Peter King announced in last week's MMQB that the Top 10 picks of the NFL Draft are set, he just doesn't know what order they will go in. I'm sure sometime in early May when the draft doesn't go exactly how Peter thought it would go he is going to announce how FREAKING UNPREDICTABLE THE NFL DRAFT IS! EVERYONE'S MIND IS BLOWN! SOMEONE NEEDS TO SUE THE NFL FOR THE CONCUSSION THEY CAUSED FROM THE BLATANT UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE DRAFT PROCESS!
Last week Peter also thought it was a good idea for the officials to start throwing penalty flags for racial slurs being thrown on the field. This seems like a terrible idea to me personally, because I can't imagine how the officials will be able to hear exactly what the players say and feel good about flagging a player for using the n-word. But hey, this will stop the use of racial slurs by athletes forever, right? This week Peter talks more about the potential banning of the n-word (I think he just likes typing "the n-word"), doesn't discuss the fact he criticized Jadeveon Clowney on Twitter this past week then admitted he hasn't watched one game that Clowney has played in and takes on the those people who dare to use too many towels at the gym. Only the brave men like Peter can take on the tough issues in life. Actually, I think Peter desperately wants to make his life like an episode of "Seinfeld" so that's why he loves to comment on what others around him are doing, while giving out nicknames like "Seven Towel Man." If Peter couldn't be Brett Favre in another life, then he would want a life exactly like Jerry Seinfeld's fictional life on television, only with Brett Favre taking the place of Kramer of course.
We seem to have a disagreement about Johnny Manziel, and the salary cap
has exploded in a good way, and Brandin Cooks is trying to elbow his way
up in the first round, and free agency is only eight days away, and the
Eagles have done a bunch of good business.
Wow, that's a run-on sentence even I would like to avoid. That's four "and's" in the sentence when it very easily could have been one "and" and a compound sentence that lists something.
But first, about that n-word …
Boy, Peter does seem to enjoy discussing the n-word doesn't he? I think it's his liberal guilt that makes him want the NFL to ban the n-word and penalize those who use it. I wish the officials would penalize those who use the word "National Football League," rather than just say "NFL" when doing analysis on television. Or maybe just penalize Jon Gruden for loving everyone and everything. I digress...
The NFL Competition Committee has been meeting in Florida since Friday,
and one of the items the eight men are debating is whether it should be a
penalty if a player on the field uses the n-word. I am hearing it is
unlikely a rule will be passed this year penalizing a player for using
the n-word for the first time in a game.
Great, because it's a cumbersome idea that is difficult to enforce.
Three outcomes are possible:
1. The Competition Committee will urge that it be a point of emphasis
for officials this year. When officials hear it, they would admonish
players about it and do nothing else.
Man, I bet the players would fear a stern talking-to from the officials about using harsh language. If there is a way the NFL could require NFL players who use the n-word to wear dunce caps and sit in the corner for five minutes, they should try that too.
2. The committee will urge that offending players be warned if the word
is used on the field during games. After a warning, a player with a
second use could be penalized for using it, at the discretion of the
officiating crew. I say “could be,” because the league could give
officiating crews the option of throwing a flag, depending on the
circumstances.
I think on the scale of bad ideas involved with the idea of legislating the n-word, this is one of the better ideas, but I still don't like legislating words said on the football field.
3. Nothing will change. Players will be allowed to use the word at will.
Fans don't hear it at the game or on television for the most part, so no one is harmed and the players aren't treated like children who need their mouth washed out with soap for saying a dirty word.
But understand that the eight-man Competition Committee is not a
legislative body. It recommends new rules, and owners vote on them. So
we won’t know anything about the outcome of the debate till the owners’
meetings in Orlando beginning March 23.
Over the weekend, I communicated with three African-American players about it.
Two things I want to bring up:
1. I like that a rule about whether NFL players can use a racial slur on the football field is going to be voted on by a bunch of old white men. That's perfect.
2. Why did Peter only talk to African-American players? Wouldn't non-African American players have an opinion on this word even if the word wasn't traditionally used to denigrate them? I think it's important to get the opinion of players who aren't African-American too.
Two of them were opposed to the word being banned. A third thought it was a good idea but would be hard to police.
There are a lot of great ideas out there. Yet if you can't enforce the idea then it's not such a great idea that is grounded in reality.
“It’s an atrocious idea,” said Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman. “It’s
almost racist, to me. It’s weird they’re targeting one specific word.
Why wouldn’t all curse words be banned then?”
I recognize I don't have the Stanford education that Richard Sherman has, but I fail to see how banning an inherently racist word from being used and banning no other words that aren't inherently racist is racist in itself. I think Richard Sherman may just want to call something racist, because it's not racist to attempt to eliminate racist words from being used. Except in opposite world, which could be where Sherman is vacationing during the offseason.
Sherman emphasized that the n-word ending in “-er” is racist, but the
n-word ending in “-a” is not, when used among African-American players.
Oh okay. I wonda about the reason fa that but now I know.
Free agent linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said, “Ultimately if the NFL can
get it done, it’s great for our game. But I think refs have a hard
enough time officiating the game now. Now they’d be asked to police
language?”
Exactly. Why make the officials job harder than it has to be? Not banning the word from being used isn't condoning the use of the word. It's going to be difficult to get rid of the n-word on the football field.
One reliable league source told me the biggest problem he saw is very
often during scrums, name-calling and foul language are exchanged by a
group of players. What happens if an official thinks he heard the n-word
from one player and it actually was another? The referee could call the
unsportsmanlike conduct penalty/language foul, and if the offending
player is white, it’s going to scar him for his career. What if the call
is made on the wrong player?
Then he would have a very good season, people may forget about it and the Eagles would sign him to a large-ish contract when he's a free agent.
The Fritz Pollard Alliance has been loudly advocating the ban of the
n-word this off-season. This is where the generation gap between the
hierarchy of Pollard—chairman John Wooten, 77, and executive director
Harry Carson, 60—and many current players comes into the picture.
Shocking to think there is a difference in opinion about what the n-word means between two generations, one who was called that word derisively and the other who was called that word by his friends as a somewhat affectionate-ish term. Who would have thought it true?
“I find it very disheartening that in our society today we’re having a
debate about the n-words being used as a term of endearment,” Carson
said Sunday. “If that’s a term of endearment, go up to your grandfather,
or an elderly black person, and use it on them. See how they react. For
those who use it, I say they have no sense of history.”
This is absolutely true. Regardless, the word is used a lot on football fields and it's nearly impossible to police it. Trying to do so is going to be like herding cats, and take it from someone who lives in his mom's attic with 15 cats, it's really hard to herd cats.
“For someone who uses the n-word,” said Carson, “it dishonors Bill
Willis, and it dishonors the sacrifices he and others have made for
others in the future. I find it disheartening players can justify using
the word in any form today, in 2014.”
But Peter never really gets into whether Harry Carson thinks it is a good idea to legislate the use of the n-word or not and how he would go about legislating this word.
No matter what the Rich McKay- and Jeff Fisher-led committee recommends,
it will face ire from one of two sides: football
traditionalists/respected veterans who see it as an issue of dignity, or
many modern players who see it as an infringement of free speech.
I hope these middle-aged white men can make a good decision about whether an inherently racist word directed towards non-middle-aged men can be penalized or not. I wish Peter had just come out and asked this question.
Last week, former quarterbacks and current tape students Ron Jaworski
and Phil Simms both came out as skeptics of Johnny Manziel. I liked it.
