Richard Sherman is the mouth that roared. After his post game interview with FOX Sports Erin Andrews it seems like the entire world has an opinion. Every news outlet from NBC to CNN over hyped Sherman’s comments toward San Francisco 49er receiver Michael Crabtree and instantly turned him into a villain. Over the past few days the backlash has turned visceral as people on twitter have even tried to bring race into the issue. A few very credible individuals have come to Richard Sherman’s defense including his college coach David Shaw and baseball Hall of Fame legend Hank Aaron.
50 Cent once said “Hate or love It, the underdog’s on top….” If you only knew what Richard Sherman went through to get to get that moment this past Sunday. Sherman is a ‘G’ from the streets of Compton California. Not a G in the street terms but a Genius. Sherman had a GPA of 3.9 in college while attending Standford University, the same school as Andrew Luck. He graduated with a degree in Communications and is pursing his Masters. Sherman wasn’t drafted until the 5th round of the 2011 NFL draft and wasn’t an immediate starter in Seattle. He shined though, achieving All Rookie honors by the end of the season.
Since his rookie season, Richard Sherman has become a 2 time All Pro, a Pro Bowler and is apart of the NFL’s best defense collectively known as the Legion of Boom. Better then all of this though, is the fact the Sherman is a showman. He is why we watch the Seahawks. Seattle has the hero QB Russell and the villian DB Richard. Sherman’s shut down ability is second to none. But he talks that smack and can back it up. That’s why we love him or love to hate him. His post game twitter pic with Tom Brady under the caption ” U Mad Bro?” was hilarious. Calling himselfOptimus Prime when he matched up against The Detroit Lions Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson was genius, especially when he limited Johnson to 3 catches and 46 yards. His post game comments are often full of color: wordy, brash, very blunt and funny. He is a man who isn’t short on confidence and can you blame him? He can write and cash the check.
I get it. Everybody feels that Sherman should have had more class but this was a rare sporting moment. You have buzzer beaters in basketball and walk off home runs in baseball. But when is the last time you saw the games best CB tip a touchdown saving catch to seal the victory and send his team to the Super Bowl? That was some mythical unicorn type movie ish. That scenario will probably never happen again in such dramatic fashion. Plus it validated all the smack talk from Sherman. Basically, he got the last laugh. But even still, were all here talking about Richard Sherman like he’s the problem. He has gone from unheard of to super villain in a few short seasons. Now he’s on TV under the ‘scope’ making the interview rounds explaining his actions. But maybe the ‘Genius’ Sherman from Compton, whom graduated with a 3.9 GPA and was ‘slept on’ but still balled his way to the top, in Seattle…, planned it like this all along.
As for certain people in the media, especially outlets like NBC or CNN, if they’re so concerned about sports figures being classy, why aren’t they critical of NASCAR for their post race fist to cuffs between drivers and crews? Why doesn’t the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella have to go on TV and explain his behavior for attempting to chase Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley into the dressing room? Why doesn’t Tom Brady have to ‘chill out’ when he explodes on the sidelines in front of camera’s. I’m just saying…..
-Brandon TNT West
