Former Redskins and Broncos running back Clinton Portis says he played through concussions more times than he can remember during his nine-year NFL.
“The truth is I had a lot of concussions,” Portis told Mike Freeman of CBS. “It was just the way things were at the time. I’d get hit hard and be woozy. I’d be dizzy. I’d take a play off and then go back in. Sometimes when I went back into the game, I still couldn’t see straight. This happened all the time. Sometimes once or twice a game.”
Portis said he thinks he had more than 10 concussions, but he really doesn’t know for sure.
“I can’t put an exact number on it,” he adds. “I just know it was a lot. I stopped counting at some point.”
Portis does not, however, have the kinds of health problems that some players suffer in retirement.
“I have a few aches and pains,” he said, “nothing major. None of the, ‘I can’t stand up or walk’ stuff. I got away from the game at the perfect time. To be 31 and retired and spending time with my kids, I love it.”
Here’s hoping Portis can continue to say that for many more years of retirement.