I've never Tweeted at (Tweeted towards?) Peter King in my life that I can recall, but I did when he stated he didn't understand the backlash at Jaws for saying he didn't like Manziel in the five games he watched. Peter misses the fundamental point about the backlash. The problem isn't what Jaws said, he's made these type of statements before that just provide fuel for the ESPN echo chamber. That's how it seemed to me, which is what I told Peter over Twitter. Of course, he responded which followed a lot of other people directing comments at me and missing the point too. I don't care about Jaws' opinion, but it's not his opinion that's the issue, it's that Ron Jaworski has made really bold statements (like Colin Kaepernick could end up being the best QB in the history of the NFL) before and it only provides fuel for ESPN to create their own news cycle. So the criticism of Jaws is that he believed this opinion, but was also creating a news cycle for ESPN based on his "controversial" comments that could be discussed on different shows on ESPN...which of course happened. So it's not about whether I like Jaws opinion or not, but his motivation behind the statement. Was it to get his opinion out there and create stories his employer could cover on their different programs?
If you’re an analyst and don’t voice your real opinion, what good are you?
Sort of like how Peter King stated on Twitter he didn't think Clowney gave a good effort in games and used Lawrence Taylor as an example of a player who was constantly double-teamed, so that's not an excuse he would accept. Then Peter admitted he had not watched one minute of tape on Clowney. Typical Peter.
Manziel was such a wild stallion as a quarterback at Texas A&M,
You know Peter got mildly aroused typing that sentence. Manziel is so Favreian.
What's interesting is that Peter is dead set on discussing Johnny Manziel as much as possible, but there is a chance Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater could be drafted before Manziel, yet nary a word on either player. It's almost like Peter knows Manziel's name drives pageviews.
But it is folly to say he hasn’t played well at times in the pocket;
some of his best plays—though maybe not always with good footwork—came
with traffic around him, and Manziel finding the receiver he needed to
find. But Whitfield knows you don’t want to neuter all of his instincts
and you don’t want him exposed to the number of hits he faced in college
either.
Much like how I felt about Robert Griffin, I think staying healthy is going to be Manziel's biggest issue in the NFL. He's not going to be able to scramble around quite as much or be exposed to big hits at the NFL level and expect to stay healthy. He's not a big guy and I'm afraid he's going to have trouble staying healthy more than I'm afraid he can't throw from the pocket.
I find it interesting that Nick Saban didn’t emphasize keeping Manziel
inside the tackle box (or if he did, it just didn’t work) the way LSU
coach Les Miles did. Check out how Manziel did in his two meetings
against LSU and Alabama. Saban, I would argue, is the biggest test for a
quarterback in college football, given his track record on the pro and
college levels.
I would argue that Peter King doesn't watch enough college football to make an argument on who the biggest test for Manziel is. I would also argue that the LSU defense is slightly closer to an NFL defense as compared to Alabama's defense. Again, it's my opinion, but I consider LSU to have a speedy NFL-type defense that likes to show different fronts and different blitzes to a quarterback. LSU also seems to rotate defensive linemen more than Alabama does, which means Manziel is facing slightly fresher pass rushers against LSU than Alabama. Again, I could be wrong, but I don't know if Peter has the experience in watching college football to be right.
“I understand he’s not for all 32 teams,” said Phil Savage, the color
man on Alabama radio broadcasts, executive director of the Senior Bowl
and former NFL GM with the Browns.
He's the former GM of the Browns who drafted such notables as Brady Quinn, Kamerion Wimbley, Braylon Edwards, and Brodney Pool, so you know he's good. 60% of the time he gets the pick right every time.
“But he’s so instinctive, such a playmaker and such a smart football
player that I think there have to be a few teams that think, We can shape our offense around him and use his skills for what he does best. We can win with him.”
"Then we can watch his body slowly crumble because he's the type of quarterback who is prone to taking big hits while scrambling."
My guess, two-plus months out from the draft: Jacksonville, at number
three, or Oakland, at five, make the most sense. If I’m Jags offensive
coordinator Jedd Fisch, who is one of the most imaginative young coaches
in the game, I’d love to get my hands on Manziel.
We know, Peter. We know you just want to get your hands on Manziel. But how would he respond? Does he like the comparison to Favre or would that cause Manziel to shy away at your touch? He's a wild stallion. There's no way he can be tamed. It's attractive and scary at the same time, but Peter can be imaginative too and there's a bear-skin rug at Peter's secret apartment in the woods of Mississippi that hasn't been used in years.
The salary cap has doubled in this century, and it has virtually quadrupled in its 20-year history.
If people treated Roger Goodell and Paul Tagliabue the way David Stern is treated then this is all that would be focused upon and all of Goodell's missteps would immediately be forgotten.
Collectively, teams have more than $700 million to spend when free
agency begins a week from Tuesday. If I were a GM, I’d try to spend
internally, the way the Eagles did last Thursday and Friday, signing
four key offensive players to new deals, and eliminating the need to go
outside the building for important positions like left tackle (Jason
Peters, one of the best in the league, got re-signed) when there’s
usually a reason why players are on the market in the first place.
Of course my favorite team did spend internally after the lockout ended and that's part of the reason the team is in the salary cap hell that it currently is in. So it's good to spend on current players, but make sure you are spending on the right currently players and maybe not giving $80 million to two running backs.
As I wrote about last week, NFL teams are going to have to spend the money on somebody, inside or outside the organization.
Sounds like somebody is getting overpaid.
Point is, teams now will be forced to spend to the minimums required by
the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. That’s a good thing. And with
the cap projected to increase by at least $10 million more in 2015, this
should be a good time for players who thought they were being held back
by a relatively flat cap to make up for lost time.
Who could strike it rich? Three projections:
These are "projections." Not to be confused with "guesses" because if these were "guesses" then that would mean Peter doesn't know for sure who will strike it rich. These are "projections" based on tons of data from past years that Peter didn't crunch in order to determine which players will strike it rich, and are based solely on Peter's opinion...which of course isn't a "guess."
1. Cleveland center Alex Mack (either with the Browns or elsewhere), a
sturdy 28-year-old line leader and solid run blocker, should average $8
million a year, minimum.
Who really knows what's going on in Alex Mack's head though and how much he wants on the free agent market. He's so secretive. It seems there is a secret world of Alex Mack or something.
2. Miami defensive tackle Paul Soliai, 30 years old but relatively
lightly used in his career, is the best run-stuffer on the market and
should command at least $6 million a year.
Notice that Mack will "average" $8 million per year, while Soliai will "command" $6 million per year. Peter's projections also show how strongly each free agent will ask for a certain contractual amount per year. Ted Ginn is going to be "politely asking" for a multi-year deal, while "sternly suggesting" he gets $5 million guaranteed.
3. Tennessee cornerback Alterraun Verner, who just turned 25 and had his
best season with the Titans. Cover corners and rushers will be the most
lucrative positions on the market, and Tennessee, going against Andrew
Luck and new quarterbacks due in Jacksonville and Houston, needs to do
everything it can to keep Verner.
Because Peter's projections tell us that the Titans need to load up on corners to fact the yet-to-be-determined quarterback the Jaguars and Texans are going to be drafting. Apparently Peter has a projection that tells him for sure the Titans and Jaguars are going to be drafting quarterbacks that are going to succeed in the NFL and require teams in the AFC South to load up on cornerbacks. Oh that's right, I forgot the Top 10 of the NFL Draft is already set.
I watched the Oregon State offensive snaps of three of his 2013 games—against Cal, Stanford and USC.
That's three more games than Peter watched Clowney play, but he KNOWS Clowney takes plays off.
