 |
| SI.com |
The following post is a guest post from Drexel Sport Management junior Alan Liang.
Erin Andrews’ face said it all. Following the NFC
Championship Game, Andrews got the “privilege” of interviewing Richard Sherman
after his play ultimately ended the game. I’m sure she was shocked as much as
the rest of America of what Sherman had just said. Andrews asked Sherman to
take her through the last play of the game. Sherman’s
response, “Well I’m the best corner in the game. When you try me with a
sorry receiver like Crabtree that’s the result you gonna get. Don’t you ever
talk about me.”
After this interview, I was in complete shock. Most
interviews after games are quite boring, so when I heard this one I wanted to
hear more from Sherman, but I don’t think the media would be too happy about
it. Obviously, the adrenalin was pumping through Sherman’s blood as the
Seahawks had just made it to the Super Bowl. After digesting this whole
interview, I loved it. The passion Sherman has for the game is quite evident
and being the best cornerback in the game (right now) definitely lets him talk.
The only thing I didn’t like about this was the fact he
called out Crabtree like that. Let’s be honest, the ball was a little
underthrown, so it wasn’t really Crabtree’s fault. Sherman later apologized about
that interview, as he felt it was immature. Crabtree and Sherman had a little
bad blood before coming into the game as Crabtree wouldn’t shake Sherman’s hand
at Larry Fitzgerald’s charity event. Sherman obviously remembered that and took
it as a personal challenge.
If you went on Twitter after that interview, you saw there
were people attacking Sherman’s race. There were some pretty bad things said
about Sherman, and we as a nation definitely have to change. Sherman didn’t do
anything wrong. He made a play and spoke out about it. If anyone caught the
“Unguarded” with Rachel Nichols, you will see that Sherman is in fact a very
intelligent guy. Coming out of Compton, Calif., people thought he would have
never made it. He mentioned how it’s an oxymoron when someone from Compton,
Calif. goes to a school like Stanford. Sherman has always played with a chip on
his shoulder being a fifth round pick in the 2011 draft.
With the Super Bowl coming this Sunday, it will be
interesting to see how he plays going up against one of the best quarterbacks
of all time in Peyton Manning. Sherman
is smart. He knows it’s almost impossible to get in Peyton’s head, so he’s
laying off the trash talk as of now.
I think this publicity of Sherman will ultimately help him land
more endorsements. Do companies usually like someone who is boring or someone
who is outspoken like Sherman? It will be interesting to see how many more
endorsements Sherman gets. There are reports out there that say his rant could
bring him around
$5 million, according to CNN Money. Sherman is an intelligent man. I’m not
saying he went off for the sake of endorsements, but I’m sure he knows what he
was doing would bring him some money. He’s creating a brand.
A Super Bowl ring and playing well will definitely help him
rake in even more. But what happens if the Seahawks flop and he gets burned for
a few touchdowns?
---
Alan Liang is a junior Sport Management major at Drexel University. Follow him on Twitter @AlanLiang29.
No comments:
Post a Comment