Alright, so initially I wasn’t going to speak on this, but since everyone else still is, I might as well.
Last week following their NFC Championship win over the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman let loose, going on a verbal tirade ripping 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree. They (the media, Twitter, etc) haven’t let Sherman live since.
“…I’m the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree that’s the result you gon’ get!”
Those were Richard Sherman’s remarks to Fox’s Erin Andrews following the game and the backlash for those remarks has been slightly uncalled for and a little over the top in some instances.
“Thug”
“Classless”
“Unsportsmanlike”
“Embarrassment to black men”
Those are just a few of the descriptions I’ve seen regarding Sherman and what he said. But why does it have to be all that? Was it really that serious? I, personally, don’t think so. And if you keep reading you’ll find out why.
Football, like many other sports, is a physical, competitive game. Those guys are out there going hard, giving it their all for 60 minutes. There’s going to be passion. There’s going to be emotion; especially in a game of high stakes. So things like trash talk and ‘excessive’ celebrations naturally come with the territory.
What Richard Sherman said in the post game interview wasn’t out of line at all. It wasn’t an “embarrassment to black men” or anything of the sort. It was simply a competitive professional athlete stating that he is the best at what he does and letting it be known that if there was a battle between he and Michael Crabtree, Michael Crabtree lost.
There was no foul committed here. This was raw emotion and passion being displayed on live television and I guess because Richard Sherman was black, it came across as a menacing and disrespectful gesture; but it wasn’t. People act like Sherman threatened Crabtree’s life or threatened to eat his kids (a la Mike Tyson). It wasn’t, and still isn’t that serious. We just need to let go of all this politically correct stuff and stop being so scared to be ourselves. What Richard Sherman did was real, but people don’t respect it because everything these days is so fake.
Fine him. Crucify him. However, the fact remains that Richard Sherman’s team is headed to the Super Bowl and he’s arguably the reason why. You have to respect that, if nothing else.
-CH-
