If It Looks Like A Thug…

It was a great game, ended by a spectacular play.  After a disastrous fourth quarter, Forty Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick was driving his team towards the winning score.  Going for it he lofted a pass into the right corner of the end zone.  The ball was on target but at the last instance Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman leaped, twisted his body around, reached up and tipped the ball into the waiting arms of a teammate.  Game over.

But the drama did not end there.  Sherman then followed the intended receiver, Michael Crabtree, taunting him and even slapping him on the behind.  He next gestured the choke sign toward Kaepernick.  Sherman was flagged for a meaningless penalty and after a few kneel downs Seattle had won the NFC Championship and a trip to the ultimate game.

But Sherman still would not let it end.  Interviewed by Fox’s Erin Andrews, Sherman went into a loud diatribe about how he was the best corner in the NFL and how when you match an inferior player against him this is how it always ends.   He called Crabtree a “sorry receiver” who shouldn’t have talked trash about him.  Afterwards many announcers down played Sherman’s reaction, calling him a good guy caught up in the adrenalin rush of the moment.  His own coach called it “Richard Sherman being Richard Sherman”.  He also said that he had a conversation with Sherman on a father/son level.

The next day, Sherman issued a statement in which he tried to describe his feeling regarding the incident.  In it he said “It was loud, it was in the moment, and it is just a small part of the person I am.”  He also explained that his dislike for Crabtree went back to something Crabtree had said back in the offseason.  At that time he vowed to someday “make a play and embarrass him”.  Well if that is true then his actions were not in the moment, they were in reality a premeditated vendetta against the rival receiver. 

The NFL will possibly fine him for his choke tableau aimed at Kaepernick.  But if they had any guts they would suspend him for his actions as detrimental to the image of the league.  Of course that is not going to happen.  Not with the league’s biggest stage looming.  As for his coach, Pete Carroll, he needs to realize that he is not a father to his players but their boss.  Maybe if he had a firmer hand over his team embarrassments like this would be avoided.  Regardless, Richard Sherman gets away with it because he has talent.  But talent should never be mistaken for class…