Richard Sherman

OK so it's been a few days since the Seattle Seahawks beat my beloved Forty-Niners in the NFC Championship game and I've had time to reflect a little bit. Clearly no amount of reflection is going to change my opinion of the outcome. No amount of reflection is going to change my opinion of the officials botching a key Roughing the Kicker penalty that should have given San Francisco a first down rather than the Seahawks getting the ball around midfield, and don't get me started on the fumble that Niners linebacker Navarro Bowman recovered on the goal line, and maintained clear possession of DESPITE TEARING THE ACL AND MCL IN HIS KNEE, only to have the referees botch that call and give the ball back to Seattle (yes, I know the Seahawks fumbled the ball back on the next play, thereby making that result irrelvent, but STILL....if a player can make a play like that while tearing two knee ligaments, surely the referees can get that call right for goodness sake).

But how about my opinion of Richard Sherman?

If you have not been living under a rock since the game, you are aware of his post-game actions, from getting in the face of Niners receiver Michael Crabtree right after Sherman's game clinching interception, to the not-so-classy choking indication by putting his hands repeatedly to his throat, to his now-infamous post-game rant interviews with Erin Andrews and anyone else who would put a microphone in front of him. There is little denying that he put himself in front of his team, while deriding a defeated opponent at every opportunity (and, hey, Richard....just so you know, Michael Crabtree is a pretty damn good player too, so calling him "sorry" and "mediocre" just makes you look like a very poor winner). That's pretty classless.

Immediately the world of social media blew up. It's an interesting age we live in, isn't it?. I was not immune, taking to Twitter to say quite a few not-so-nice things about Sherman specifically, the Seahawks and their fans. One Hawks fan pushed my buttons to the point I told her to "go F**K" herself (which I later did apologize for).

Then something interesting happened. Searching for "Richard Sherman" on Twitter resulted in quite a large number of tweets....many of them negative, not surprisingly......but many of them positive as well. Sure, Seahawks fans don't seem to care that Sherman is always brash and cocky in front of the cameras, was suspended for using performance enhancing drugs (which was later overturned on appeal on a technicality), and seems to go out of his way to promote himself above his team at every opportunity.

But it wasn't just Seahawks fans supporting him. Members of the media, many of whom I respect, came to Sherman's defense (not all of them, for sure. Tony Dungy told Sherman to "show some class", and Tom Brady said that the Patriots "win with class", an obvious shot at Sherman). Is it just a case of the media being happy that SOMEONE said something interesting, giving them something to fill up airtime with? Granted, nobody needs to hear another interview with any athlete channeling his inner Crash Davis - "I'm just happy to be here, hope I can help the ball club". BARF. But isn't it possible to say something interesting - maybe even slightly controversial - without going on a Mike Tyson-esque self promotional rant?

Ok so Sherman was excited. Fine. He deserved to be. He thinks he's the best cornerback on the planet. Fine...there are 3 or 4 guys that would legitimately disagree with him, but he's entitled to his opinion, and he's certainly very good. Do you need to get on National television and shout that you are the best in the world? And do you have to run down your opponents while you do it? Ok so there is apparently history there, Crabtree and Sherman don't like each other much...but I suspect the list of NFL players who aren't crazy about Richard Sherman and his antics is much longer than one.

The Twitterverse got worse and worse.....and now the negative tweets were getting racist. In a span of a couple of minutes I saw the word "Nigger" more than I would ever care to....and there were worse tweets than that, I assure you. It was depressing to be on the same side of an issue with anyone who would turn it into a race issue. Richard Sherman wasn't a jerk on television because he's black; he was a jerk because he's a jerk. The colour of his skin seemed to be the least offensive thing about him.

Mixed amongst the Seahawks fans' pro-Sherman tweets, the Niners fans' anti-Sherman tweets, and the rednecks' racist tweets were some legimately well written tweets about Sherman, his personal life and his background. Ok so he grew up in Compton and graduated from Stanford with a degree in Communications (is that ironic or WHAT?). He's not stupid, so those calling him a "fool", "idiot" or "thug" should probably do their homework a bit. Sherman's teammates all came racing to his defense, claiming that he is "soft-spoken" and "misunderstood", which may be the two things furthest from the minds of anyone watching his interview with Erin Andrews. Members of our local media who have met Sherman when he has been in Vancouver wax poetic about him, going so far as to call him a "great kid". They show video of him at local schools and doing charity work. During planned interviews, he is engaging, articulate, even funny.

It's almost enough to make me want to like the son of a bitch.

Almost.

I still hope Denver beats the Seahawks by around 75 points, and I hope Peyton Manning goes right up to Sherman after the game and gives him the "choke" signal. He won't, of course, Peyton Manning has way too much class for that....but I can dream, right?

And I still hope that Sherman comes up to Vancouver again this offseason, as I will be quite happy to visit him in my Colin Kaepernick jersey and have a little chat with him about how you should treat your opponents, especially ones you have just beaten. And if Denver wins, as I expect they will, I will be quite happy to show him the "choke" sign once or twice. Or a dozen times.

But perhaps I'll be a little less mean about it.

Perhaps.