Monday, January 20, 2014

A Footnote

Normally, I'd reserve this blog for journeys made and lessons learned. Just for today, I'm extending that to 'opinions held.'

All this Richard Sherman buzz is quite dizzying. It seems like there are a million different perspectives being thrown around and most of them are critical. Every now and then someone will throw out the obligatory "I thought it was great! I thought it fired up his fans and teammates- more power to him!" opinion.

I have two opinions on him- Richard Sherman the athlete and Richard Sherman the man.

Richard Sherman the Athlete
This guy is RIDICULOUS. He's tall, fast and athletic- clearly the best corner in the game. Any receiver should be shaking in their cleats when they see Richard Sherman lining up opposite them. He has put in a tremendous amount of effort honing his craft simply to be the best. I applaud his work ethic. He was, in fact, a multi-sport athlete in college. At Stanford, he was an All-American freshman wideout and outstanding cornerback as well as an All-American in track and field. He has clearly dedicated himself to being the best- because he is, and I think that's pretty cool.

Richard Sherman the Man
I'm hesitant to make broad, sweeping character judgments about anyone I haven't met and gotten to know. But from what I've seen, heard and read about him, Richard is edgy and gutsy. He has a Bachelor's in Communications and began work on a Master's degree at Stanford. STANFORD. Being an awarded multi-sport student-athlete at Stanford is nothing to sneeze at. But perhaps his abilities have gotten the better of him. Throughout the season and particularly in the NFC Championship Game yesterday, Sherman has displayed a frightening lack of respect and restraint towards his opponents. Yes, he made a game-changing play. Yes, he's a big reason why the Seahawks have a good chance to bring a Lombardi Trophy back to Seattle. But the glaring lack of sportsmanship is what frightens me most. He's not afraid to run his mouth and get up in your face. In my opinion, his habits of trash-talking and jeering on the football field are profoundly unprofessional and unnecessary. Really, the only way that we, the public, know what kind person Richard Sherman is is through interviews and on the football field- and he's not showing very well for himself.

Additionally, I've watched the majority of Seahawks games this year and last year, and Richard Sherman is not the only culprit of this behavior. There are numerous other players who have engaged in unacceptable behavior- being flagged for unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct and taunting (not to mention a myriad of others, making them far and away the most penalized team in professional sports), testy interviews, fights, arrests, failed drug tests and suspensions. I believe that Richard Sherman is the exemplar of the Seahawk Way- smashmouth, in-your-face, physical, edgy football. This is the style that Pete Carroll brought when he skipped town from USC and was hired by Seattle. I believe his leadership (or lack thereof) is largely to blame for the things we're so used to seeing from the Seahawks. Yes, it works; yes, it's brought them from annual mediocrity to constant contention in the NFL; yes, it's energized their fanbase and brought life to a city that, athletically speaking, hasn't had much to cheer for since, well, ever.
But it's unprofessional, it's childish, and it's disrespectful to the game of football.Yes, football is a physical sport, but it was never EVER intended to be a rough and dirty sport, and that's what the Seahawks have turned it into.

All to say, GO BRONCOS!

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