One second, Richard Sherman is the hero for the newly crowned NFC champions, the next he’s the most reviled man in the NFL.
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Anyone who has watched Seattle Seahawk Cornerback Richard Sherman over his career knows he has long been deserving of praise for his football skill and contempt for his brashness, arrogance and trash-talking ways. The football watching world saw both sides on Sunday Night, as he acrobatically knocked down what would have been the winning touchdown, and minutes later nearly frothed at the mouth as he jawed and disrespected his adversaries.
And now, he has apologized for it. According to reports, Sherman texted the following to ESPN’s Ed Werder: “I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates … That was not my intent.”
What Richard Sherman’s actions and the public reaction show most clearly is the tension between how we revere the heroes of this warrior-like game, and yet expect them to pretend they aren’t warrior-like once the whistle blows. We want them to be gentleman—despite all their training otherwise.
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Certainly, there are many examples of top athletes who are consummate gentleman and true professionals, who have reputations for being “nice guys.” I grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, rooting for the ‘Skins. The great Art Monk and Darrell Green come to mind as two men who dominated their positions but did so in way that was, well, chivalrous and respectful.
But Richard Sherman is hardly alone in the brashness with which he approaches professional football. And while many fans like me admire most the men who dominate the sport in a so-called “gentlemanly” way, there are lots of players who jaw, taunt and talk smack a bit too much.
It seems especially true among the receivers and cornerbacks of the league. Could you imagine if Robert Griffin III or Aaron Rodgers acted like Richard Sherman did? The only current quarterback who comes close in the jawing department is Phillip Rivers. There are others, but it’s less common for anyone who must stand in the back field and hope his line holds off assailants.
Among cornerbacks, receivers, and even linebackers, smack talking is commonplace. These are the players expected to cross the open field at full speed, ending in an almost certain collision. Is there any coincidence that this is where the smack talkers rule?
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So why do all of us fans, who sit and watch as these awesome athletes try to take each other’s heads off every Sunday (Thursday and Monday, too), get so offended when they follow their physical display of strength and gall with verbal insults of their vanquished foes?
I’m not judging the fans offended by Sherman’s antics. I too was offended, and decided right there to root for Champ Bailey and the Broncos in the Super Bowl. Sherman’s behavior was the epitome of unsportsmanlike antics, in my book. Smack talk in the game? I don’t like it, but it seems a part of the game. Smack talk afterwards, and it just feels wrong.
We want them to play with absolute vigor during the game, but we expect them to be good sports about it. We expect to put a microphone in the face of the winning athlete and have them sound respectful, decent, and calm. When they don’t, we react.
And now, he’s been forced to apologize.
But, should we really be surprised when our football stars act like Richard Sherman did? Or the way Miami Dolphin’s Richie Incognito when he got suspended for verbally harassing a teammate a few months ago?
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Let’s remember that by the time someone makes it onto an NFL team or into a playoff championship NFL game, they’ve been a stand-out talent in high school, they were heavily recruited by scouts, and then were the Big Man on Campus at some college for four years. They’ve signed a hefty pro contract—the type of money most of us will never see. They’ve lived in the gym, been screamed at, knocked down, and tested on a daily basis. They’ve been praised, and told they can do no wrong; and by the way, should they do something wrong, there’s someone younger and faster waiting to knock them off that pedestal.
We all want them to be nice, too, but everything else in their world is pushing them to be otherwise. These are modern gladiators, after all, and some are going to be … , well, jerks. If anything, we should be surprised they aren’t all insufferable jerks.
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So maybe the real answer is that we stop heaping unnecessary expectations and praise on our top athletes. They are just people, after all. Just because you’re fast, or strong, or good at throwing a spiral doesn’t automatically make you a great person.
There are, however, plenty of other great men and women out there, deserving of our praise and adoration, who never excel in a way that would make them public figures. They toil away doing their daily job, raising their kids, teaching the next generation, or being a great friend. Maybe we should look a little lower in the sky to see the brightest stars.
Instead, we collectively look at our top athletes, make them role models, and we’re constantly disappointed. Sure, some are actually nice people. Most are probably pretty cool even, despite all they’ve been through and all they’ve got. But the reality is, that as long as grown men are crossing the middle of an open field at full speed expecting a collision, bravado and smack talking will be a part of this game.
There will be jerks in the NFL. If we chose to revile them, so be it. But we should no longer be shocked by it.
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Photo: AP/File
Everyone knows people trash talk on the field, on the court etc. look at Larry Bird for example. The problem is when it continues with a mic. Also Sherman writes a column, and his actions he can then write about. More publicity. We all know he wants to be the next Deion or ray Lewis and get a gig when his career ends.