Clinton Portis was born on September 1, 1981 in Laurel Mississippi. Portis is considered to be one of the best running backs in the game today, and this has held true ever since he was playing high school football. With size, athleticism, and speed it is easy to see why Portis racks up hundreds of yards year in and year out.
After a successful high school career Portis had the ability to play college football at almost any school in the entire country. He decided to take his game to the University of Miami where he starred from his very first day on campus. In fact, Portis was the first true freshman to start at running back for the Hurricanes since 1975.
Despite a solid college career, Portis was not one of the top ranked players in the 2002 NFL Draft. This led to him being selected with the 51st overall pick by the Denver Broncos. While he may not have been drafted as highly as some other running backs, Portis showed all the teams that passed him by that they made a mistake. After a successful rookie season he was named Offensive Rookie of the Year by the NFL. In both of his first two seasons he rushed for more than 1,500 yards.
Before the start of the 2004 season Portis was traded to the Washington Redskins. At that time the Redskins signed him to an 8 year contract worth more than $50 million. Although his game fell off a bit during his first season with the Redskins, he still managed to rush for 1,315 yards.
In 2005 Portis was fully back on track, and rushed for 1,516 yards. With this accomplishment he became one of only three players in NFL history to rush for more than 1,500 yards in three of his first four seasons in the league. While Portis was primed to have a big year in 2006, injuries slowed him down most of the way and eventually sidelined him in November.
Word count: 322