Anyway, Sherman's column gives context to the post-game interview with Erin Andrews. Michael Crabtree, a longtime enemy, had just shoved him in the face. After a quiet game, Sherman had just pulled off the contest's winning play. It was the perfect storm and EA walked in the middle of it.
I spent most of the game on an island: I was targeted only twice during the entire NFC Championship. The first produced a BS holding call against me; the second ended the game. Michael Crabtree stutter-stepped out of his break on first down and sprinted toward the end zone. I was in good position for a pick until he pushed me in the back. My interception became a tip and an interception for Malcolm Smith in the end zone.
Game over. The Seahawks are in the Super Bowl.
I ran over to Crabtree to shake his hand but he ignored me. I patted him, stuck out my hand and said, “Good game, good game.” That’s when he shoved my face, and that’s when I went off.
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It was loud, it was in the moment, and it was just a small part of the person I am. I don’t want to be a villain, because I’m not a villainous person.
And he had this to say about anyone calling him a “thug” or worse:
Don’t judge a person’s character by what they do between the lines. Judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family.
But people find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language far worse than what you’ll see from me. It’s sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is. I can handle it.
I came away from the piece thinking it's fair to not like Richard Sherman. He's the guy who constantly says he's better than you; you naturally want to see the loudest mouth in the room brought down a peg.
But why is a Stanford grad like Sherman called a thug when equally passionate white athletes taunt and are called legends? Why does a well-written column by an athlete now boast a comment section one step removed from a Klan rally? There is an answer to that. And it's a real bummer that the answer is hasn't changed since Ali trash talked 50 years ago.
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