"If this is it for Clinton Portis in Washington, I won't remember him for lowering his shoulder and churning for more yards than any player in team history except John Riggins.

I won't remember Portis for his costumed personas such as Kid Bro Sweets and Southeast Jerome or the oft-forgotten Rev. Gonna Change, the alter ego that probably most resembled Portis this season.

If Portis has indeed taken his final handoff as a Redskin - a real possibility after he was put on injured reserve Wednesday - I will remember the person, not the player, who got a knock at his Miami hotel room door at 4 a.m. three years ago Saturday and heard the words he prayed he would not hear:

"Sean passed."

He sobbed when he found out his best friend on the team was murdered in a home invasion. Sean Taylor's tragic death was followed by a funeral and five more regular season games during the 2007 season - and, incredibly, one postseason game after the Redskins won their last four to advance.

"I was just in shock, emotional shock," Portis said then. "I couldn't accept it at first. Nothin' seemed real, nothin' at all."

He recounted some of his memories of Taylor this week. (Full disclosure: Portis appears weekly on a radio show I co-host on 106.7 FM.) One of them included taking all-terrain vehicles into the Northern Virginia hills on a 16-degree day. "