It was the TV copy, and the wide receivers were out of the picture quite
often, so I couldn’t get a good picture of him blocking downfield
(though he did block aggressively in a scrum against Stanford for a
fellow receiver).
Apparently Peter can't afford anything but bootlegged Oregon State tapes from overseas. I would imagine the tape Peter watched had subtitles and "Do Not Copy" written across the screen, along with Russian commercials.
And I can’t say I am confident about his route-running either, for a similar reason.
Well great, I'm glad you watched the tapes then and can feel confident enough to waste our time talking about what you don't know regarding Brandin Cooks.
But I got a good feel for his physicality competing for balls and his
hands and his speed around the edge. All very good.
This is analysis people! Peter is about to use projections, so stand back!
I didn’t see the
blow-the-top-off-the-defense speed I thought I’d see after his 4.33
40-time at the combine, but he clearly is plenty fast. Oregon State uses
him on the Jet sweeps the way Seattle used Percy Harvin when healthy in
2013; he didn’t break many, but you don’t sneer at 6.8 yards per play
on the sweeps.
Harvin was healthy for the Super Bowl and like one quarter of a regular season and playoff game. This is the best comparison Peter could come up with?
Cooks reminded me of the West Virginia all-purpose weapon, Tavon Austin,
The brilliant future Hall of Fame receiver that the Rams stupendously selected in the first round of this past year's NFL Draft, while sneering at the idiot teams who weren't as smart as the Rams to recognize the talent Austin has. Speaking of those Rams, Peter's projections have their fortunes pointed upwards very soon.
The most impressive play I saw Cooks make came against Stanford. From
the Cardinal 8-yard line, quarterback Sean Mannion looked for Cooks
running a short post on the right side. Cooks caught it around the 4 and
hurtled toward the end zone, with three Stanford defenders in the way.
Cooks dove under safety Ed Reynolds, his main foe near the goal line,
while defensive tackle David Parry and linebacker A.J. Tarpley tried to
squeeze him from getting in for the score. Cooks barely made it. The
physicality of the play was impressive; Cooks knew he’d get clobbered,
but he went for it nonetheless—and he won.
And he’s a plucker of the ball; his hands dart out, grab the ball softly and bring it in.
And we all know that Peter loves it when an athlete plucks balls softly. If an athlete's hands can pluck balls quickly and softly, Peter's projections show that he's going to like that athlete.
This is a terrific receiver class—Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans and Marqise
Lee are the more highly regarded and bigger receivers, and fast-riser
Odell Beckham is another high-pick contender. The quantity and quality
will likely push Cooks down to the second half of the first round;
there’s a slight chance he’d fall to the second round, but with
wideout-needy teams late in the first round (New England, Baltimore,
Cleveland, Carolina, San Francisco), it’s highly unlikely he’ll make it
out. Seeing as they have a huge need for a playmaker, the Jets, at 18, would be a great landing spot for Cooks.
It seems that Peter has all his bases covered here. He states Cooks will likely go in the second round, though he may go to one of the wideout-needy teams late in the first round, but Peter thinks Cooks would make perfect sense for the Jets at 18. So basically, anything could happen.
“Russell Wilson is more explosive. He’s naturally bigger and stronger
than Johnny Manziel. They’re not even close in arm strength.”
—Phil Simms, to Adam Schein of SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio.
Not even close? Simms is a scientist of the position, and he has
watched 1,000 hours of tape for every one I have watched. But did he see
the Manziel strike, while off-balance, that traveled 44 yards in the
air to Mike Evans against Alabama? Or the one that went 53 yards in the
air downfield, also a strike, against Arkansas?
I suppose Wilson would win a throwing contest against Manziel. But it would be close.
Remember earlier in this column when Peter wrote:
Last week, former quarterbacks and current tape students Ron Jaworski
and Phil Simms both came out as skeptics of Johnny Manziel. I liked it.
If you’re an analyst and don’t voice your real opinion, what good are you?
Apparently Peter doesn't like it when an analyst voices his real opinion if Peter doesn't agree with that opinion. Basically, Peter likes Ron Jaworski and doesn't want his friends to be criticized, even though Peter doesn't really understand why there was criticism of Jaworski.
Comparing the Eagles’ Dream Team (Vince Young’s words, not mine) acquisitions of 2011 to the signings of their own last week:
But...but...those are your words because you just typed "Dream Team" in this column and could have referred to the 2011 Eagles by any other term you chose to without your audience losing the meaning of what you wanted to discuss (which was a comparison of the money spent on the 2011 and 2014 free agent class by the Eagles).
So, the Eagles, with an estimated $21 million in cap room, should be
able to address their needs and get their own players re-signed in the
early days of free agency. If I were GM Howie Roseman, I’d be watching
tape of Titans corner Alterraun Verner.
(Peter checks his non-existent projections sheet) YES! Peter does project that Howie Roseman will be watching tape of Alterraun Verner, who will be demanding $9 million per season, while asking for a five year deal, but reluctantly submitting to a four year deal.
Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week
Not a travel note, really, but a slice-of-non-green-life note from New York City:
Or as I should start calling it, the "I Want My Life to be Like 'Seinfeld' Travel Note of the Week."
I observed The Seven-Towel Man on Saturday at my gym in Manhattan, while on parallel schedules with the man.
See? He gives cutesy nicknames to people like characters on "Seinfeld" used to do.
Three towels for the steam room—one to wrap around his waist, one as a
cape around his shoulder, one to hold in his hands to wipe his brow.
After a short steam, he deposited the three towels in the hamper.
Here's the thing...this guy probably knows what Peter King looks like. So now this guy knows that Peter King is somewhat mocking him in his public column about the NFL. If Peter gets punched in the face or accosted by this guy for writing this note, then I'm completely on the side of Seven-Towel Man. If you don't want to get punched in the face, don't stare at a person in public and then comment to hundreds of thousands of readers what his steam room routine is.
He took two for the shower—one to dry himself and one as a mat for the
floor when he left the shower. He dropped those in the hamper. The
Seven-Towel-Man then took two for post-showering, and I did not see what
he did with those.
Let's not overlook the fact Peter King is staring at a man who is in the steam room, staring at a man as he enters the shower and then staring at this same man as he exits the shower. Perhaps, and this is just a suggestion, Peter should mind his own fucking business and stop staring at people when they are in various states of undress? What's more weird, using seven towels or staring at someone as they steam off, shower and then get out of the shower?
One man, 25 minutes, seven towels. Life is plush.
Says the man who belongs to a health club that has a steam room.
“Woman just dropped her scarf in hotel lobby. ‘Excuse me. You dropped
this,’ says man, leaning down to give her scarf. The man? Allen
Iverson”
—@MrMichaelLee, Michael Lee, Wizards beat man for the Washington
Post, on Saturday in Philadelphia, where Allen Iverson had his number
retired by the Sixers that evening.
Oh my God, this was Allen Iverson? Isn't he a huge thug who only cares about smacking bitches and getting tattoos? That's the narrative isn't it? And here I thought Iverson would rather shank this woman as opposed to politely giving her the scarf back.
Ten Things I Think I Think
2. I think there’s no way I’m giving up two first-round picks and $12
million a year for a tight end, particularly one I’m not sure is going
to be great consistently against physical defenses. That’s not a knock
on Jimmy Graham.
No, this is literally a direct knock against Jimmy Graham. He would cost two first round picks and $10 million plus per year to any team that wants to trade for him and then try to sign him. Peter is talking about Jimmy Graham here, so this is a knock against Jimmy Graham directly since Peter is specifically referring to Graham not being consistently great against physical defenses. Considering Eric Decker was held to one catch in the Super Bowl against a physical defense, I wonder what Peter thinks about his value as a free agent?
