The Last Word
As perfectly transcribed here by Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog, here were some of the highlights from LaVar’s “rant” in response to Clinton Portis throwing him under the bus. Arrington was passionate live on the air. You could have swore something ran over his cat, he was THAT mad. Arrington spoke on the subject for the better part of an hour. The original audio can be found here. Among Arringtons points, here are a few mentioning and recapping.
"“I am looking around a field, and as fate would have it, just listen to some of these names, just listen to some of these names,” Arrington said. “Champ Bailey. Mark Carrier. Darrell Green. Andre Reed. Dana Stubblefield. Brad Johnson. Deion Sanders. Larry Centers. Marco Coleman. Stephen Davis. Dan ‘Big Daddy’ Wilkinson. Chris Samuels, my litter mate. Jon Jansen. Irving Fryar. Bruce Smith. I am on the field as a 21-year old young man that has fulfilled the first part of a dream, to make it onto a professional team and actually be something that I wanted to be my whole life. I’m sitting here as a professional, beside myself that I am actually on the same field as these individuals.“I’m not sitting there looking at these guys like, ‘Got that job. Yeah, I’m the man. No. 2 pick. I’m this. Look at my car. Look at my jewels. Look at my house.’ I’m not sitting there doing that. I am out there and I’m actually in a situation where I could not even breathe. This is literal. I could not breathe when I was going into the huddle for the plays, because I could not believe that Deion Sanders was tapping me on my shoulders….I could not believe that Darrell Green is standing right there, looking at me, saying my name. Saying my name….”“And when those practices were over, I was no different than the people who stood behind those barriers cheering for those players on that field. And that was why I was so endearing to those fans, because we were the same person. That’s why I had no problem staying hours–not minutes, I had no problem staying hours–after practices with those fans. Because I knew if they knew what I knew, and they felt the way that I felt, if they were in my shoes I would want the same thing in return.”"
Homerskinsfan’s Thoughts:
This is a DIRECT response to the whole “whoever has the money is the captain” statement made by Portis. Portis openly admits he was a talent to be reckoned with when he arrived on the scene in Denver. When he was traded to the Redskins, he also knew he was one with star potential, and even boasted of being asked to vouch for other players to come DC because of the payday they would be getting.
We know Portis can be selfish, that has been proven to us by him time and time again. However, we know he can bleed for this team and shows that, when he is healthy and practices. Unlike LaVar’s statements, we do not know if Portis was “starstruck” by anyone on the Skins when he arrived, but to his credit he did thrive under Gibbs and did respect him as a man and as a coach.
LaVar on the other hand, I cannot know for sure what was in his head when he was here and prior to him leaving. Watching him play while he was here, I was sure he would be a lifelong Redskin. It did not turn out that way and his exit was not one I could have imagined. Nonetheless, if it is a business as they say, he made a business decision and went to the rival New York Giants. We know LaVar has a distain for Gibbs, unlike Portis who had a good relationship with him.
I can recall an “Inside the NFL” back in the summer of 2000 when it was still on HBO, where LaVar likened himself to a possible “LT”-like player, and saying “Hollywood” was his nickname in Penn State, and that was given to him because his initials were “L-A”. He then mentioned that Deion Sanders took him under his wing to mentor him. Behind closed doors its up to you whether that was beneficial to him.
One more LaVar Quote worth mentioning:
"“I respect the game. I would have never argued with Sam Huff. I would have never argued with Brian Mitchell. I would never have argued with John Riggins. I would never have argued with Sonny Jurgensen. I would not disrespect the people who were the forerunners, who were the people who set the bar where it needed to be for us to be willing to dream and try to achieve. I would never disrespect that. I would never take that and spit on that, like that is not something that is as precious as the gold that we all spend money on. I would not disrespect that."
Homerskinsfan’s Thoughts:
This is one is one I am totally in LaVar’s court for. Well I do not think Portis is trying to totally blast the Redskin’s history and legacy, I do no think he has paid enough homage to it. I think to be a “True Redskins” you must acknowledge the past to look forward. Is the namesake of this website a jerk at times? Yes, he sure is. And frankly I think he speaks out his rear end way too much. However, he was a beast on the field, and he is a big reason the Redskins won their first Lombardi Trophy and had a shot at another. He has the most rushing touchdowns for any Redskins running back, and was “Redskins Football” along with the Hogs.
LaVar hit the button here with this quote and was dead on. I think Portis has played the “woe is me” card way to much. I personally want to see him continue to be successful here, but he needs to put in the hard work to do it. He needs to put in the same amount of hard word all the players LaVar mentioned put in. To make history, I think Portis needs to acknowledge it. And he can start doing that by, ceasing to throw people, pas and present, under the bus.
Credits for the transcripts: Dan Steinberg, DC Sports Bog, 2010
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/02/lavar_arrington_responds_to_cl.html