Richard Sherman, previously my favorite Seahawk, because heâs smart, outspoken, and the âbest corner in the gameâ whose fingertips are the reason Seattle went to the Super Bowl in 2013, is now my least favorite Seahawk.
A few weeks ago, he went all Donald Trump on a local reporter and threatened to ruin his career and ban him from the press tent after the reporter asked Sherman about his critiques of the offenseâs play calls. (Sherman rightly said that they should stop throwing from the one-yard line, noting it didnât go so well for us that one time) Sherman later apologized, but now, he has decided he is going to take his toys and go home.
According to the Seattle Times, heâs no longer going to hold court with the local press, with the exception of Ed Werder of ESPN, Q13 FOX, and Liz Mathews of ESPN 710 Seattle. To borrow one of Shermanâs own phrases, this is âan absolute poopfest.â
Richard Shermanâs press conferences are usually highly entertainingâheâs shown up wearing a Harry Potter costume at his sonâs requestâand illuminatingâheâs talked about Black Lives Matter, politics and race, and has no fear when it comes to critiquing the NFLâs bullshit, like he did in this press conference with Doug Baldwinâs cutout figure.
Richard Sherman press conferences are also important because he uses his huge national and influential platform to speak out on things other NFL players will not. Heâll continue to blog and tweet, but a live interview tells so much more of the story.
(Meanwhile, Marshawn Lynch has broken his code of silence and appeared on a recent episode of Brooklyn 99 as chatty Cathy witness to a robbery. It was awesome.)
While I will mourn the loss of weekly Richard Sherman updates, I'll console myself with the fact that we still have Michael Bennett, who has elevated the press conference to an art form. Two weeks ago, Bennett wore his own ugly sweater design with an image of him doing his sack dance (a hip thrust ala Elvis) and explained: âTwo pumps gets you a baby, three pumps gets you a fine.â (He was fined.)
This week, Bennett wore another shirt with that quote and held forth on a range of topics, including how former teammate Golden Tate looked âlike a bird,â and how doesnât like Detroit Lionsâ Matthew Stafford, explaining: âHeâs from Dallas. They killed the President. I hold it against him,â the Seattle Times reported.
If Michael Bennett press conferences stop, I will commit seppuku.