But two ones and 9% of your cap? Nope. Really good player. Not worth that.
But again, this is not a knock against Jimmy Graham. He's just not worth $12 million per year and two first round picks.
4. I think a De Smith-Sean Gilbert battle would be interesting, if only
for this issue: Smith is adamantly opposed to an 18-game schedule, and
Gilbert’s on record saying he’d be willing to give the owners 18 games
in the regular season in exchange for a three-year path to free agency.
And I definitely think the players should elect a person who sat out a year because God told him to do so. That person clearly seems sane, plus he seems willing to trade the player's health for a faster path to money. I'm sure that sounds good to some players, but otherwise, it seems his idea is to trade health for money. Go figure, Sean Gilbert is chasing money even after his retirement.
5. I think I cannot see a majority of players agreeing with Gilbert. I just can’t.
What if God says the players should agree with Gilbert? What then, Peter?
7. I think we all want to know: Jerry Jones, what were you doing at the Oscars last night?
I mean, you really have to ask Peter? I would ask why Jerry Jones chose not to attend the Oscars. It seems like something he would do.
9. I think the biggest sign that Greg Schiano will someday work with
Bill Belichick in New England, and the most interesting personnel result
from the last week, is this: New England could start three Rutgers
Scarlet Knights in the secondary this fall: free safety Devin McCourty
(round one, 2010), strong safety Duron Harmon (round three, 2013) and
cornerback Logan Ryan (round three, 2013).
Peter has a small obsession with Greg Schiano. He thought Schiano was a wonderful head coach for the Bucs and likes that Schiano is connected to Belichick. Otherwise, no one outside of Patriots fans give a shit if a fired NFL coach is going to be hired at another job. Where's the Jim Schwartz update at? What about the Leslie Frazier update on what's he doing now? That's right, those aren't coaches that Peter King personally likes.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. Lupita Nyong’o. Awesome.
She's definitely no Phillip Seymour Hoffman or a gem like Meryl Streep, but she'll do for Peter. She's good enough, at least until she dies, at which point Peter will proclaim her the best actress of her generation out of the blue.
d. Great job, U2.
They suck, Peter. Please just admit this. They were good 20 years ago and have coasted on their name and similar-sounding singles since then.
g. Who can forget this line from the Ramis classic, from the
long-lost and forgotten insurance man, Ned Ryerson: “Ned! Ryerson!
Needle-Nose Ned! Ned the Head! Ned Ryerson! Come on buddy! Case Western
High! I did the whistling belly-button trick at the high school talent
show! Bing! Ned Ryerson. Got the shingles real bad senior year, almost
didn’t graduate! Bing, again! Ned Ryerson, I dated your sister Mary Pat a
couple times till you told me not to anymore. Well?” Just watch it.
h. The look Bill Murray gives Ned … one of the greatest in Murray history.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman would have rocked this look too. The depth he would have shown. He was like a wild stallion as an actor. The Manziel-before-Manziel of Hollywood actors.
i. Wow. What a putt by Paula Creamer.
Which specific punt was this again? I know it's easy to see what Peter is talking about when he talks in such generalities but it would be easier if he just told us exactly which putt he was referring to.
k. Beernerdness: Thanks to my friends at the Pro Football Hall of Fame,
and especially Joe Horrigan, for taking us out to a place that served
Great Lakes Brewing’s Burning River Pale Ale. Fresh and with a good
bite, this ale reminded me of the San Diego pale ale, Ballast Point.
Both have a touch of pine.
Gregg Easterbrook would wonder how Peter knows what pine tastes like. Or would Gregg not make fun of a fellow pretentious, lofty upper-class buddy?
The Adieu Haiku
Commercials. Which has
more—Oscars or Super Bowl?
Brick through the TV.
Then don't watch the Oscars. If you watch the Oscars then you deserve to be annoyed by the commercials.
Showing posts with label richard sherman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label richard sherman. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
3 comments MMQB Review: New Jersey Super Bowl Edition
Last week Peter King fought off strong feelings about Peyton Manning while admiring Manning's bare upper torso, he only got slightly less excited about the world getting the Super Bowl that obviously everyone wanted to see. Peter also marveled at how underrated the traffic in Denver is, because that's a real thing and all. This week Peter talks about how things are getting real for Richard Sherman, thinks the fact Peyton Manning hasn't faced any of the Seahawks defensive backs is a very significant storyline mostly because he has to fill five pages and has to create significant storylines that aren't really significant, wastes space with an interview of Lil Wayne, and tells us the New York Super Bowl should be the New Jersey Super Bowl.
Well now, a Jersey City dateline, six days before the Super Bowl. There’s something I never thought I’d see. Or type. A Super Bowl in New Jersey.
It's only 2-3 years in the making so I can see how the suddenness of the Super Bowl being in New Jersey would still come as a shock to Peter.
But the hype machine for Super Bowl XLVIII alighted in the Garden State Sunday night, so let’s go there, to the tamest interview station of them all.
Richard Sherman’s. Of course.
This goes against the narrative that the media wants to write about Richard Sherman being just a loud-mouthed black guy. How terrible that reality doesn't match the narrative the media pursues.
I bring you these gems from Sherman’s riser Sunday night at the Jersey City Westin, a week before Seattle-Denver just up the street in East Rutherford:
“We have a team full of competitors who want to go against the best team, the best offense. We have a tremendous amount of respect for them.”
“It’s all going to come down to who plays the best football.”
“It really comes down to the execution.”
“It’s going to be a battle of wills.”
All right! Who went and stole Richard Sherman?!
It's almost like Richard Sherman doesn't shout taunts into the camera towards specific opponents on a weekly basis and isn't quite the out of control player that the media has enjoyed painting him as over the last few weeks.
Someone asked him about being referred to as a thug last night, and instead of rolling his eyes and flashing anger, he said: “I think it did have some effect on opening up the channels of communication and conversation and dialogue. I think I had some impact on it, and I want to have a positive impact. I want people to understand that everybody should be judged by their character and who they are as a person and not by the color of their skin. That’s something we’ve worked to get past as a nation, as a country and we’re continuing to work on it. It’s healthy.
I’ve heard him talk like that several times, when the cameras aren’t around. I think as a person, that’s who he is.
I think a lot of people are different at work as compared to how they act in a regular, everyday setting. I'm much more patient when it comes to everyday activities, while I'm not as patient when it comes to being in a work setting. So I think it's silly to judge Sherman on his actions after the NFC Championship game and am not surprised he doesn't act like that in all of his interviews.
But this week, I expect him to be the filtered Richard Sherman. Maybe with a message Tuesday, Media Day, in Newark, for the national TV audience, but nothing too incendiary.
I thought it was very interesting that Richard Sherman wasn't specifically known for having an incendiary message until 10 minutes after the NFC Championship game, at which point the media was awaiting Sherman's next incendiary message as if he yells into television cameras all the time.
The Broncos and Seahawks are staying 1.3 miles apart, just up from the Hudson River. Outside the Denver hotel is the better view: the icy Hudson, with the new World Trade Center glistening to the east. A beautiful sight.
Really, much like the Denver traffic this sight is underrated.
But Denver has the more arduous practice road. They’ll have a 31-mile escorted trek to the Jets’ practice facility in the rolling hills of Florham Park, and will make the trip for the first time today for a light 2:55 p.m. practice.
