As we inch closer towards the Super Bowl, one of the most talked about moments in the conference championship weekend was Richard Sherman not getting a handshake from Michael Crabtree, which led to Sherman’s rant on national television, immediately gaining cult status.

Everyone heard that Sherman was mic’d up by the NFL before the game, which meant we were going to get the sound, and not just the sight, of his encounter with Crabtree. As you might remember, Sherman, after denying Crabtree what would have been a game winning touchdown by tipping a pass into the hands of Malcolm Smith, whose interception ended the game and got the win for the Seahawks over the 49ers, ran over to Crabtree, offering to shake his hand. Crabtree instead pushed Sherman in the face, which got him even more fired up than usual.

Some thought that because Sherman has a big mouth and didn’t put on the most dignified of appearances while being interviewed by Erin Andrews that he also probably didn’t act too “nice” with Crabtree after the game ended. But from the soundbite it seems that he didn’t do anything wrong, or say it in a sarcastic voice. He just said “hell of a game” twice and offered his hand up for a shake. Crabtree instead pushed him in the face.

Crabtree allegedly tried to start a fight with Sherman during the offseason during a charity event. Sherman mentioned he is going to haunt Crabtree for the rest of his career whenever they meet, and he had enough of a reason to chase him around the field and feel extra motivated to humiliate the wide receiver, regardless of the rivalry between the teams that has a lot to do with the personal situation.

This isn’t a 49ers – Seahawks thing, it’s a personal view. Sherman talks during games quite a lot and probably didn’t stop chewing Crabtree’s ear off, but it doesn’t really matter. Sherman didn’t do anything unprofessional after the game: He only offered to shake hands with Crabtree and get it over with, at least for that evening. Crabtree was the one who turned out to be a petty person, a sore loser. It doesn’t really matter for the next few months: The 49ers are in offseason mode and the Seahawks have the Super Bowl & Peyton Manning to think about, but we’ll have two more games between Seattle and San Francisco next season, and the first thing on everyone’s mind will be what the interaction between cornerback and wide receiver will bring us this time.

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