Happy Friday Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day on this beautiful Saturday morning!
If you are tired of hearing about Richard Sherman - the highly intelligent, extremely gifted, very passionate cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks - I apologize. I am going to share my thoughts and feelings about him and the situation that has unfolded over the course of the past week.
To recap, for those who might not know what is going on, let me share an excerpt from an article titled "Richard Sherman fined for taunting" on ESPN ScoreCenter. It reads in part:
Immediately following the game, Sherman was interviewed on Fox Sports and was asked to describe the play.
"I'm the best corner in the game," Sherman said, yelling. "When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you're gonna get. Don't ever talk about me."
Sherman then was asked who was talking about him.
"Crabtree," he said. "Don't you open your mouth about the best, or I'm gonna shut it for you real quick."
This interview caused a furor on Twitter & Facebook, there have been countless articles written and it has dominated sports radio and television. I have found it all so...interesting.
I saw the interview. My family and I were watching the game. With less than a minute left in the game - the 49ers driving for the winning score - Richard made a spectacular play, tipping away a pass intended for wide receiver Michael Crabtree which was intercepted by teammate Malcolm Smith. We were all whooping and hollering - sorry 49ers fans, we were cheering for the Seahawks - and within a few moments, the above interview was had with Fox reporter Erin Andrews. And everything erupted...
Now, in 100% disclosure, I will share my reaction to the interview - I laughed. My boys and I even talked about how weird my reaction was. You see, I don't like taunting, trash talking, etc. Never did it and would not tolerate my players doing it when I was a football coach. I am a huge fan of the player who makes the play and then goes back to the huddle. Act like you have been there before... yes, this is what I believe in and what I prefer. And yet, when I saw Richards interview I laughed.
Let me share a few thoughts with you:
1. Having been in and around college athletics for more than 25 years let me tell you - Sherman's reaction wasn't really surprising. He is a highly skilled, highly trained competitor, competing at the very highest levels, playing with and against incredible athletes, playing arguably the most difficult position of all sports to play -don't think so? Take anyone out in the yard or street today, have them run around wherever they want and try to stay right with them, step for step...unless you too play cornerback in the NFL you are probably going to look ridiculous like the rest of us! - and he is playing in the biggest game of his life. If he makes the play his team goes to the championship game, if he doesn't, his teams season is over. He makes the play and then has a microphone shoved in his face and we are shocked that passion and emotion comes out. I have seen athletes make plays - some really rather routine - and they are cussing, making racial comments and much, much worse. Sherman speaks clearly, expresses the confidence he has in himself - something he had to have to achieve what he has achieved by the way...more on that in a moment - and he articulates to the world what many - perhaps most athletes - say to themselves about their opponents as they mentally prepare themselves for competition. For this we are shocked. For this Richard gets labeled "a thug" and is called "classless" over and over again.
2. Please do me a favor at some point this weekend; look up Richard Sherman and read about his life. Not the opinions, the facts. Learn about him growing up in Compton, CA, learn about overcoming the odds, the belief in self to persevere...really learn about Richard Sherman. I believe you will find someone much different than what you have read or heard about. Do I like or agree with everything Richard says and does? No. Heck, I don't like everything I say and do! This however does not make him a bad person, someone to be feared or vilified and it certainly doesn't make him "a thug" or "classless." Let's educate ourselves, learn who he really is, what he really does and what he really stands for. After this I hope we would still fight the temptation to label Sherman, he after all is a man, a person, just like you and me - strengths & weaknesses, fears & failures, hopes & dreams...all of it.
3. I think the thing that has struck me the most this week is the self-righteousness, the judgment. I have one friend on Facebook who commented that Sherman is a "classless ass." O.K., in my opinion, that was really classy...NOT! Another friend has repeatedly called him a "classless ass" and this is a guy who has something negative to say about every team but his, who makes an awful lot of inappropriate - sexist, demeaning - comments. Is this the "class" we wish Sherman had?
The thug thing I really don't get. Because a man express confidence in himself and states his opinion about a competitor he is a thug? I really don't get it.
Do I want my sons or would I have wanted my players to say what Richard said? No, I prefer what I would call a more humble approach. Do I recognize that the very confidence in self that Sherman communicated play a critical role in him rising above the challenges of growing up in the inner city to get a Stanford education and to become arguably the best - as he proclaims - cornerback in the NFL? Yes. It is quite the conundrum isn't it? Richard is just like all of us. We have strengths, talents, gifts and abilities that have helped us achieve what we have achieved. At the same time we all have faults, failures and shortcomings...things we know we should change, things we wish we could change, about ourselves. I pray that we, that I, would not rush to judge, to label another. No, instead I pray we would find the greatness in others, that we would show mercy & grace towards what we think are shortcomings in others and that the last thing we would do is label another lest we show ourselves to be classless asses.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
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