Portis must be traded

The remaining sports columnist at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Paul Woody, hits a bulls-eye with his "Skins should sever ties with Portis."

From the media's standpoint, Portis is a delight to interview. He's polite and says what is on his mind.

As a running back for the Washington Redskins, Portis is a headache to coach.

Portis and coach Jim Zorn are having a difficult time co-existing. One of them must leave after this season.

It's time for Portis to go.

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Portis is a star in the NFL. He may well have more All-Pro seasons ahead of him. But what he said this time on John Thompson's radio show wasn't funny and it went too far. It had to have divided the Redskins locker room. Some of Portis' friends are probably still saying he was right in what he said. Surely, other players are backing their embattled rookie head coach, Jim Zorn.

In a team sport, Portis did what players can't do, even if what they say has plenty of truth in it. What Portis said on the radio about his coach needed to be said behind closed doors, to the coach's face, or not at all.

It's no secret that Portis doesn't like to practice. Like the fantastic basketball player, Allen Iverson, he believes he should save his all for the games. Both guys play hard. But I suspect Iverson will never play on a NBA championship team. The same goes for Portis. Neither guy seems to understand that talent alone doesn't win championships in team sports. The best team wins.

The Redskins can get plenty for Portis. In the off-season he should be traded for the best offensive lineman they can get. Maybe they can get a draft choice thrown in, too.

Zorn inherited a team with an offensive line that was about to fall apart and a quarterback who lacked confidence. As a rookie, hired out of the blue, it was not Zorn's job to tell owner Dan Snyder's Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Vinny Cerrato, that the offense sucked. It was his job to take the personnel he inherited and score more points.

Next year, for the Redskins to be a better team they will need better players, especially on offense. And, that means players who understand you can't divide the locker room into feuding camps. It may also mean a different quarterback.