After the Seahawks massive choke against the Patriots in the Super Bowl, there was more than enough blame to go around. Pete Carol was blamed for not running the ball while on the one yard line with the best running back in NFL, Marshawn Lynch. Russell Wilson was blamed for throwing the vital interception that cost the Seahawks the chance to become the first team to be repeat Super Bowl champs in over a decade. Richard Sherman received heavy criticism for….. well, nothing
Richard Sherman, the best cornerback in the NFL, was the subject of hundreds of hate infused tweets. Richard Sherman, the cornerback that allowed only one six yard completion in the entire game, was verbally abused on twitter worse than any other player. Richard Sherman’s reaction to his quarterback throwing the worst interception in NFL history was widely ridiculed. Why is Sherman the subject of so much over the top hatred?
Most would point to Sherman’s incessant taunting and cocky behavior on and off the field. Sherman’s taunting is well documented, the most famous example being his postgame rant about Michael Crabtree after the 2013 NFC Championship game. Sherman was even seen taunting longtime rival, cornerback Darrell Revis after Revis got burned for a touchdown during the Super Bowl.
Sherman may be a frequent trash talker, but that doesn’t mean America has to hate him. Deion Sanders may be the cockiest athlete of all time, but never had anywhere near the hate Sherman has. Professional sports are the highest level of athletic competition in the world, and the only way to be the best is through extreme self-belief. Sherman’s trash talk fuels him and gives him the competitive fire he needs to keep up his greatness.
Even if you don’t like Sherman’s cockiness, you can at least understand it. Sherman has been doubted his entire life, forming a chip on his shoulder bigger than the animatronic lion Katy Perry rode into the Super Bowl halftime show. Sherman was underrated coming out of high school, only ranked a three star recruit by both ESPN and Rivals. He was doubted coming out of college falling to the fifth round in a draft, while 23 cornerbacks were picked ahead of him, 23 players Sherman can still recite to this day. Every time Sherman has moved on to the next level coaches and scouts have given him no chance to be a success. Sherman has proved the doubters wrong time and time again.
Sherman’s hard work and defiance to prove his critics wrong is an incredible trait, a trait that should be appreciated. Sherman is often typecast as a villain, he may not be a hero, but he definitely isn’t a villain. What villain starts a foundation to help kids in troubled areas, such as the Compton neighborhood he grew up in, have success in school and make a better life for themselves?
His trash talking is all for a purpose, whether to motivate himself or to disrupt his opponent, Sherman’s trash talking is beneficial to his game. Even his off field trash talk has helped him out. His twitter feud with Darrell Revis, at the time considered the best cornerback in football, propelled a relatively unknown Sherman into the national spotlight. The same thing happened with his rant after the NFC Championship game; the rant transformed Sherman from NFL Pro Bowler into household name practically overnight.
Not only is Sherman’s trash talk beneficial to him, its entertaining. Sherman fits in perfectly with today’s NFL. The NFL is the ultimate entertainment machine, and Sherman fits into it perfectly. He is constantly engaging; from his incredible plays to his post-game press conferences Sherman is the epitome of entertainment in the modern NFL.
Football is not a gentlemen’s game, like tennis or golf. It’s a gladiator sport, the world’s best athletes playing the world’s most violent sport. In a sport like football, it’s not surprising for tensions to flare and outbursts to occur. At least Sherman doesn’t throw punches on the field, unlike Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski who is somehow beloved by America.
People brand Sherman as a thug, one of the most offensive and nonsense things people say about him. Would a thug graduate from Stanford, a university on par with Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Yale? Most people criticizing Sherman would never even dream of getting into a school like Stanford, much less graduating.
A thug is a person who is violent, most used to describe a criminal. Richard Sherman has a squeaky clean legal record. Unlike a large population of NFL players, Sherman has been a model citizen. He has not gotten caught up in domestic violence scandals or other legal trouble like many other NFL players.
Anyone who understands Sherman’s life story has much more respect for him. Sherman is a great story, a kid growing up in the rough neighborhood of Compton, who through hard work and perseverance graduated high school as salutatorian and was accepted into Stanford, one of the best universities in the world. While there Sherman was dominant on the football field and an incredible student graduating with a degree in communications and starting a master’s degree. Sherman embodies the American Dream, something that most American citizen’s take pride in. So why don’t we love Sherman?
Sherman has earned the right to say whatever he wants about his game. He is a Super Bowl Champion, the Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and the best player on one of the best defenses of all time. He is a leader for his Legion of Boom teammates on and off the gridiron, and his play has given him the right to boast however he wants. So stop calling him a thug and respect him for who he is, a unique, intelligent Stanford graduate who marches to the beat of his own drum. Stop and appreciate his greatness instead of writing him off as just another dumb, egotistical football player, because if you do, you’ll be the one looking stupid.