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Shutdown Corner on the Raiders

  • Seahawks QB Josh Portis released after DUI arrest

    With all the talk about the Seattle Seahawks' multiple suspensions for violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy, and the allegedly undisciplined environment those suspensions appear to portray, it could be that backup quarterback Josh Portis did his former team a favor when he was arrested in suspicion of driving under the influence when he was pulled over near Seattle on May 5. The Seahawks released Portis on Tuesday, just one day after Portis was seen alternating reps with fellow backup quarterbacks Brady Quinn and Jerrod Johnson.

    Portis was traveling 80 miles per hour in a 60 miles per hour zone, and according to the arresting officer, performed poorly in field sobriety tests. He registered .092 and .078 in two breath tests. The legal limit in Washington State is .08. It was not a good time for Portis to mess up, given his shaky hold on a roster spot and the team's possible need to prove a point publicly. Portis, who transferred from Florida to Maryland to California (Pa.) in his collegiate career, made some strides as a backup with Seattle over the last few years by impressing coaches with his athleticism and deep arm, but he wasn't able to work that into a move up the depth chart, especially when Russell Wilson ascended as a third-round rookie in 2012, and Matt Flynn was relegated to the role of highly-paid benchwarmer.

    Seattle waived Portis in November of 2012 off the practice squad, and brought him back in April after trading Flynn to the Oakland Raiders, but there was no good reason to hang onto him in the face of his arrest, and some pretty good reasons to make a statement. In addition, the OTA performance of Johnson, a 6-foot-5, 251-pound undrafted free agent from Texas A&M, may have sealed Portis' fate.

    So, in a way, the Seahawks might be thanking Josh Portis for doing what he did -- and not being Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, or Russell Wilson when he did it.

    Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
    • Redskins fans explain their RG3 registry shopping spree
    • San Francisco wins bid to host Super Bowl L
    • Modified NFL calendar could push draft into May

  • Chargers rookie Keenan Allen makes the regrettable decision to wear Raiders hat in public

    That happy gentleman sipping on a cup there at right is Keenan Allen. He's living the high life right now, enjoying his status as a newly-minted NFL draft pick. Problem is, he's a draft pick of the San Diego Chargers ... and that there is a Raiders hat on his head.

    Rookie move, KA.

    This past weekend, Allen was trying a little social-media outreach, recording himself on Vine visiting an In-N-Out Burger. And, as so often happens when athletes get unfiltered access to the public, things turned ugly.

    Now, it's generally good form not to in any way endorse your competitors; if you're a Coke spokesman, you don't want to get caught drinking a Pepsi, for instance. But you can figure that Allen, who went to college at Cal, might be a Raiders fan from way back, and almost surely owned the hat before he was drafted in the third round by that bolt-oriented team to the south. Reasonable mistake, right? We can all agree that it was a simple oversight, can't we?

    Of course not. This is NFL fandom we're talking about here. Chargers faithful saw the hat and absolutely went ballistic. Lob Shots compiled a few of the best Twitter responses. Some of the lines we can actually share:

    "if that's post draft, that kid is an idiot. I won't be rooting for him." -@habitualistic

    "Typical San Diego! If he wore that in Denver he would get destroyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!" -@dnel0780

    "Welcome to San Diego. Now burn that Raiders hat" -@crackpotjack

    You get the idea. Allen deleted the Vine and took to Twitter to express his regrets:

    Of course, the fans didn't let it go that easily, with one replying, "Shouldn't have happened in the first place." Another fanned the flames of the grassroots burn-the-hat movement, which would win Allen pretty much the entire city of San Diego but put a price on his head in Oakland.

    Fun stuff, huh? When do we get to playing actual games again?

    Related NFL coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
    • Modified NFL calendar could push draft into May
    • NFL set to select sites for Super Bowl L and LI
    • Chip Kelly teaches Michael Vick how to carry a football

    -Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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