Richard Sherman’s postgame interview has been the topic of everyone’s conversation. Whether you think he was out of line or just passionate about the game, a bigger issue was exposed. A week that we celebrated the great Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy, is the same week that showed just how little we have learned from that legacy.
After securing his team’s spot in Super Bowl 48 by breaking up a touchdown pass to 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree, Sherman was very, very fired up. Can you blame him? He just made the biggest play of his career thus far against a team that he has never pretended to like. He may have chosen his words poorly by calling Crabtree a “sorry receiver”, but did he threaten him and his family? No. Did he cause physical harm to him? No.
Since having time to calm down and think about what he said on camera, the corner back has since apologized and said he should have never called out an individual player. Despite the apology, Sherman had already been labeled as a “thug”, “monkey”, and words so vile that should never be repeated. Whether you disagree with his actions after the game, does not give anyone the right to sit behind a computer keyboard and send him racist remarks.
Get to know Richard Sherman beyond the color of his skin. Richard Kevin Sherman was raised in Compton, California, a place often referred to in rap music as one of the toughest to grow up in. At Dominguez High School, Sherman was a star athlete, but he was also the Salutatorian of his graduating class. After graduating, he went on to Stanford University where he excelled at both sports and school once again. He also became a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, who has members that include George Washington Carver, Alain LeRoy Locke, and Jerry Rice. He graduated from Stanford and has started working on his Master’s Degree. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft, something that has always bothered Sherman. Last summer, he launched the “Blanket Coverage” as part of the Richard Sherman Family Foundation to help school children get proper school supplies and clothing.
Still sound like the vicious thug everyone has painted him out to be? No. He was a man caught up in the biggest moment of his life. What is everyone who called him vicious, hateful names excuse? The hatred that was exposed from this is what needs to be fixed. When Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are fired up after a game, it is called passion and the will to win, so why do we treat Richard Sherman any different? Richard Sherman is not a villain, he is just a football player who likes to say what is on his mind.
You don’t have to love him, you don’t even have to like him, but as human beings we should treat others how we would want to be treated. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., here is one of his many inspirational quotes, “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”
I completely agree with the editor of this article and I applaud you for putting things in perspective. As I read so many comments especially on Yahoo after the game, many if not most of the comments from”Joe Public” were hateful at the very least which seem to have been racially motivated. Again, I agree with your editorial and am so pleased to hear more people respond objectively.
[…] crown, Sherman was interviewed and announced that he was the best corner in the league. It was a moment that was heavily criticized and […]