Are the Broncos having to walk to the practice facility or something? Peter describes their practice road as arduous, but they are taking a bus or other modern transportation to get there, so the Broncos just have to sit in a bus a little longer than the Seahawks. I'm sure they will find a way to recover and make the Super Bowl competitive.
Seattle is about eight miles away from the Meadowlands.
Better get the sled dogs fed, make sure they have their winter coats well fluffed and prepare for the arduous journey across the New Jersey landscape.
Denver coach John Fox did the smart thing, figuring he’ll have his team on buses for 70 to 90 minutes a day today, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: He’s going to encourage his players to do homework on the trips.
Do homework, but no cheating off each other's papers. The Broncos team will never learn how to do Algebra if they start sharing answers or allow Demaryius Thomas to give them all of the answers. Plus, this bus ride will be the perfect time to prepare for Mrs. Sides' big spelling test on Monday.
In addition, Fox and FOX will get together Wednesday afternoon on the bus. He’ll do his weekly TV production meeting with the TV team of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and the network’s production staff while driving back from the Jets’ facility after practice. Smart and efficient.
As someone who has experience with John Fox quotes, here's what he'll say.
"This isn't my first rodeo."
"The Seahawks practice too."
"A punt isn't a bad play."
"It is what it is."
That about sums it up for the Foxisms.
Pete Carroll will coach the Super Bowl in a stadium in the same Jersey parking lot as the one where he got his first head-coaching shot. In fact, this month is the 20-year anniversary of Pete Carroll getting his first NFL head-coaching job.
This month is also the 19-year anniversary of Carroll getting fired from his first NFL head-coaching job.
That’s right. Carroll Chudzinskied the Jets’ job.
I remember nothing past last week and have no access to Wikipedia, so that is brand new information that I just learned.
That was a strange mix of a Jets team. (That is not the first time, nor the last, for that.) Boomer Esiason and Art Monk teamed that day for five aerial connections for 108 yards. Esiason to Monk! Bet you didn’t know they ever played on the same team.
No, I completely knew they played on the same team. I know this may shock Peter, but some of us actually have a memory and are able to remember something that occurred prior to the year 2000.
With the clock running and the ball at the Jets’ 8 with 32 seconds left, Marino hustled to the line. The man who called the plays into Marino’s helmet that season was backup Bernie Kosar,
I BET YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW BERNIE KOSAR PLAYED IN THE NFL!
Plus, Bernie Kosar was a quarterback. I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT!
That’s right: The Jets finished on a five-game losing streak. In the last week of the season, Carroll called Esiason into his office and told him, “Boomer, we’re gonna make some major changes around here, and you’re gonna love them.”
"I'm getting fired. I bet that just thrills you. And oh yeah, the Jets are going to hire Rich Kotite. It might be best to just retire or demand a trade."
But after the last loss, owner Leon Hess,
Leon Hess is a real person. I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT!
“To this day I have no idea why Mr. Hess fired Pete after one season,” Esiason said. “He was brilliant. He was the Chip Kelly of his time. I wish he’d have stayed our coach.”
Chip Kelly wasn't always the head coach of the Eagles. Few people probably remember he was the head coach at Oregon.
This is a very significant storyline this week.
I just don’t know exactly how to quantify it.
Mostly because it's a fairly contrived storyline.
Peyton Manning has never faced any of the eight Seattle defensive backs in the regular season or playoffs. He has faced the Seahawks twice in the preseason, but not when it’s counted since Oct. 4, 2009, a span of 68 games, including postseason. And, obviously, they have never faced him in a real game either.
This is incredible. How will Peyton Manning know how to throw the football and how will the Seahawks secondary understand how to play defense since they have never played each other? There is going to be mass confusion.
I think it's impossible to quantify the fact Manning and the Seahawks secondary haven't played each other before and probably pretty needless to do so as well.
Now the question: Who gets the edge—Manning or the Seattle secondary—because of the lack of exposure these two sides have had to each other?
Who knows? Maybe we will have to watch the Super Bowl to find out which team has the advantage. What a shocking conclusion! It's almost like the actual game being played on Sunday has meaning and any attempts to really quantify what could happen during the game is useless.
At first blush I’d say Manning, because, well, as Richard Sherman said a few days ago, “You can’t get in Peyton Manning’s head. If you get in his head, you’ll get lost.” Manning, and his new coordinator-in-crime, Adam Gase, are very good are figuring out things to show a defense that they’ve never seen before.
This week Manning will go to the line of scrimmage and start yelling "Boise, Boise" and all of the Seahawks defenders will be confused because he isn't yelling "Omaha."
But do you know you’ll be seeing what you’ve seen regularly this year? Andre Caldwell was thrown 19 balls in a late-season three-game stretch; Jacob Tamme got 13 Manning targets in an earlier three-game run. Manning, when he needs to, involves the rest of the roster, not just his big four.
Much of the reason Caldwell got those balls thrown to him is because Wes Welker was injured. Welker is healthy now, so I think the fact Caldwell got thrown 19 passes over three weeks is a bit misleading. Though I'm sure it will certainly confuse the Seahawks to know they have to cover every wide receiver or tight end for the Broncos rather than just the big four.
But Seattle has an edge here in that Manning hasn’t been able to replicate the Seahawks’ talent, size and physicality in practice. Other than Sherman staying at left corner—that’s an absolute given—we won’t know for sure until the game starts how Seattle plans to defend the wideouts.
This is as opposed to if Manning had faced the Seahawks secondary before he would know exactly how Seattle plans to defend the wideouts for the Broncos?
For once, the beaten-up story angle of the week (just watch)—Peyton Manning against the best secondary in football—could turn out to be the overwhelming story of the Super Bowl.
And they have never faced each other, so the game is actually going to have to be played before conclusions can be drawn. How is Peter supposed to start creating narratives in this situation? It's not fair.
The Browns coaching hire. It’s a tangled web in Cleveland—and I say that with much respect for Mike Pettine, hired as the eighth head coach in the reconstituted Browns’ 15-year history. Pettine did a fabulous job with the Bills in his one year as coordinator (Buffalo sacks in 2012: 36; in 2013: 57) and should breathe life into a team that underperformed on defense this season.
Pettine has done a great job with his defenses over the years. Let's me just say if his name were Mike Gruden or Mike Ryan then he would probably already have a head coaching job. But it does suck that Pettine was the 15th (or so) choice of the Browns.
I have heard McDaniels was the apple of owner Jimmy Haslam’s eye from the time a four-man team of Browns officials met with McDaniels in New England for seven-and-a-half hours on Wild Card Saturday, and that GM Mike Lombardi had at least two conversations with McDaniels about re-entering the coaching derby in the days after New England’s loss to Denver in the AFC title game.
Speaking of Mike Lombardi, notice how Bill Simmons has stayed the hell away from commenting about the Browns long and fruitless coaching search? I firmly believe if Mike Lombardi wasn't one of Bill's good friends then he would have made some jokes about the Browns front office and how inept they are in one of his (rare and getting rarer) Friday NFL columns. It pays to have friends in the media it seems, as Bill has stayed the hell away from jokes about Lombardi.
I have also heard, after Bill Belichick pushed hard for his friend Greg Schiano to get in the Cleveland race, that some in the Browns’ hierarchy were revved up by Schiano’s interview with the club early last week.
The Browns have barked up the "Head coaching candidate affiliated with Bill Belichick" twice before and neither candidate worked after being hired as the head coach. But hey, Mike Lombardi is be a genius, right? Why not keep going for recycled head coaching candidates?
