice. Hey, man, you need to trust this person. You need to listen to this person.

Or they have your best interest. Man, I have my own best interest. Like, if I look back to say I need to change anything, I never would have started trusting people that I didn't know. Like, these people weren't around me. These people didn't have my best interest. And I would have understood that these people are out to get paid the same way I'm trying to get paid. And my bread and butter is on this field, not not this investment over here. You know, I mean, like often people get involved in investments that turn out

to to pay out and give them a lot of money. But it'd be the other way around. They put small portions in or put a reasonable portion in and end up getting a lot of money. Not where you put a lot of money in and you're putting the bulk of the money in somebody else's gig, you know? So for me, I think it was just more of trusting people that I didn't know that I never should have trusted in the first place and thinking that they had my best interest. So I wouldn't point the finger at them. I would point the finger at me and say,

I didn't want to trust you in the first place. Like somebody else convinced me that I should trust you. Like I knew I shouldn't have trusted you, and I would have rather bet it on me and believed in me. Because you're looking at it like I'm getting paid on the football field. They're looking at it like I'm about to get paid off of him. While he's doing all the work, I'm going to reap the benefits because they know what you don't know.

And that's the thing that I tell athletes now is that you don't know what you don't know. And it's hard, Porter. We've all been in situations where somebody's taking advantage of us because we didn't know all the things that we should know. You just hopefully you find the right people that will do the right things on your behalf. And it's very unfortunate that you learned the hard way that I read your bio

where people was writing checks on your behalf. And that's what you learned. You can't give anybody the power of attorney because nobody, you know, next thing you know, there's money going out of that. You're like, well, why can't I get this? Why don't I have enough money to cover that? Because they emptied the coffers. See, man, like for me, it was just one of those situations

where everything come to light. You know, if you know early, right? If you know early, when I was doing this in 05, 06, 07, 08, making these investments, they were supposed to pay out, you know, in 2014, 2015, you know, down the line after football was over. So that was a thought process. You don't know, hey, man, I should be getting a residual income. I should be getting a check, a monthly check.

I should be getting something, a statement. I should be getting something every month. I should be getting updated every week, biweekly, at the least. I should be on top of this. But you're trusting someone else to be on top of it. And with that being said, as you said, if you don't know, you know. Correct. outside investors or when you look at a Nas or Jay-Z or Diddy, how they turned their money to an empire. That wasn't in the 2000s. Remember that? This has just come about since 2010, 2015,

where guys are making these power moves. In the 2000s, we weren't doing this. There was nobody. Deion Sanders was the prime time, the main man to watch. He wasn't doing this. Like, there was nobody. Deion Sanders was the prime time, the main man to watch. He wasn't doing this. Like, we didn't have LeBron Blueprint. We didn't have Jay-Z Blueprint

at this time. Like, Jay-Z was doing the same thing I was doing. You see what I'm saying? So everybody look at it like, oh man, this should have been second nature. You should have known better. No, we didn't have a guy in Ezra and James that got inducted into the Hall of Fame look at it like, oh man, this should have been second nature. You should have known better. No. We didn't have a guy in Ezra and James that's

gotten inducted into the Hall of Fame that's not taking a loss. That 10 cents gone and everybody got to come in the room. Hey, let's talk about this. We're missing $10. We're missing $10. Let's find out why we're

missing these $10. When we find out why we're missing these $10. Right. When we find out why we're missing these $10, that person is gone. You know what I mean? Like, we didn't have that. That was being established. And everybody look at it like, oh, man, this is so obvious. This is, like, this should have been known.

Like, you should have already known this. No, you shouldn't have. Because Bernie Madoffernie madoff took some of the smartest people in the world absolutely some of the smartest people in the world yeah and you know i mean everybody look at athletes like these dumb ass athletes like these athletes are they so done with their money well what about i didn't see any athletes bernie madoff athletes weren't making enough money for him right you see i'm saying those are some of the smartest, richest people in the world that got screwed over. You know what I mean?

