Clintion Portis Interview from IGN

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CP is not talking the the News Media but he is talking to the Video Game Media...Check Good Stuff.

http://sports.ign.com/articles/554/554956p1.html

October 07, 2004 - The media makes it sound like Clinton Portis and Greg Brady have a lot in common. No, Portis isn't changing his name to Johnny Bravo anytime soon and I doubt he ever stole a goat named Raquel, but after the Browns game, there was a playbook controversy the likes I haven't heard of since Marcia's boyfriend swiped Greg's binder before the big game.

IGN Sports sat down with Portis to get the real deal behind the controversy, his video game dominance, and why there are so many CP items on eBay.

Summer sun show me the way…

IGN Sports: Did you know you're one of the most dominant polygonal players in the history of video games?

Clinton Portis: I actually did, and that's a good thing. [laughs] Anytime you're in that position after only a few years to be that good in a video game, it makes me happy.

IGN Sports: When you were growing up playing video games, who were some of the unstoppable players you remember?

Clinton Portis: Tecmo Bowl…you could not block Lawrence Taylor, you could not stop Ronnie Lott. Then you had Andre Reed and James Lofton with the Bills. Jerry Rice with the Niners. Houston's four wide receivers, Ernest Givins was especially dangerous. It all started with Tecmo Bowl. Everybody always wanted the Giants and Niners because you couldn't stop them. The Niners were always the best team on all the games that came out from Tecmo Bowl on. They had Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Roger Craig, and back then, every game was about scoring as much as possible, so the Niners were the team.

IGN Sports: The key to your dominance in games like ESPN NFL 2K5 is definitely your speed. Priest Holmes once told me that he got his speed from running from the neighborhood dogs on his way home from school. Where did you get your speed?

Clinton Portis: I was running from whuppings. My cousins were always trying to catch me to take me in the house to get a whuppin', so I had to be fast to get away from them. [laughs]

IGN Sports: Do you still like to play video games in your spare time?

Clinton Portis: I actually do. I mostly play basketball and football games. I'm not really into all the fighting games and all of that. I'll play Bond every now and then, but for the most part, I stick to basketball and football. We actually have the games up at the Redskins facility, and there are usually so many people trying to play, that you really can't get down the way you like…you don't get to play against anyone enough times to build up a rivalry. Everybody is always competitive and wanting to play as the 'Skins or the team that you're on, so I usually play with some of my homeboys instead.

IGN Sports: Do you like playing as yourself or do you like testing out some of the other teams better?

Clinton Portis: Everybody who I play always wants to use me, so I always tell them that I'm the only one who knows how to stop Portis, so go ahead. I actually like to go and find the youngest team with the most talent. Right now I like to play as the Lions and Arizona, just for the excitement of playing as Larry Fitzgerald and Roy Williams.

IGN Sports: You mentioned a lot of great players earlier when you were talking about Tecmo Bowl, but who were your favorite players growing up?

Clinton Portis: Sam Mills, Pat Swilling, Ricky Jackson, Toi Cook, Bobby Hebert…love those Saints.

IGN Sports: If you liked so many linebackers, why didn't you want to play defense?

Clinton Portis: Back then, I actually did want to be on defense. I was a defensive player all the way until college. My senior year was the year of the big backs with Eddie George, Jamal Anderson, and Jerome Bettis. All those guys were running wild and I was probably 175-pounds watching TV like, man I don't want to tackle them. [laughs] I figured I needed to get on the other side of the ball and see if anybody could tackle me.

IGN Sports: I heard that you like to drive around town in a yellow Capris Classic. Is that true?

Clinton Portis: I used to, but I don't drive around it no more.

IGN Sports: With all your teammates buying Hummers and Benzes, why did you go old school?

Clinton Portis: I ain't like everybody else, man, I like to be different. If everybody else has something, I want to get the complete opposite.

IGN Sports: What are you driving now?

Clinton Portis: A station wagon. [laughs]

IGN Sports: Do you remember your first car?

Clinton Portis: The first car I ever had was a gray '87 Cutlass Sierra. That was my baby.

IGN Sports: I went to the store the other day and saw your old McFarlane figure on the shelves. Did you ever think that one day kids would not only be playing as you in a video game, but they'd have your action figure as well?

Clinton Portis: I actually did. You always wish and hope that something like that would happen, and to finally have that opportunity to do that is wonderful. You step in somebody's house and they have an action figure of you, that's exciting. It's exciting when kids look up to you or kids come up to you and ask for your autograph. When grown ups come up to you, that's really not exciting. Why would a grown man be excited for meeting another grown man? But when kids run up to you, it actually makes you enjoy what you do even more.

IGN Sports: What action figures did you play with as a kid?

Clinton Portis: I had some GI Joes, but I had to get rid of them because my God brother had more GI Joes than me. So I just gave all my action figures up. From then on, I played with cap guns and play money and just always wished I was rich. [laughs]

IGN Sports: I just looked up your name on eBay and there are 639 items for sale under the name Clinton Portis. Did you know you have your own small economy going?

Clinton Portis: No, I didn't. I need to go online and look that up because I'm missing some stuff. I think my best friend might be selling my things. I have to keep my eyes on him next time he comes over.

IGN Sports: How do you know when someone asks you for an autograph if it is going to be for them because they are a fan, or if it's going to be for sale two seconds after they walk away?

Clinton Portis: Like I said, if it's a kid, you always want to do stuff for kids. You never know what type of effect you could have on their life. But when a grown man is chasing you around a building or running through the hotel and trying to jump in your elevator, oh man, I can't even see it. What excitement can you possibly get from having my autograph besides selling it? What grown man wants my signature on a little piece of paper just to say he got it? That doesn't make any sense. So that's the key, I'll do anything for kids but I don't sign anything for grownups anymore.

IGN Sports: I know a lot of the talk this week has been about the Browns game and whether or not they knew your plays. What really happened out there?

Clinton Portis: I didn't talk about the Browns knowing our plays. The media asked me what was going on that day and I told them: "Ya'll were seeing the same thing I was seeing. They were hitting the hole before us like they knew our plays or something." The whole thing then gets blown out of proportion like I'm bashing Coach Gibbs and his play calling. I never questioned Coach Gibbs and his play calling, I never questioned what was going on out on the field. They were hitting the holes before I was hitting them. They were running to the holes and pointing to where I was supposed to be running. What do you want me to do? The media is going to make it out to be what they want it to be, but I never said that.

IGN Sports: When you play football video games, are you the type of guy to look at the screen and see what your opponent is calling before the play?

Cinton Portis: Never. That takes the fun out of the game. All I need to do is look at the formation anyway. You don't need to look at the plays that are on the screen, you need to judge what play they're calling by the time and distance, use your knowledge of the game to beat them, not cheating and looking at their plays.

IGN Sports: Are the games realistic enough now where you can actually read the defenses just like you do in real life?

Clinton Portis: You can, although all anyone runs is the 4-3 or nickel. You can't play nothing but man-to-man or cover-2 in these games, so knowing that, you just need to pick the right plays to get the job done. You have a 50-50 chance of calling the right play and making something big happen. I just wish we had those odds for real.

Clinton Portis also took time out this week to do a chat over at ESPN Videogames.com and answer a variety of questions from his fans. Head on over to find out what he had to say along with other chats from stars like Isaac Bruce, Tim Brown, Chad Johnson and Tony Gonzalez