They don’t have a long-term quarterback of the future (unless Brian Hoyer, 28, is far better than he’s shown in his four-team, four-start NFL career), and they don’t have anyone to coach one. That’s the biggest problem with the Browns now. There’s no consensus as to who will be the offensive coordinator, and certainly no consensus as to whom the team will draft in May for the new coordinator to coach.
And this much we know, Rob Chudzinksi was the problem. I mean, obviously.
On Adam Gase. The Denver offensive coordinator did the smart thing, as did his former boss in Denver, McDaniels. The coaches of Peyton Manning (Gase) and Tom Brady (McDaniels) both withdrew from the search in Cleveland and will be back piloting their explosive offenses with legendary quarterbacks in 2014 rather than coaching the Browns. Gase is 35 and has a bright future.
He's very good at choosing two plays that his quarterback can run and then allowing his quarterback to choose the play or audible out of it if necessary. If Adam Gase were the offensive coordinator on a video game, he wouldn't even be using "Coach Mode" since the team has to run the play you call in that mode. Gase runs the Broncos offense in "Coach, unless you have a better idea than go ahead and call that play, Mode" if he were the offensive coordinator on a video game.
Nothing against Adam Gase and I wouldn't have wanted the Cleveland Browns job either if I could write Peyton Manning's coattails a little longer and get a better job offer. I don't think I would want to work for the Browns either.
Speaking of McDaniels … Which no one in Denver likes to do. People in Denver figure McDaniels “ran off” Jay Cutler, which he didn’t do, and then drafted Tim Tebow and got fired in the midst of a crash-and-burn 4-12 season. So the venom spews. But let’s be fair here. Look around the Broncos roster, which McDaniels had control of in 2009 and 2010. From the 2009 draft: Knowshon Moreno (1,586 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns this year), defensive end Robert Ayers (sack of Tom Brady in the AFC title game) and special-teams captain David Bruton are here. From the 2010 draft: the two leading receivers—Demaryius Thomas (92 catches, 14 touchdowns) and Eric Decker (87 catches, 11 TDs)—are here, plus starting guard Zane Beadles.
To be ever more fair, I think this goes to show the talent of Brian Xanders as a GM and John Fox as a head coach more than it shows the coaching ability of Josh McDaniels. I recognize most of these guys were really young when they played under McDaniels, but they have flourished under Fox, and Xanders is the guy most responsible for choosing them. So I know Peter is trying to rehab Josh McDaniels' image in a way, but I think Brian Xanders deserves a shout-out too.
He has said time and again that when he compared teams, he liked the young receivers that Denver had. Who would have been in their place, and would they have passed Manning’s muster? Or would be have looked at Larry Fitzgerald and the Manning-friendly offense of Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona a little more fondly? Point is, McDaniels shouldn’t be a Denver pariah in this Super Bowl week. He should be thanked.
Not Brian Xanders? He doesn't merit a mention here? Check out what's done in terms of personnel acquisition. I think he should be thanked more than Josh McDaniels should be thanked.
Well, I never thought I’d be interviewing a rapper for The MMQB. But one of our writers, Robert Klemko, knew how passionate a football fan Lil Wayne is, and Klemko met his publicist, and one thing led to another, and Tuesday night the publicist said to me: “I’m patching you through to Wayne.”
I would love to have heard this conversation recorded. I'm surprised Peter didn't ask Lil Wayne which U2 album he thought was the best and whether he watched "The Office" or not. On a more realistic note, this is the type of addendum to MMQB that causes it to feel bloated. I think the full interview Lil Wayne should be posted as a separate article on THE MMQB rather than spend space in MMQB, but I'm not Peter's editor, so perhaps he thought it fit in well with MMQB. To me, it just adds to the bloat.
“A lot of the writers think I’m boring. So I’m going to go all Richard Sherman on you.”
—Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe.
Riveting. I'm glad this quote was included in MMQB. I mean, I really think this quote is super-important to my understanding of the NFL and MLB.
Peter left out his "Fine Fifteen" this week, which was probably a smart move. I did say the following last week though,
1. Seattle (15-3)
2. Denver (15-3)
I'm guessing Peter will have these teams arranged in this order this week and then flip-flop them once he picks the Broncos to win the Super Bowl despite the fact no games have been played which would give him no logical reason to flip-flop their spots, though it wouldn't shock me if Peter put Seattle #1 in his Fine Fifteen and then picked the Broncos to win the Super Bowl.
Take a wild guess which team Peter has picked to win the Super Bowl? I'll give you a hint, it's not Seattle. Peter did something similar earlier in the year when he put the Kansas City Chiefs at #1 in his "Fine Fifteen" until the week where the Broncos and Chiefs played. At that point, he moved the Broncos head of the Chiefs despite the fact the Chiefs had not lost and had a bye week the week before. What changed on the bye week that could have moved the Chiefs out of the #1 spot on the "Fine Fifteen"? Other than they played the Broncos of course? So Peter's "Fine Fifteen" isn't the most accurate measurement of which team Peter believes is the strongest in the NFL. He ranks Seattle above the Broncos in the previous week's "Fine Fifteen," no games are played the following weekend, and then picks the Broncos to beat the Seahawks.
Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week
I have never covered a Super Bowl in the town where I lived, so even though I think it’s a bad idea to have the Super Bowl in an outdoor freezer, I am pleased to be home this week. To get my credential for the week’s media responsibilities, I left my apartment on the east side of Manhattan Sunday about 2:30 p.m., and walked nine blocks to the Sheraton Times Square, which is the media hotel for the Super Bowl. I picked up my press credential, then boarded a bus at 3:30 for the Broncos’ team hotel in Jersey City, across the Hudson River.
Now these Broncos and Seahawks players can see firsthand all of the big city annoyances that Peter has to deal with on a weekly basis. There are people on the train minding their own business doing weird things while Peter stares intently at them, the Starbucks baristas don't always make every cup of Peter's coffee perfectly and tourists take pictures of the Apple logo. How insane.
What will be odd about this Super Bowl: The media events with the teams, and the team hotels, and the practice sites, and the Super Bowl, will be in New Jersey. Everything else—the parties, the major-domo press conferences, the media center—will be in Manhattan.
But where will Bruce Springsteen be? Isn't he the shining example of New Jersey?
I'm sure Jon Bon Jovi, who is a Jersey guy and apparently a diehard Patriots fan because he is friends with Robert Kraft/a front runner, will be at the game too. They will be in New Jersey, doesn't that count for something, Peter?
I lived in New Jersey with my family for 24 years. I love the state. Not every inch of it,
NOT TO NAME ANY NAMES, BUT HE'S TALKING TO YOU THREE MILES OF LOWER NEW JERSEY!
So I’m a little sensitive about the New York-ification of everything major league that goes on in New Jersey. Like this Super Bowl. The teams are in Jersey. The practices are in Jersey. The players and coaches meet the press in Jersey. The game’s in Jersey.
But it’s the New York Super Bowl.
Well, it's the media that writes this story so they could be directionally correct if they wanted to, but they choose not to. I think part of the reason this is considered the New York Super Bowl is because the Giants and Jets play at the stadium the Super Bowl will be played in and they are both New York teams.
Peter thinks that's bad, he should try living in North Carolina with South Carolina always lurking and looking to confuse everyone that North Carolina wants anything to do with South Carolina. It didn't help that Jerry Richardson named the Panthers the "Carolina Panthers," but South Carolina also insists on talking to North Carolina at parties and just generally being that cousin who doesn't get invited to family reunions but shows up anyway somehow.
I’ll be drinking in Hoboken Tuesday night, thank you.
I bet Peter will be drinking an Allagash White.