You found yourself in a situation the last couple of weeks about this health care situation. Explain, you know, talk to us about that. Man, you know, it's an unfortunate situation. Again, another one of those situations that if you look back, say man i should have known something was wrong but you and i both being former players all the former players know how hard it is to access anything right yeah i mean so when someone comes along and say hey i know how to access this i know how to access this. I know how to get this done. You're like, well, I've been getting turned down. I've been missing. I've been getting denied. Like we just talked about concussions.

I've been in a concussion lawsuit since day one. I was the face of the concussion lawsuit. I got denied. You know what I mean? All the carriers you just discussed over 2000 carriers. I got denied. You know how many times I done fell asleep on the field or I can watch highlights and see myself woozy? Say, oh, you know what? I was concussed right there.

They don't care about that. You know, and it's not a shot at the NFL. It's not a shot at anything. It's just the fact that you get denied so much. When someone finally willing to help,'s like oh man I finally found somebody who can help me and it's the wrong person you know I mean so again it goes back to I don't trust me and the dogs in here somebody fart hey I'm looking at the dog what's up you know I mean so I just don't.

Trust is one of those things, man, that if you find the right people. Right. Sometimes people do. Yes. If you find the right people, then you stick with them people. And y'all grow. And the empire grow. And that's how you get all these success stories of, oh man, our whole crew eating. That's how you get the Mavericks and all the people that from LeBron that's just taken off and become their, you know what I mean?

The Rich Paul, the Maverick car. Like that's how you get those people because they found a good group. They grew together and it happened. But so many people get screwed because you don't have that many people around you with that knowledge or to put in position um to see this through and again that blueprint is recent that blueprint wasn't 20 years old right you know in in in 2001 that blueprint wasn't out like this is we're turning over new leaves but now that it's out, continue to go get money.

Like I'm never going to stop hustling or trying to get to the bag. But what I would do is if I don't trust this person, if I don't deal with this person, I'm not dealing with. Like I don't need newcomers. I don't need to take a chance on outsiders. I got too many successful people around me. So tap it into the people that's successful, that I know is successful. I got an opportunity to reach out to you. I want to do media. I love doing media.

So why not call Shannon Shaw to say, hey, you know what, Shaw? Put me in a situation or put me on your show. Let me talk my talk. Let me do what I do and hope that something come about instead of going to beg someone that I don't know, that don't know me, who looks at me as a screw-up, who looks at me as, oh, man, this dude, he need me.

Bro, we could win amongst us. You see what I'm saying? We could win with the people that we know, with the knowledge that we have. It's just tapping into it. You know, I watched you grow. You've always been this person. The entire world just got an opportunity to start seeing it once you

got the platform. But this has always been Shannon Sharp. You see what I'm saying? It's the same with Clint Portis. The people that know me, you know what I'm into. You know what I stand for. You know what I'm about. The people that judge me, outsiders, they don't know me.

They see some arrogant dude or they heard from someone else. They don't realize it. I'll get you the shirt off my back. I'm going to make sure you eat. I feed everybody. I feed a community in Washington, D.C. Every Thanksgiving, 400 people I sit down and eat with. Year in and year out, I've been feeding communities.

Gainesville, Florida, Washington, D.C., Denver, Miami. It doesn't matter. Just because I'm going to Haiti to help take clean water. I'm traveling the world trying to make a difference. I go into the prisons to hear people's stories. Like, people don't know that because I don't broadcast that. You don't, you always, anytime you see me, oh, man, what this dumb and undead. You know what I mean? Bro, I'm out here with these kids trying to make sure they don't make the same mistake that I make. Not just my kids, any kids.

Anybody that I can get my hands on and say, you know what, bro? I don't need nothing from you. I'm not asking you for anything. I just want to make sure you don't lose $10. That was EJ mentality. Ezra and James, I don't want to lose $10. mentality. Edrin James, I don't want to lose $10. So if I can make sure you don't lose $10 and I can put you in the right direction that you keep winning, that's what I want to do. Everybody else, hey, your opinion is your opinion. It's not going to stop me from smiling. It's not going to stop me

from hustling. It's not going to detour me. I've been fighting all my life. You know what I mean? I've been fighting to prove worthy, to knock down the door, to get in the door, to be heard. And now that I'm heard, even though it's negative, some of the negative stuff, just read the fine print. You know, and that's another issue where I was wrong. Read the fine print. Read it all. where I was wrong. Read the fine print. Read it all.

