Seattle Seahawks corner back Richard Sherman gave a post championship game interview that has the country in a commotion. Sherman’s outburst was brash, disrespectful, lacking in class, uncouth, and totally awesome.
The self-proclaimed best cornerback in the game cut one of the most fantastic postgame interview with his brief but memorable conversation with Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews after the NFC championship game. He called out his rival Michael Crabtree of being a subpar player in true fashion of one of the most loved sports in America.
People are ragging on him, saying that he isn’t the best, but you can’t really argue with him on that point. He has proven that he is one of the best at that position in quite some time. Plus, the guy did just come up with an amazing game-saving play to seal the victory—and a spot in the Super Bowl—for his team.
People are also calling Sherman a thug or worse, to which he responded. “I show passion on the football field—but that’s only a small part of who I am. If you want to judge me, I can handle it.” What some who would judge him don’t know is that he graduated top of his class from high school, went to Stanford University with a football scholarship, and graduated with a communications degree. His charity, Blanket Coverage, has raised approximately $100,000 for inner-city schools since its launch in April. When he was in high school, he volunteered to help out at Special Olympics. Does that sound like the definition of a thug to you? Just because he is also ultracompetitive, and takes the game personally is no reason to judge him.
Most disappointing are the comments that can be seen online that refer to Sherman’s race. People call him everything from a “thug” to a “violent black man.” Once again, racism rears its head. How does the color of his skin affect ANYTHING? It’s really quite ridiculous and those less than intelligent people are the ones that deserve the scrutinizing, not the passionate football player.
The only bad thing that I can see being said about Sherman’s interview is that he unknowingly took away from his team winning the NFC championship and making it into the 2014 Super Bowl. Even his coach said so, but other than that, his slate is clean as far as I’m concerned.
The thing is, it is refreshing to hear a football player be so brutally honest. I mean it’s football, who wants to hear from a guy who is more concerned with being politically correct or worried about his endorsement deals to share his actual thoughts? Sherman’s response to Andrews was raw, and completely what he was thinking, no filter.
Let’s take a moment and put this into perspective for those who are personally offended by Sherman’s outburst. This was just seconds after the game had ended. Seconds after Sherman made the play of the game and the reporter caught him in a fresh rush of adrenaline and emotion. Some players cry or thank God at the top of their lungs. Some, like Sherman, take it out on the other teams players. In this case, Crabtree by Sherman.
Aren’t sports all about rivalries and taking out the bitterness of said rivalries on the field? What happened to the days when we had rivals all over the league and they genuinely hated each other, on and off the field? Isn’t that half the reason to love this sport?
Was his interview classless? Of course it was! But since when did we expect football players to have class on the field? Part of the love of the sport is watching these guys beat the crap out of each other in the name of the game. A sport as violent and angry and passionate as the NFL needs teams—and players—that don’t like each other.
This whole thing really comes down to the media. Most of the postgame interviews are horrible and not worth broadcasting. Sherman’s admittedly brash honesty gave football fans across the nation a moment we can remember, a moment drenched in the high of the play of his career. Of course they aired it over the rest.
I hope that more players start doing what Sherman did. Sure, it was classless and rude. Also brash and incredibly raw. Totally disrespectful to a fellow NFL player. But, let’s not forget how undeniably awesome it was too.
