It seems that Richard Sherman ranting after the Seattle Seahakws made their way to the Super Bowl, aiming his words specifically at Michael Crabtree, is still an issue, as even the NFL’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, decided to make his opinion heard even though no one really regards it when it comes to actually playing football.
Rewind: After beating the San Francisco 49ers, Sherman came up to Michael Crabtree (who he denied a potential game winning touchdown) and tried to shake his hand (saying hell of a game, hell of a game). Crabtree instead shoved Sherman in the face, which had Sherman all fired up by the time it was time for him to be interviewed by Erin Andrews.
Goodell, and pretty much everyone on the planet, took it a bit too seriously it seems.
Sherman is such a great young man. He is extremely well-spoken, does great things off the field, obviously a great player on the field. I want him to present himself in the best possible way and make sure that he is reflecting on himself and his family in a positive way. He took away a little bit from the team, that’s what he said yesterday, and I think that was a very interesting comment and I think that was fair.
The only thing Goodell is right about was Sherman “stealing” the attention from his teammates. But is Sherman really stealing it? The media decided to make his whole interaction with Crabtree the main focus of after the game: Not Malcolm Smith intercepting the pass, not Marshawn Lynch having another huge playoff game; not Russell Wilson quietly being efficient; not Colin Kaepernick proving once again how he can’t be trusted to win games with his passing skills and decision making.
And Sherman was smart enough, even on his own or maybe with Pete Carroll making some “suggestions” to apologize for stealing his team’s thunder. But what do you expect from a football player to do seconds after he made a game-winning play in the biggest game of his career, with the addition of Michael Crabtree fueling the fire by refusing to shake his hands?
No profanity, nothing of the sorts. Just a passionate shout out to the camera about himself and Crabtree. It might not be the gentleman thing to do, but Goodell. who has no idea about what it is to be a football player, decided that Sherman being emotional on camera is bad for the NFL for whatever reason. The league’s chairman should focus on making more money for his owners, his own inflated salary ($29.5 million) and finally doing the right thing about concussions instead of talking about comments that have nothing to do with him.