And if you read it all, you'll see some of the stuff that we jump on or some of the stuff that we think, it don't add up. And if it don't add up, stay away from it. Stay out of the way. I get what you're saying. You're saying that, you know,

for so long you tried to get what you thought you had fairly earned, playing nine years in the National Football League, taking those bumps, those bruises, those broken bones, those concussions. You thought you would have easier access to gain what you felt that after my nine years of service to an organization, to a league, they would be more than willing to help me get on my feet, stay on my feet, not get on my feet because I'm on my feet, but stay there. You know, you know, this is what I've earned. Do you feel that this is why, you know, a lot of times now they look at it like, see,

you see what he tried to do. A lot of people probably don't need it, but just trying to get it, trying to gain access to it. Do you feel that that's how they're going to judge certain people that come along after you? Man, I think, I think people are, we're in a, we're in a time that everybody is just being we're in one of those uh everything is so sensitive everybody is judged everyone's opinion of voices heard that it don't matter like somebody gonna be mad that i wore a yellow hat on this

show why did he wear yellow he should have he have wore an orange hat for the Broncos. He got on the yellow hat for the Washington football team because they just won their first game. No, that's not it. But you can't fight all those battles. You can't fight

every battle that comes about. You got to pick the battles and pick and choose. And for me, I think I've had so many battles that's been public, that's been public that I fought in the public eye that people like, man, damn, he not tired yet. I can't get tired because if I get tired, I'm going to get ran over. I'm going to lose, you know, and I don't want to get used to being a loser.

I don't want that concept to be associated. I want the concept of, you know what, man? That man is overcoming. That man is believing. That man, you know, there's something special about him, whether it's God, whether it's the people that's praying for him, his mama, his grandmama, his cousins, whoever it is, the people that appreciate him and know him for who he is. Those are the people that you get up for. Those are the people that you can't give up on because they're not giving up on you.

So for me, this is one of those situations. If I got breath in my body, man, I'm going to keep on you. So for me, this is one of those situations. If I got breath in my body, man, I'm going to keep on moving, you know, and you get in these situations and it's like, man, how in the hell like me out of all people, why, why me? Like why me out of all these people? And it's just one of those. I can't question God for whatever reason that this battle was placed upon me or bestowed upon me, it's just another obstacle that I got to get over. And I will get over it. And I will continue to believe and stay faithful.

And I might reach out to you more, but I'm not afraid to reach out and say, you know what, bro? I need you. I know you got access. I know you got the platform. I know you got an opportunity to help me get this message across. So help me, you know, don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't, don't run from people that, that, you know, are smarter than you. Like I blow EJ phone up now because i'm eager to win you see what i'm

saying like and i've always had access to him i didn't have to wait uh i've been saw his vision uh so i could have been tapped into it but better you know better better late than never so um reach out to those people gain the knowledge that you need to gain. Ask the questions that you need to ask. That's what it is. We're so often afraid to ask a question because we're worried about being rejected. We're worried about being told something we don't want to hear. out here trying to get it or knowing that I'm out here on my ground. I'm not asking you. I'm not. I'm never going to call you and say, hey, shop man, I need you to send me $100. Never. But I might call you and say, hey man, I'm trying to get to this $100.

How can I get there? Right. You see what I'm saying? Like, I'm not asking for anything because I got breath in my body. I'm going to go out and get it. I'm going to make it happen. Legit. Not illegal. You know, so the legit way.

What does the 40 year old Clint Porters wish the 20 year old Quillen Porters had known? Man, um, I think the 20 year old Clint Porters didn't even know he would make it to 40. The 20-year-old Clint Portis wasn't worried about getting to 40. And maybe it's just upbringing, you know, environment. So you're thinking, man, I'm going to enjoy today. And I'm not really worried about tomorrow.

