ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins apologized Tuesday
for comments running back Clinton Portis made during a television
interview ridiculing authorities for pursuing possible dog fighting
charges against Michael Vick.
Also, tackle Chris Samuels said he was wrong for joking about
dog fighting during the interview he and Portis did Monday with
WAVY-TV in Norfolk.
In the segment, Portis said that Vick would be put "behind bars
for no reason" if the Atlanta Falcons quarterback were charged and
convicted for dog fighting. Samuels laughed during much of the
interview.
"The Washington Redskins, as an organization, obviously would
never condone anything related to animal cruelty," the team's
statement said. "The team takes the recent comments of Clinton
Portis very seriously and apologizes to everyone that was
offended."
It was the second statement in two days from the Redskins over
the dog fighting flap. Late Monday, the team released a statement
on behalf of Portis in which the running back said: "I want to
make it clear I do not take part in dog fighting or condone dog
fighting in any manner."
Portis and Samuels giggled and laughed frequently during the
interview as they defended Vick, who has been under investigation
since a police raid at one of his houses discovered dozens of dogs
and items associated with dog fighting. No charges have been filed.
"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not," Portis said in
the interview. "But it's his property; it's his dogs. If that's
what he wants to do, do it."
Portis, a native of Laurel, Miss., added: "I know a lot of back
roads that got a dog fight if you want to go see it. But they're
not bothering those people because those people are not big names.
I'm sure there's some police got some dogs that are fighting them,
some judges got dogs and everything else."
When Portis suggested that Vick would be "cheated" if charged
and convicted, Samuels giggled and said: "Haven't you seen Animal
Planet?"
On Tuesday, Samuels apologized for his behavior.
"We were wrong for joking about the situation," Samuels said.
"It's very serious. We don't agree with dog fighting."