Clinton Earl Portis (born September 1, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. Portis was best known for being the starting running back for the Washington Redskins for seven seasons, in which he gained an average of 81.2 yards rushing per game, for which a select panel of celebrities included him as one of the 80 Greatest Redskins.
College career
Portis attended the University of Miami, where he played for the Hurricanes. He considered going to the University of South Carolina but a fight that he had at Gainesville High School resulted in his scholarship being taken away. He became just the second true freshman to start at running back since the 1975 season. Portis set a school freshman record with five 100-yard performances, and led the team with 838 yards and eight touchdowns on 143 carries (5.9 avg.) in 10 games. He also caught four passes for 44 yards (11.0 avg.) and 2 touchdowns. When Portis was still a relative unknown, Lee Corso singled out Portis's performance during a defeat by Florida State for hustling and never giving up, saying "that kid can play for me any time".
Portis' sophomore season was not as successful as he lost his job to James Jackson and rushed for 485 yards and two touchdowns on 77 carries (6.3 avg.) in eight games. He also added 103 yards on five receptions (20.6 avg.).
However, Portis bounced back in 2001 as the Hurricanes won the National Championship and Portis had his best season rushing for 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns on 220 carries (5.5 avg.). He also added 125 receiving yards. In the Rose Bowl against Nebraska, Portis ran for 104 yards and a touchdown. He also had a long touchdown reception called back on a holding call.
Clinton was inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014 at a ceremony in Miami.
Track and field
Portis was also a standout track athlete for the Gainesville High School track team. He was timed at 10.6 seconds in the 100 meters. He was member of the varsity track team. He took part in the state record 4 x 100 meter relay team, that finished with a time of 40.8 seconds. He also posted a personal bests of 2.01 meters in the high jump, and 6.91 meters in the long jump.
He also ran track and field for the University of Miami, where he won the state championship in the 4x400-meter relay. He also recorded personal best of 6.93 seconds in the 60 meters and 21.82 seconds in the 200 meters.
Personal bests
College statistics
Professional career
2002 NFL Draft
Portis was drafted by the Denver Broncos with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft.
Denver Broncos
Portis rushed for over 1,500 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Broncos, averaging 5.5 yards per carry in that span. The latter is an NFL record for a running back's first two seasons. On December 15, 2002, Portis became the youngest player (21 years, 105 days) to score 4 touchdowns in a game in a 31-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. He has the most single game fantasy point total, with 55.4. The very next season on December 7, 2003, Portis became the youngest player (22 years, 97 days) to score 5 touchdowns in a game in a 45-27 victory, which also happened against Kansas City.
's NFL off-season, Clinton Portis held at least 18 Broncos franchise records, including: Rush Yards: rookie season (1,508 in 2002) Rush Yds/Att: career (5.5), season (5.52 in 2002), game (9.91 on 2003-12-07 KAN), rookie season (5.52 in 2002), rookie game (9.5 on 2002-12-29 ARI) Rushing TDs: game (5 on 2003-12-07 KAN), rookie season (15 in 2002) Rush Yds/Game: career (106.9) Total TDs: game (5 on 2003-12-07 KAN), rookie season (17 in 2002), rookie game (4 on 2002-12-15 KAN; with Mike Anderson) Yards from Scrimmage: rookie season (1,872 in 2002) All Purpose Yards: rookie season (1,872 in 2002) 100+ yard rushing games: rookie season (8) Games with 1+ TD scored: rookie season (10) Games with 2+ TD scored: rookie season (5; with Mike Anderson) Games with 3+ TD scored: rookie season (1; with Jon Keyworth, Terrell Davis and Mike Anderson)