And then when tomorrow come and kids become a factor, you start looking at, I got to be around, you know, like, man, my feet got to be on the ground. I got to be able to, to, to provide, you know because at 20, I didn't have to provide i didn't have to do it was only me right you know uh but when you start getting miles of feet when you start getting people depending on you um you start looking at your parents getting older losing your grandparents losing your parents like life changing you know you you're not that young, that 20-year-old ripped body stud. Now you're that 40-year-old beer belly, you know, that's still got to get stuff done.

So just figuring it out. You say, if I would have moved or if I would have looked, just if I would have asked this question, you know what I mean? Ask yourself questions. You don't need to rush to make a decision. You got time. You don't need to be on someone else's time. So you got time. And if it's uncomfortable to you, if it's something that don't feel right, if you got any, you know, pass, just pass on it. You know what? Even though this might be good and a year or two from now, it might pay out big.

It don't sit right with me. So if it don't sit right with you, leave it alone. You know, if it's something that's on you that you need to research further, research it. But make sure you're informed. Make sure you get the answers that you need before you do anything. You know, and that's in life. That's that's in life, period. Make sure you're informed before you do anything. You know, and that's in life. That's in life, period. Make sure you're informed before you do anything. You don't have to make a rational or a quick decision to move forward. Let's transfer to on the field currently. Who are your best four running backs in the NFL?

Man, you know, being that it's going to always be the same because there's only like four or five backs that get opportunity. So for me, I would say in no particular order, I would say Derrick Henry,

Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, and McCaffrey. Do you remember when Lil' Chr Chris used to be in the locker room? I've known him since he was born. And I never thought, I'm like, I'm looking at this dude like, dude, I remember you was this big, running around in the locker room, playing football with your older brother.

And I'm like, dude was one of the best running backs in football. Man, I ran into Eddie Mack, right? And I was ecstatic to see Eddie Mack. And I brought up Christian. And I'm like, man, your son, Paul, you know what he said? That's from watching all of your zone plays. And, you know, it was just one of those smiles to say, you never know the impact that you have on people who's watching you

and just to constantly, continuously try to be a role model. And you never know. Like, you never know who you're impacting. But when you look at Christian McCaffrey, I just think the situation that they put him in and the opportunities that he get expose his talent.

A lot of guys don't get the opportunity. Camara get going to get the ball. Cook going to get the ball. He here going to get the ball. Other guys, they don't know if they're going to get 10 or 15 touches. Right. That's running the pads. You just don't know because you got running back by committee.

Yeah. Game plan change. You know, you watch so many teams. Back in the day, it used to be Elway, Montana, Favre. Like these guys are going to have 40 passes and, you know, the other quarterbacks might have 25 passes. Now every quarterback throwing the ball 60 times a game. So a running back, you know,

the opportunity is not there for running back to shine like it was in my day. Yeah, I think the thing is now those guys that you mentioned that Derek Henry is not going to catch that many passes, but he's going to get his 25 touches via the carry. Those guys are going to get their catches because they're going to run it and they're going to catch it. That's the difference. You look at Camara. He's going to get 1520 touches and it And they might not all be runs,

but he might get 10 catches and 15 carries. Christian McCaffrey, he's going to get 25, 30 touches a game, and it might be 20 and 10. Dalvin Cook is the same thing. How would Clinton Porter fare in today's game? It would be tough because for me, like I wasn't, I would, I felt like I could do everything. Now you have so many specialists like, Oh man, I got to put this guy in for this play.

