What exactly did Sherman do wrong?
By Sports Editor Jay Ahuja
It was simply amazing. Twenty-two seconds left, the Seattle Seahawks up by six, and the San Francisco 49ers 38 yards away from winning the game and going to the Super Bowl.
The play that everyone is talking about—the play that cornerback Richard Sherman made—will go down as one of the greatest defensive plays in franchise history.
CenturyLink Field, regarded as one of the loudest football stadiums in the NFL, was astounding. It seemed as though the entire city of Seattle was there, trying to cheer on the team to the Super Bowl, the second in its franchise’s history.
Young San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick hiked the ball, took a few steps back, and fired the ball towards the right side of the end-zone, where wide receiver Michael Crabtree was sprinting towards it. Crabtree reached for the ball, but Sherman tipped it in the air, and linebacker Malcolm Thomas came down with it.
After that play, Sherman went over to Crabtree to shake hands but Crabtree pushed him away. After the game, Sherman told ESPN, “I’m the best cornerback in the game.” And “when you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you’re going to get.” These comments generated a lot of criticism towards Sherman, mainly on Twitter. His critics compared his actions to those of a thug.
He made the biggest play of his career, arguably the biggest play in franchise history, and the guy should be able to say what he wants. There is nothing wrong with what Sherman said.
Athletes, especially in football, play with such great emotion on the field, but as soon as they step off, they’re supposed to read the script that their team gives them. This guy has had an incredible NFL career, and he is better than most cornerbacks in the game. This season he led the league in interceptions with eight, and has 20 total during his three-year career in Seattle.
People are going crazy because he spoke his mind, and now he’s been called names like “thug” and the N-word. This man, this so-called thug, graduated 3rd in his high school class and went on to graduate from Stanford.
He isn’t a thug or a fool.
He spoke those words because when an athlete plays with that much emotion and makes such an amazing play, he/she can say what he/she wants. It was refreshing, for once, to hear a player say what he actually thinks and not just what their team wants him to say.
