Former Bronco Clinton Portis ran for 228 yards in a game while hungover

Clinton Portis may be remembered more for being traded for Champ Bailey than his actual career for the Denver Broncos, but before the deal that sent him to Washington—the two years Portis had in the Mile High City were special.

In Portis’ first season out of Miami, he was the Offensive Rookie of the Year, and a season later he was a Pro Bowler. But it was during that electric first season that the star rusher says was his favorite memory while at a Mile High. No, it wasn’t his five-touchdown game in 2003 that still stands as a franchise record—rather it was his 228-yard outburst against the Arizona Cardinals in 2002 that makes Portis laugh.

And that’s because the second-biggest rushing performance in Broncos history was five steps away from not happening. After all, he was hungover.

“I think everyone wants to answer the five-touchdown game, that was great against Kansas City, but my favorite memory would be us playing Arizona,” Portis told 104.3 The Fan’s The Drive hosted by Zach Bye and another former Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay. “The Arizona Cardinals, the last game of the season, my rookie year, and anyone that is in Denver or anyone that knows the story knows that I was I was five steps away from knocking on coach (Mike) Shanahan’s door to tell him, ‘Hey, bro, I’m hungover. I can’t play, I’m sick. I’m throwing up like, I can’t play this game.’

“And Shannon Sharpe stopped me and was like, ‘Bro, what are you doing? That’s not his problem. You have to be a professional.’ I’m 21 at the time, no clue what the requirements are. Just knowing I don’t feel well and Sharpe made me contrast whirlpools (cold and hold) and go out and run. And I’m throwing up all over the sidelines in pregame and I come out in what I think was my best career game was that game because of the conditions I was playing in. I had like 228 and it was like a video game. Yeah, under these conditions I just performed. The sky was the limit at that time, it was like I could do anything.”

The 228 yards on 24 carries for a wild 9.5 yards a carry with two touchdowns and another 18 yards on two catches was the best-rushing game by yards gained of Portis’ career. Portis finished his story on The Drive by saying he was thankful to play in Denver but who knows what could’ve happened if he and the group that mostly just won a Super Bowl a few years before had stayed together.

“I never wanted to leave Denver,” Portis sharedwitho Bye and Lindsay. “And then the opportunity came so with that being said it was like if we could have made it work, and you know I think the fans are great, the city is great and the team was great, camaraderie, the culture on that team was great, everybody did everything together. To come in and kind of make it a smooth transition with TD (Terrell Davis) retiring with Shannon Sharpe retiring and the guys kind of hanging up their cleats to the transition to me becoming kind of the face of that offense and then Jake (Plummer) was a big addition. It would’ve been crazy.”

Of course, Portis was dealt in one of the best trades for both sides in NFL history, sent to Washington for the draft pick that became Tatum Bell and the Hall of Fame cornerback Bailey. Portis played seven more years in Washington, even linking up with Shanahan at the end. He went to another Pro Bowl and added four more 1,000-yard seasons to the two he notched in Denver. Meanwhile, Bell had four years in Denver including a single 1,000-yard season but everyone knows about Champ. The corner played for a decade, earning three All-Pro honors and eight Pro Bowl trips as a Bronco, earning him a spot in the team’s Ring of Fame. His final game in the NFL was Super Bowl XLVIII.

“I felt like I didn’t have any responsibilities, all I had to do was play football,” Portis said of his salad days in Denver.

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