I got to put this guy in for this play. Like, bro, I can run every play. Anything that needs to be done. I can do it. Right. I want to go out there. I know the ball going to Ross Smith, but I can run this post route. Like, let me run it. Right. No, I know the ball going to Rod Smith, but I can run this post route. Like, let me run it. Right. You know, I know the ball going to Shannon Sharp, but let me line up at tight end. So I felt like I could do everything. So I think what would be hard is the game plan. And I remember Edge used to say all the time, like, bro,

you're the last of a dying breed. Like, we gone. After you, we don't have you know frankie g end up lasting 15 more years but um the every down back the the first second third down back right uh the guy that could do everything is is kind of missing you know and i think again you look at camara you look at uh at McCaffrey, they could be every down bags, but they get spelled too. You know, Murray was the short yardage goal line

and the guy to come in on this occasion. It wasn't just Kamara, and they had Ingram as well. So they were a running back by committee, although Kamara got his shine on and still gets his shine on. It's like the talent that I felt like I brought to the game was totally different. Like, I can do it all, baby. I want to be in on short yardage goal line. I want to be in and spread.

I want to be in in two minutes. Like, I want the first down, the second down. You know, I can run the screen. I can run the draw. whatever. I can do it. I think that one of the best things that you didn't get that people don't talk about is your blitz pickup. And I tell people this all the time. I watch Pope the cleat guy and he enjoyed it because he said this is my opportunity because you've been beating on me all day. You're going to run up in here

and not see me because I'm going to be behind behind this guard. And when you better time beating on me all day. You're going to run up in here and not see me because I'm going to be behind behind this guard. And when you, by the time you think about, oh, I'm about to get this quarterback, your feet in the air. Cause I don't put my helmet right up under your chin. And I, we, you know, we used to sit around and watch like, yeah, po, you got that. When we be in the huddle, like, yeah, you're like, Hey, sharp. I got, I got one. What do you see it on for you? Hey, but you know what's crazy? I think as time went on where you start to realize, and I think this is missing too, like in situational football, the defense got to blitz in certain gaps.

You know, they can't, they don't just get to pick a gap. If he got to come up to A gap, he got to come up to A gap. Same way as a running back. Like, like hey you're supposed to be here or the receiver got to run right here when i started to realize that and i'm saying like man you got to run in between this center and guard like you don't run through there blind yeah but you're trying to get through full speed you trying to find me and all this just attack you at the line like i know you got to enter right here and when you enter i want to make sure you don't enter anymore and uh one of my favorite and i i think we came to denver in 05 i think i finally got an opportunity to play the

broncos in 05 and i've always been an al wil Wilson fan. And they had Al Wilson and Nate Webster, who I played with in college. And these were always two of my favorite players because they played a game with the way it's supposed to be played. They coming downhill and they laying that lumber. And I'm looking across and I see Al and I see me. And the only thing I'm thinking of is, boy, these boys are going to try to kill me. So I got to try to kill him. And Al blitzed that eight gap.

Ooh. When I seen his foot go by my ear, I said, ooh, I got it. I got it. And it slowed him down. You know, I remember Al, when we were getting ready to play the Dolphins and whatever the issue was he had with Ricky Williams. But I remember Al all week long saying, I'm going to punish Ricky Williams.

I'm going to take him out of this game. And when we got in the game, he delivered. So that was one of my favorite Blitz pickups was my old former teammate in Al Wilson. You understood the thing that made you great at blitz pickup and what I try to explain to people on social media. You got to close the distance because you're much smaller. I don't care how tough you are.

You let a man get a running start, and you standing flat-footed, he's going to sit your butt in the quarterback's lap. So what you do is close that distance. And, like, when he hits that A gap, you put your helmet right up on his chin. Whatever gap he hits, even if it's the edge, I used to tell you, I said, Pope, get there quick. Because if you get there

quick, you don't have to worry about it because they're doing all this juking and then trying. Get there and be ready to unload on them. Take your shot. That's all you got to do. Take your shot. And if you get it one time, you good for the rest of the day. Hey, but you know what's crazy? That's what made me turn into a blocker, you know,

along with Coach Sollinger because it was required for us to block at Miami. But remember, we used to have to cut the line of scrimmage. And we played the Jets. And I think Abraham or even Sean Ellis kneed me in the head and almost knocked me out. And I was like, man, forget this. I'm jumping in their chest from here on. Right. And I remember I used to fake like I was going to cut

to get guys to stop and just dive in their chest, and then they just took off from there. Like, meeting them at the line of scrimmage, knowing I know you got to come in between this little gap. So I got hurt. By the time you come through this gap, I'm already in the air flying. You can't do nothing but fall back or move back, but you're not getting to the quarterback.