“Richard Sherman seems to be on his best behavior during his first Super Bowl media exposure. Unfortunately.”
—@MichaelJLev, of the Orange County Register, tweeting from the Richard Sherman news conference Sunday night.
It's so sad Sherman isn't acting up so sportswriters can call him a thug and generally turn his behavior into a narrative about the entire Seahawks team.
Ten Things I Think I Think
3. I think new Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht (pronounced “Light”) had an interesting take the other day when asked who would have the final say on the draft—him or coach Lovie Smith. (It’s widely thought around the league that the buck will stop with Smith on all football decisions.) Said Licht: “There will be no arguments on draft day
So the buck will stop with Lovie Smith then?
We’ll have arguments on players. I’m going to plead my case. I told Lovie, during the interview process, that if he doesn’t like a player, I’m going to be in his office 20 times trying to prove why my player, that I like, is the guy that we need, and I’m sure he’ll do the same thing. If we don’t come to an agreement, the answer is easy, it lies in itself—we won’t take that player.”
This sounds like one of the worst ideas I have heard as it pertains to a head coach and a GM deciding which player to take. So if neither party can agree on a player then they just won't take the player? What if the Buccaneers are choosing between Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles and Smith likes Bortles while Licht likes Manziel? Will no decision be made and the Buccaneers just won't take a quarterback? This seems counterproductive to me, especially if the Buccaneers need a quarterback.
I’ll be interested to follow that down the line.
Yeah, me too. This method of conflict resolution as it pertains to which player to take seems like a bad way to go about player evaluation and selection. At some point, there has to be a player that neither Licht or Smith can agree upon and they will just not make a decision at all as opposed to making a decision both are unhappy with. This does sound like how Congress goes about their business, but I'm thinking it will cause more gridlock and bad will than just letting Smith or Licht have their way. What do I know though? When there is a conflict over a decision on which player to choose, choosing neither player seems like a bad idea to me.
7. I think San Francisco offensive coordinator Greg Roman, unfortunately, may turn out to be the offensive version of Mike Zimmer, who had to wait far too long for his chance to be a head coach. Cleveland not interviewing Roman … absolutely amazing.
Earlier this year, Peter was wanting more minority candidates to receive interviews for NFL head coaching jobs. Yet I can't help but notice every time he discusses an NFL head coaching candidate who deserves an interview or has waited too long for an interview he always mentions a white guy and not a minority.
9. I think I will make this promise to you, as Super Bowl Week dawns: I promise I will not hit you over the head with weather reporting/complaining. It’ll get a mention now and again, but not a daily pounding.
Peter hit us with weather report and was complaining about the weather in a previous MMQB. So Peter go his weather complaining in earlier in the season.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
d. Bieber. Lohan. How do you tell them apart?
One is a girl but looks like a 40-year old woman and the other is a boy but is slowly looking more and more like a girl.
i. How do the Asbury Jukes wear all Rangers stuff?
They put the clothes over their head and then put their arms through the holes of the Rangers gear they wear. Probably the same way Jon Bon Jovi is a big Patriots fan despite the fact he is from New Jersey and owned a Philadelphia arena league team.
k. Beernerdness: Had the good fortune to meet Jim Koch, the Sam Adams brewer, on the SI Now show the other day in New York. We talked craft beer, and he handed me one of his new ones. “Cold Snap.” A wheat beer, he said
Yep, and "Cold Snap" isn't all that great. It's like a wheat beer for people who like the taste of Bud Light.
with spices like coriander and orange peel. And I’m thinking, “Hmmm. Allagash White.”
And I'm thinking there aren't too many beers I consider real beers if you have to put an orange peel in it.
So I popped it open Friday night. A tad darker than Allagash, but the same nose and similar taste. Loved it.
It tastes mediocre, so of course Peter loved it. I gave it a 2.5 on the Untapped app (which is an awesome beer app where you get to rank the beers you drink and share beers you drink with friends) and I was probably being generous.
l. Matt Garza to the Brew Crew. I like it. Good signing. If healthy, he should win 15.
Congrats Brewers! Your signing of Matt Garza has Peter King's approval! Given Peter's knowledge of baseball and individual baseball players, how can this not thrill you?
The Adieu Haiku
Sad thing re Pro Bowl:
End of Tony Gonzalez.
At least in football.
Oh, so Tony Gonzalez will continue living and not die. Thanks for clearing up it's the end of Tony Gonzalez, but only in football. I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW TONY GONZALEZ PLAYED BASKETBALL IN COLLEGE!
Well now, a Jersey City dateline, six days before the Super Bowl. There’s something I never thought I’d see. Or type. A Super Bowl in New Jersey.
It's only 2-3 years in the making so I can see how the suddenness of the Super Bowl being in New Jersey would still come as a shock to Peter.
But the hype machine for Super Bowl XLVIII alighted in the Garden State Sunday night, so let’s go there, to the tamest interview station of them all.
Richard Sherman’s. Of course.
This goes against the narrative that the media wants to write about Richard Sherman being just a loud-mouthed black guy. How terrible that reality doesn't match the narrative the media pursues.
I bring you these gems from Sherman’s riser Sunday night at the Jersey City Westin, a week before Seattle-Denver just up the street in East Rutherford:
“We have a team full of competitors who want to go against the best team, the best offense. We have a tremendous amount of respect for them.”
“It’s all going to come down to who plays the best football.”
“It really comes down to the execution.”
“It’s going to be a battle of wills.”
All right! Who went and stole Richard Sherman?!
It's almost like Richard Sherman doesn't shout taunts into the camera towards specific opponents on a weekly basis and isn't quite the out of control player that the media has enjoyed painting him as over the last few weeks.
Someone asked him about being referred to as a thug last night, and instead of rolling his eyes and flashing anger, he said: “I think it did have some effect on opening up the channels of communication and conversation and dialogue. I think I had some impact on it, and I want to have a positive impact. I want people to understand that everybody should be judged by their character and who they are as a person and not by the color of their skin. That’s something we’ve worked to get past as a nation, as a country and we’re continuing to work on it. It’s healthy.
I’ve heard him talk like that several times, when the cameras aren’t around. I think as a person, that’s who he is.
I think a lot of people are different at work as compared to how they act in a regular, everyday setting. I'm much more patient when it comes to everyday activities, while I'm not as patient when it comes to being in a work setting. So I think it's silly to judge Sherman on his actions after the NFC Championship game and am not surprised he doesn't act like that in all of his interviews.
But this week, I expect him to be the filtered Richard Sherman. Maybe with a message Tuesday, Media Day, in Newark, for the national TV audience, but nothing too incendiary.
I thought it was very interesting that Richard Sherman wasn't specifically known for having an incendiary message until 10 minutes after the NFC Championship game, at which point the media was awaiting Sherman's next incendiary message as if he yells into television cameras all the time.
The Broncos and Seahawks are staying 1.3 miles apart, just up from the Hudson River. Outside the Denver hotel is the better view: the icy Hudson, with the new World Trade Center glistening to the east. A beautiful sight.
Really, much like the Denver traffic this sight is underrated.
But Denver has the more arduous practice road. They’ll have a 31-mile escorted trek to the Jets’ practice facility in the rolling hills of Florham Park, and will make the trip for the first time today for a light 2:55 p.m. practice.
Are the Broncos having to walk to the practice facility or something? Peter describes their practice road as arduous, but they are taking a bus or other modern transportation to get there, so the Broncos just have to sit in a bus a little longer than the Seahawks. I'm sure they will find a way to recover and make the Super Bowl competitive.
