Washington Commanders

Clinton Portis: Christianity divided the locker room under Jim Zorn

Published Oct. 21, 2015 11:43 a.m. ET

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Former Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis has never been afraid to speak his mind. On Monday, Portis appeared on ESPN 980 where a discussion about Jay Gruden's grip on the locker room soon turned into an interesting revelation about former head coach Jim Zorn's coaching style.

Portis was brief when he opined that Gruden has not and will not lose the locker room, and he instead expanded on how Zorn lost his team during his first season as head coach in 2008.

Cooley, who also played under Zorn, added some more context to Portis' claim.

Later in the interview, Portis made sure listeners didn't misinterpret his original statement -- just because he brought in someone to give a sermon every day doesn't mean that Zorn was a preacher himself.

However, for those players who preferred a head ball coach who put the football program first, Zorn wasn't it. Both Portis and Cooley played under a head coach who provided an excellent contrast to Zorn.

Leave it to Portis and Cooley to turn a conversation about Gruden into a discussion about the role of religion in the locker room and the first Jim Zorn name drop in years. Zorn was fired from the Redskins after going 4-12 during the 2009 regular season. It was just his second season as Washington's head coach.

(h/t Washington Post)