So that was my only concern. I just wish if I would have known then what I know now, I probably would have never threw a block. Like I would have saved my body and I would have known being what I know now, I probably would have never through a block night. I would have saved my body. I would have got through 77 yards or that 700 yards that I needed to become the all-time lead Russia for the rescue. Go back to Miami. You mentioned some of the guys you play with Sean Taylor, Ed Reed, Santana Moss, Andre Johnson, Frank

Gore, Willis McGahee, Brian McKinney, and trail roll. I mean, Phillip Buchanan list goes on and on. What were those? Shockey. What were some of those practices like? Man, competitive. Yeah, I kid you not I remember when I got to Denver

and seeing our team and realizing the team I played on in college was better and y'all used to give me a hard time because I was Miami all the way I believed in us

we'd beat the hell out of y'all you do know that though because I was Miami all the way. I believed in us. We'd have beat the hell out of y'all, though. You do know that, though. We'd have beat the hell out of y'all. Oh, yeah. Y'all probably would have, but we could have beat somebody. Now, everybody wasn't going to beat us. Yeah, they were, folk.

I don't think so. Hey, this is what you got to understand. Y'all had like, let's just say for the sake of argument, you guys had 20 guys go to the NFL from that team. Everybody in the NFL is in the NFL. They got 53 guys that go to the NFL. So ain't no college team beat no pro team, Pope. Even Cleveland back then, that was terrible. And even the Jags and even Houston, Texas.

Boy, they done hung 50 on y'all. Listen, I believe in the talent that we had. Now, if you could actually, like you said, those guys are all in the NFL, so it's tough to say, well, college team could be the NFL team because the NFL has grown me. In college, you're still finding your way team because the NFL has grown me in college. You're still finding your way in the NFL. Your identity is there. Like I'm grown and I don't see like I don't see any of this.

But for those guys that that I played college ball with, when you look, all those guys started an era, you know, and not only did they start an era. Shockey, I felt like Gonzalez was the only tight end prior to Shockey, and Shockey came in and did it his way, you know, Shockey gave you so much, and then Winslow, and Bubba Franks, like, these guys changed the tight end game to how we see it now, when you look at the Jimmy Graham, and you look at all the best tight ends, the Kittle and all that, that's shocking. That's guys from the U. You look at the running backs, Frankie G, Edge, me. You look at the guys around, the impact or the influence. When you look at the guys around, you know, the impact or the influence. When you look at Julio Jones, that was Andre Johnson. You know, Reggie Wayne, one of the best route runners and hands that I've ever seen.

When you start talking about Ed Reed, Sean T, you know, Ronnie Lott and Steve Atwater were the names that prior to these guys that everybody looked up to. Now it's Ed Reed and Sean T. I think Phillip Buchanan, barring injuries, still would have been one of the best DBs of all time. He's one of the best that I ever played with or I ever seen. When you look at Santana Moss, I talked about Dante Hall and how he impacted the game.

Think about Santana in the slot. Santana was an underdog. You know what I mean? Santana was an underdog that always overachieved. He was fast. He was fearless. Like, he was just a dog. You know, when you look at these guys, they changed the game.

And then when you look on the defensive side, you're talking about Entrell, Vince Wilford, Vilma, you know, DJ Williams, becoming those linebackers that can cover tight ends, that can do everything, that you can move around the field. Like, you didn't have that prior. Then you go out and find a linebacker like DJ Williams that you can move, and he can go play on this side, and he can move to this side. Jonathan Vilma, who was small and come downhill and thump you.

Like, bro, Dan Morgan, you know, these people changed the – they had an impact on the way the game is played now. Who's your Mount Rushmore? You only get four players. You get four hurricanes to put on, be it Michael Irvin, be it Ed Reed, be it Sean Taylor, Ray Lewis, it be J Boogie,

Warren Sapp, Andre Johnson. You get four. Jim Kelly, you get four players. Who you for going up there? That's tough. My first one going to be Reed, man man i i mean just the respect that i have for for reed and knowing uh who reed is and what reed brought to the game uh it reed um two through four game i will would put Edge up, man.

