OT- Thoughts on Richard Sherman interview

Let me preface this by saying I am a huge Seahawks fan. I grew up in Seattle and moved back here last year. I follow this team religously. I didn't miss a game this year, and I have watched and read a ton about every player on this team. Now that I've disclosed that allow me to say, that post-game interview was actually the most incendiary Sherman has ever been and I took issue with one part of it but not the entire thing. He has a mouth on him and he has never hesitated running it, but what I saw last night was much worse than his typical rants. There were probably three major reasons for that:

1) He has some bad blood with Harbaugh. Sherman has long held that Harbaugh was bad-mouthing him before the NFL draft and that was why he fell so far. Whether true or not, he has certainly outplayed his 5th round draft slot and he must have some reason for making those claims. Harbaugh also took some potshots at substance abuse issues basically calling guys who use cheaters (Sherman's own positive test for adderall was overturned). This point alone sets the stage for Sherman to really loathe the 49ers. 

2) He has some bad blood with Crabtree. Crabtree made some comments leading up to the game to the tune of downplaying Sherman's abilities and his relative place among elite corners. I didn't think Crabtree's comments were that bad, but Sherman has used comments like those for years to fuel his fire. There are also reports that Sherman and Crabtree had some offseason workouts together in Arizona this past year and apparently there was some incident there so those guys already dislike each other. Additionally I'd say there was probably some major jawing going on between those guys all game. Crabtree isn't exactly the most gracious player in the world either. Much has been made of Sherman hunting Crabtree down afterward, but I could swear he went over to shake his hand and Crabtree pushed him away. 

3) Sherman was 60 seconds removed from making the most important play of his life in an extremely hard-fought game against his team's most bitter rival to send the Seahawks to the Superbowl. For a guy who already has a pretty poor filter I'd say what came out of his mouth should have probably been expected at that point in time. 

I really only had a problem with him denigrating Crabtree. There's no need to knock Crabtree, Kaepernick, or the 49ers down. I don't think it's thuggish like some, but it does lack grace. Sherman's passion for the game and declarations about his ability don't bother me. He's always been that way. He plays with a chip on his shoulder and if you read about his early life it isn't really hard to understand why. He is mouthy and to many he is classless and that is okay. The NFL does need guys like him though. If every guy acted like Barry Sanders or Calvin Johnson not only would it be just a little less entertaining, but in contrast we wouldn't understand just how special and amazing guys like that are. 

tl;dr version: Sherman's worst comments ever, the 49ers coach and wide-recievers contributed to that, Sherman should grow up a lot, he's not a thug, he does have a serious lack of decorum, he is entertaining as hell though

"don't judge a person's character by what they do between the lines...judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family."

I guess I thought the definition of character is that you are the same person no matter where you are or what setting you are in.  If I have to explain to you what areas of my life you are not allowed to judge my character by, then it pretty much reveals my true character?  

He's a great player  He's also a complete asshole who makes it almost impossible to root for the Seahawks.  I never thought I'd root for Peyton Manning but I think I'd like to see Manning just torch him in 2 weeks. 

this is still being talked about.

He is getting exactly what he wanted... EVERYONE is talking about him. 

As the old saying goes... No publicity is bad publicity.

Russell Wilson - Richard Sherman

World's apart.

If you REALLY are the best at something you typically don't have to seek and convince people with your mouth.  Crabttee actually made a good point - "He made one play - he didn't doing anything else the rest of the game."  

I think he is getting a little too much run for that one play.  #1 - It was not a good throw #2 He got a lucky deflection that someone else caught for an interception.  Had the linebacker not been there the Niners are still alive and probably on their way to face the Broncos.  

I also think Crabtree was covering for his quarterback who completely folded in the last minutes of the game. No is talking about the fact if Kap had put the ball one yard further we would not even be having this discussion.

He's certainly not a thug, and I didn't think his Erin Andrews interview was as bad as everyone seems to think. Totally cocky and lacking in humility but also emotionally charged after making the winning play. But.....he continued the tirade well into the press conference, after he had dresed and showered, calling Crabtree mediocre at best. Just from a class stand point, he should have moved on. He should have said, "Let's talk about the Broncos and that game." I felt like sticking with the Crabtree line showed a lack of character. Michael Jordan was really cocky about his own play but I don't remember him, in the calm of an after game press conference after his team had won, calling out players on the other team for playing poorly (in his estimation). 

I missed this after the game, but I think the issue isn't that he was emotional, but that (a) he really was super-amped up and didn't seem able/willing to calm down a bit for an interview, (b) he seemed SUPER pissed about something but wouldn't go into any detail, which makes him look like a crazy person ranting about voices, and (c) because he's had a bit of history getting into verbal confrontations plus the overturned violation of the league's drug abuse policy, it's hard to treat this as an isolated incident of a guy being emotional.

Personally, it's a football game.  Guys get amped up.  I wouldn't necessarily want to use him as an example for young kids to emulate, but there are worse people in the league by the long shot.  Kind of a nothing controversy.

The only thing worse than a poor loser is a poor winner. My wife and I were yelled at by a Sparty at Krogers just the other day. This guy riding around in the electric cart Krogers supplies handycap folks with screams Go Green! Go Spartans!, after he looked at my UM ballcap I was sportin. I caught up with him and said the poor loser quote to him and he seemed to actually feel bad for being such a tool. So being humble and respectful after a big win or a beat down speaks volumes to me. Go Blue!!!