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In 2009, the Artist Formerly Known As Ron Artest admitted that he had regularly drunk Hennessey— his liquor of choice— in the locker room during the halftime of games while he was a member of the Chicago Bulls in order to ease the pain of the team losing so often. However, based on a recent interview with former Washington Redskin’s running back Clinton Portis, Metta World Peace wasn’t the only person who was imbibing on gameday.
Portis and former teammate Santana Moss recently sat down for an interview with NBC to reflect upon the 2007 murder of Sean Taylor ten years after the botched home invasion that led to his death. The two gave an incredibly insightful 45-minute interview discussing the emotional fallout that came in the wake of the incident, with Portis sharing an incredibly revealing fact about pregame traditions in the Redskins locker room.
Portis candidly shared that he, Moss, and Taylor had regularly taken a shot of Hennessy together before stepping onto the field— a tradition he said began after he had a stellar performance while playing hungover. The routine continued after Taylor’s death before coach Jim Zorn— who was hired after Taylor’s passing— became aware of the players’ habits.
Here is a clip of them talking about the pre-game shots. I would watch the whole interview though. It's 45 minutes but it flies by pic.twitter.com/BxIiXGLyr0
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) December 5, 2017
Portis explain the rationale behind the ritual:
“Prior to the game, on our way, we would take a little shot. Not like going out and getting sloppy wasted; just adrenaline. You know, you take a shot and you were done with it. Me, Santana and Sean, we did this for a year and a half before anybody knew. We never told anybody. It was just, hey, here’s a little sip, bam, that was it.”
The Redskins had a middling record during the years the trio consumed the shots, so I think it’s safe to say Hennessey is far from a performance-enhancing drug.