I don't think people realize the influence that Edge has had on everybody. You know, not just UM guys, but the effect that he have on the community off the field, being our LeBron. Edge would go up there. I would have to put I would have to put Sapp or Jerome Brown. I would put...

Boogie was before people tied. People don't remember Jay Boogie, but he was Sapp before Sapp. Yeah. You can't say Sapp and not give Jerome Brown, but just for people who know, I would say Sapp because he changed the game. So that's Reed, Edge, Sapp. Got one more. It's hard to play maker off it's hard to

leave ray ray off but another one of my favorite players and you know you don't really give a dude his roses. Reggie Wayne, man, just... Bro, Reggie Wayne was the ultimate. Like, bro, the man could run routes. His hands was unbelievable. Like, just everything about him, how he played the game. He's selfish, but how he played the game

and it's hard to say Reggie over Dre and Playmaker and Lamar Thomas and all those guys, but you only gave me four, so I'm giving you my four favorite players. All right. I can live with that. Matter of fact, I got to leave Reggie off.

I'm going with Sean. I'm throwing Sean. Sean Reed. Sean Reed. You got Sean Reed, Edge, and who's your other one man you put everybody that you play with up there you think you slick I ain't play with no sap

with the exception of sap you got Edge well you ain't play with Edge either but you got Sean Taylor you got Ed Reed up there hey listen they was dogs they changed the game dog what they brought to the game i don't think you know how people lose impact of players like what what what eric crouch was to nebraska right or what charles woodson was to the university of mich. You know, those guys, what Torrey Holt is to NC State,

those guys all in their own way all got a legacy like that at one school. You know, when you think of Torrey Holt, you can't think of other guys from NC State who was that legendary. You know, Charles Wilson, you don't know a guy who impacted Michigan the way that Wood impacted. Maybe Brady. Maybe that old guy that still – But Brady wasn't even a man in college.

No, he wasn't. Brady is a bad man. Yeah. But he – He wasn't like – the player that he is now, nobody saw that coming when he was in college. What Woody did in the NFL, the dude won the Heisman. You saw that. He he was in college. What Woody did in the NFL, the dude won the Heisman. You know, you saw that.

He's playing offense and defense. So you knew Woody was going to be great. Nobody saw Tom Brady doing this. Peyton Manning doing what he did. People are like, this guy got to be good. This guy calling his own play. He a freshman. So he got to be good.

Yeah, like I don't think people, you know, the impact of players, like so many universities have this one iconic player, you know, when you think of so many of these teams, it's just that one icon that you look up to.

But when you say the University of Miami, man, it could go either way. You got so many guys. Okay. How about this here? Frankie G. I'm going to take alumni in their prime. The U, I want your best 22.

Alabama, their best 22. USC, their best 22. And Notre Dame, their best 22. We're going to line it up who win. You know who I'm going to win. You know who I'm going to win. There's no ill fans but somebody. The best 22?

Yeah, it's going to be. The only place we would struggle would be offensive line. Right. And defensive line, now, I love our D-line against them. I have Vic Wilford, Sap, and Jerome. Danny Stubbs. You got Ray-Ray back there. What?

Stubbs. Bro, I would definitely take our D-line. When you look at the linebacker position, you got Ray. Nah, you ought to get 22. You ought to get 22. You get 11 offense, 11 defense. I already know your special team guy. You got Hester.

So, y'all got to get. So, you ought to get 11 offense. You get 11 defense. Hey, that's a cheat code. Our wide receivers I'm taking. You're talking about Mike, Weezy, Andre Johnson.

Okay, so you only get one. So since you started three wide receivers, you only get one tight end and one running back since you put it like that. Tight end? I'm going to go with Shockey. I got to go with Shockey because I know Shockey block in and going to go with Shockey. I got to go with Shockey. Okay.

