Turned Out His Number Was Up ... for Grabs

When Clinton Portis joined the Washington Redskins from the Denver Broncos before this season, he wanted jersey No. 26, his number in Denver. During training camp, he agreed to pay safety Ifeanyi Ohalete $40,000 to give up the number.

Ohalete ended up with the Arizona Cardinals after being cut by the Redskins, and Portis, who got a $50.5-million contract with the Redskins, never paid him the $40,000.

Ohalete, who has filed a lawsuit against Portis, learned that sometimes it doesn’t pay to give someone the shirt off your back.

Trivia time: What did new Dodger J.D. Drew and the Angels’ Vladimir Guerrero have in common last season?

Moss gathers controversy: A week after walking off the field with two seconds to play, the Minnesota Vikings’ Randy Moss was back in the news for pretending to moon Green Bay fans.

Said Fox’s Howie Long: “It just goes to show that talent and class don’t always go hand in hand.”

Of Moss’ stunt the week before, Fox’s Cris Collinsworth said he would have benched him for three or four series Sunday.

“Not that he would have cared,” Collinsworth added.

More Moss: Regarding Moss’ leaving a game early, CBS’ Shannon Sharpe of “The NFL Today” said, “Have I ever [left the field]? Yes, I have. It’s a situation where if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If the camera does not catch Randy Moss walking off the field, do we make a big deal out of it? No, I don’t think we do.”

Careful now: Matt Leinart says he is leaning toward returning to play one more season at USC, instead of signing a big NFL contract. So what are his teammates thinking?

“They are all kind of against what I’m thinking,” Leinart told ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel last week. “They want me to take them out and buy them stuff.”

Said Kimmel: “I’m sure they do. Yeah, violate all those NCAA rules. The heck with it all.”

Attention, Donald Sterling: From Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune: “New Phoenix Suns’ owner Robert Sarver, who waves a big foam finger at courtside during games, dunked off a trampoline like the Suns’ gorilla mascot during a game last week. Which owner would you love to see do that next?”

Looking back: On this day in 1981, Jim Plunkett led the Oakland Raiders to a 34-27 victory over the San Diego Chargers. The Raiders became the first AFC wild-card team to advance to the Super Bowl, where they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10.

Trivia answer: They were two of only four major league players to bat .300 or better and also have at least 100 runs, 30 home runs, 90 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases. The other two were Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies and Carlos Lee, who was with the Chicago White Sox before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers last month.

And finally: TNT’s Kenny Smith, on Kobe Bryant: “He has got 99 problems, but skills ain’t one [of them].”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.