Richard Sherman wondered if he came to the NFL 20 years too late.
The Seattle Seahawks' All-Pro cornerback wondered if his swagger might
have fit better a few decades earlier when that confidence and an
unfiltered tongue was perhaps more accepted.
"I studied the old school game more than I studied the new school game, and I play it that way. It rubs a lot of people the wrong way," Sherman said Wednesday. "Giving a true speech after a game, a true passionate speech is old school football. Playing press corner and sitting up there every play is old school football. I guess maybe I just haven't adjusted to the times."
Richard Sherman spoke at length for the first time since Sunday's NFC championship game win over San Francisco where his postgame comments to Fox reporter Erin Andrews became the talking point. It was a loud, emotional moment that happened just a few minutes after the Seattle Seahawks earned the second Super Bowl berth in franchise history.
Richard Sherman was at the center of the decisive play, deflecting a pass intended for Michael Crabtree in the end zone and watching teammate Malcolm Smith run over to intercept it to clinch the victory. Sherman's ensuing remarks were directed mostly at Crabtree but his intense, shouting delivery is what took people aback.
Richard Sherman said the reaction that followed over the next two days left him a little stunned as well.
"I was surprised by it. Because we're talking about football here and a
lot of people took it a little bit further than football." Sherman said.
"I guess some people showed how far we have really come in this day and
age and it was kind of profound what happened and people's opinions of
that nature, because I was on a football field showing passion. Maybe it
was misdirected, maybe things may have been immature, maybe things
could have been worded better but this is on a football field. I didn't
commit any crimes, I wasn't doing anything illegal. I was showing
passion after a football game."
Richard Sherman apologized for taking away the spotlight from the performances by some of his teammates. Marshawn Lynch's 109 yards rushing and 40-yard touchdown, Jermaine Kearse's 35-yard touchdown catch on fourth-down and Bobby Wagner's 15 tackles all became secondary to Sherman's words.
What seemed to bother Richard Sherman the most in the fallout was hearing the word "thug" attached to his name.
"The only reason it bothers me is it seems like it's an accepted way of calling someone the N-word nowadays. It's like everybody else said the N-word and they said thug and they're like, 'that's fine,'" Sherman said. "That's where it kind of takes me aback. It's kind of disappointing because they know. What is the definition of a thug, really?"
Richard Sherman then referenced seeing highlights of the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames playing on Saturday when a fight broke out two seconds into the game.
"They didn't even play hockey. They just threw their sticks aside and started fighting," he said. "I saw that and said, 'Oh, man, I'm the thug? What's going on here. Geez.' I'm really disappointed in being called a thug."
While there's been criticism for his rant, he's also received support.
Perhaps most surprising was a tweet from baseball Hall of Famer Hank
Aaron. Not a huge user of social media — Aaron had sent seven tweets
before Tuesday — his message to Sherman read, "hang in there & keep
playing as well as you did Sunday. Excellent job - you have my support."
Original article found here: http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/seattles-sherman-surprised-public-reaction-21628914http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/seattles-sherman-surprised-public-reaction-21628914
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