Because I know Shockey block in and going to go catch that thing. Running back. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Running back. I'm going to leave off a fullback. I have to go two running backs. You can't go no two running backs. You got three wide receivers. You're trying to play with 12. I have to go two running backs. You can't go no two running backs. You got three wide receivers.

You're trying to play with 12. Right. So I got to go one back. I might have to go Frankie G, man. I might have to go. Bro, I might have to go Frankie G. If I got one running back to pick in his dog, you got to understand, I've seen

Frankie G before the knee injuries. Right. I saw that Frankie G. I saw the Frankie G that didn't wear socks, that didn't wear underwear, that didn't wear gloves. That's the Frankie G I want. I want that Frankie G. Bro,

when you see a kid go stick his foot in some cleats with no socks on and ball out. Yeah, he's special. Okay. What state? Florida, Georgia, Cali, Ohio, Texas. Where they at?

Florida. Florida. And, you know, when I say Florida, the first name that pop up when I say Florida is Fred T. And Fred T don't get, you know, Fred T don't get his credit. He don't get his just due. But when you say Florida, that's one of the Fred T, Peter Ward, and Quan Bolden. Like, bro, it's so much work came out of Florida, especially in today's game.

But I'm just saying all together, Florida is special. And, you know, I'm Mississippi and Florida. Mississippi done put out, you know, we got Jerry, we got Walter. Like, we got some work over there, too. Y'all ain't put nobody out lately, though, Pope. Y'all got Patrick. You got Patrick Willis. You got Patrick Willis. You got Patrick Willis. I'm going with Florida.

Like, I'm not even going back and forth. Georgia don't have it. Oh, with Texas? Man, Texas. Texas, we have it speed. I ain't never been crazy about Texas or California players. Like, you give me your best 11 in Texas. I give you my best 11 in Florida. I think Florida stunk them.

You know, Texas has always been one of those states that they I don't think they have the same heart. You know what I mean? Like Florida, men and Florida kids different. But I don't know man, Texas, Texas got that heat too. I think, I think Texas and Florida's past. Name your five best Texas players. Well, I mean, they got running backs, you know,

like Eric Dickerson and Earl Campbell. Now Texas is known for quarterbacks. You know, they just had Drew Brees. They got Matthew Stafford, Kyler Murray. They're kind of known for quarterbacks now. Their quarterbacks are doing, you know, quarterbacks are doing pretty good. Yeah, but you can only start one of them quarterbacks.

Yeah, I ain't never seen two quarterbacks throw a pass in a game. Well, y'all ain't got no quarterback. What's your quarterback from Florida? Oh, you would take a Lamar? It's somebody. You take Lamar? What? With the work, with the athletes around him?

Heck yeah. Heck yeah. Did you always know you wanted to play the guard growing up in Gainesville? Obviously, the University of Florida is in Gainesville. Did you know you always wanted to play for the University of Miami or was Florida an option? I didn't every everything was an option at that time, but

Florida wanted me to play DB. So Florida missed out spur your call. Like, hey, we're thinking about offering to play DB. So Florida missed out. Spurrier called like, hey, we're thinking about offering you at DB. What do you think? I think you should offer somebody else. Miami was just, you know what's crazy? Miami, my visit to Miami is what did it. Like once I got around the guys and click me Santana bubble Frank's like we

were just talking about this at Edge Hall of Fame induction. Once I got to Miami, it was like this is where I'm supposed to be like this is this is what feels great to me. This is what feels good to me. This is where I fit in like this is where I'm supposed to be. So it was a no-brainer. Pope, man, you got my number. I still got the same number for 25 years.

It ain't changed. So if you need something, you know how to get in touch with me. Hey, I need $100. I just answered that. All right, bro. I'll reach out. Appreciate you. Man, I appreciate you, Pope. Be good, bro. I'll reach out. Appreciate you. Man, I appreciate you, Polk.

Be good, bro. Stay strong. All my life. Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Want a slice. Got the roll of dice.

That's why. All my life. I've been grinding all my life. All my life. Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Want a slice.

Got the roll of dice. That's why. All my life. I've been grinding all my life. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolfe. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends.

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