Seattle is about eight miles away from the Meadowlands.
Better get the sled dogs fed, make sure they have their winter coats well fluffed and prepare for the arduous journey across the New Jersey landscape.
Denver coach John Fox did the smart thing, figuring he’ll have his team on buses for 70 to 90 minutes a day today, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: He’s going to encourage his players to do homework on the trips.
Do homework, but no cheating off each other's papers. The Broncos team will never learn how to do Algebra if they start sharing answers or allow Demaryius Thomas to give them all of the answers. Plus, this bus ride will be the perfect time to prepare for Mrs. Sides' big spelling test on Monday.
In addition, Fox and FOX will get together Wednesday afternoon on the bus. He’ll do his weekly TV production meeting with the TV team of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and the network’s production staff while driving back from the Jets’ facility after practice. Smart and efficient.
As someone who has experience with John Fox quotes, here's what he'll say.
"This isn't my first rodeo."
"The Seahawks practice too."
"A punt isn't a bad play."
"It is what it is."
That about sums it up for the Foxisms.
Pete Carroll will coach the Super Bowl in a stadium in the same Jersey parking lot as the one where he got his first head-coaching shot. In fact, this month is the 20-year anniversary of Pete Carroll getting his first NFL head-coaching job.
This month is also the 19-year anniversary of Carroll getting fired from his first NFL head-coaching job.
That’s right. Carroll Chudzinskied the Jets’ job.
I remember nothing past last week and have no access to Wikipedia, so that is brand new information that I just learned.
That was a strange mix of a Jets team. (That is not the first time, nor the last, for that.) Boomer Esiason and Art Monk teamed that day for five aerial connections for 108 yards. Esiason to Monk! Bet you didn’t know they ever played on the same team.
No, I completely knew they played on the same team. I know this may shock Peter, but some of us actually have a memory and are able to remember something that occurred prior to the year 2000.
With the clock running and the ball at the Jets’ 8 with 32 seconds left, Marino hustled to the line. The man who called the plays into Marino’s helmet that season was backup Bernie Kosar,
I BET YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW BERNIE KOSAR PLAYED IN THE NFL!
Plus, Bernie Kosar was a quarterback. I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT!
That’s right: The Jets finished on a five-game losing streak. In the last week of the season, Carroll called Esiason into his office and told him, “Boomer, we’re gonna make some major changes around here, and you’re gonna love them.”
"I'm getting fired. I bet that just thrills you. And oh yeah, the Jets are going to hire Rich Kotite. It might be best to just retire or demand a trade."
But after the last loss, owner Leon Hess,
Leon Hess is a real person. I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT!
“To this day I have no idea why Mr. Hess fired Pete after one season,” Esiason said. “He was brilliant. He was the Chip Kelly of his time. I wish he’d have stayed our coach.”
Chip Kelly wasn't always the head coach of the Eagles. Few people probably remember he was the head coach at Oregon.
This is a very significant storyline this week.
I just don’t know exactly how to quantify it.
Mostly because it's a fairly contrived storyline.
Peyton Manning has never faced any of the eight Seattle defensive backs in the regular season or playoffs. He has faced the Seahawks twice in the preseason, but not when it’s counted since Oct. 4, 2009, a span of 68 games, including postseason. And, obviously, they have never faced him in a real game either.
This is incredible. How will Peyton Manning know how to throw the football and how will the Seahawks secondary understand how to play defense since they have never played each other? There is going to be mass confusion.
I think it's impossible to quantify the fact Manning and the Seahawks secondary haven't played each other before and probably pretty needless to do so as well.
Now the question: Who gets the edge—Manning or the Seattle secondary—because of the lack of exposure these two sides have had to each other?
Who knows? Maybe we will have to watch the Super Bowl to find out which team has the advantage. What a shocking conclusion! It's almost like the actual game being played on Sunday has meaning and any attempts to really quantify what could happen during the game is useless.
At first blush I’d say Manning, because, well, as Richard Sherman said a few days ago, “You can’t get in Peyton Manning’s head. If you get in his head, you’ll get lost.” Manning, and his new coordinator-in-crime, Adam Gase, are very good are figuring out things to show a defense that they’ve never seen before.
This week Manning will go to the line of scrimmage and start yelling "Boise, Boise" and all of the Seahawks defenders will be confused because he isn't yelling "Omaha."
But do you know you’ll be seeing what you’ve seen regularly this year? Andre Caldwell was thrown 19 balls in a late-season three-game stretch; Jacob Tamme got 13 Manning targets in an earlier three-game run. Manning, when he needs to, involves the rest of the roster, not just his big four.
Much of the reason Caldwell got those balls thrown to him is because Wes Welker was injured. Welker is healthy now, so I think the fact Caldwell got thrown 19 passes over three weeks is a bit misleading. Though I'm sure it will certainly confuse the Seahawks to know they have to cover every wide receiver or tight end for the Broncos rather than just the big four.
But Seattle has an edge here in that Manning hasn’t been able to replicate the Seahawks’ talent, size and physicality in practice. Other than Sherman staying at left corner—that’s an absolute given—we won’t know for sure until the game starts how Seattle plans to defend the wideouts.
This is as opposed to if Manning had faced the Seahawks secondary before he would know exactly how Seattle plans to defend the wideouts for the Broncos?
For once, the beaten-up story angle of the week (just watch)—Peyton Manning against the best secondary in football—could turn out to be the overwhelming story of the Super Bowl.
And they have never faced each other, so the game is actually going to have to be played before conclusions can be drawn. How is Peter supposed to start creating narratives in this situation? It's not fair.
The Browns coaching hire. It’s a tangled web in Cleveland—and I say that with much respect for Mike Pettine, hired as the eighth head coach in the reconstituted Browns’ 15-year history. Pettine did a fabulous job with the Bills in his one year as coordinator (Buffalo sacks in 2012: 36; in 2013: 57) and should breathe life into a team that underperformed on defense this season.
Pettine has done a great job with his defenses over the years. Let's me just say if his name were Mike Gruden or Mike Ryan then he would probably already have a head coaching job. But it does suck that Pettine was the 15th (or so) choice of the Browns.
I have heard McDaniels was the apple of owner Jimmy Haslam’s eye from the time a four-man team of Browns officials met with McDaniels in New England for seven-and-a-half hours on Wild Card Saturday, and that GM Mike Lombardi had at least two conversations with McDaniels about re-entering the coaching derby in the days after New England’s loss to Denver in the AFC title game.
Speaking of Mike Lombardi, notice how Bill Simmons has stayed the hell away from commenting about the Browns long and fruitless coaching search? I firmly believe if Mike Lombardi wasn't one of Bill's good friends then he would have made some jokes about the Browns front office and how inept they are in one of his (rare and getting rarer) Friday NFL columns. It pays to have friends in the media it seems, as Bill has stayed the hell away from jokes about Lombardi.
I have also heard, after Bill Belichick pushed hard for his friend Greg Schiano to get in the Cleveland race, that some in the Browns’ hierarchy were revved up by Schiano’s interview with the club early last week.
The Browns have barked up the "Head coaching candidate affiliated with Bill Belichick" twice before and neither candidate worked after being hired as the head coach. But hey, Mike Lombardi is be a genius, right? Why not keep going for recycled head coaching candidates?
They don’t have a long-term quarterback of the future (unless Brian Hoyer, 28, is far better than he’s shown in his four-team, four-start NFL career), and they don’t have anyone to coach one. That’s the biggest problem with the Browns now. There’s no consensus as to who will be the offensive coordinator, and certainly no consensus as to whom the team will draft in May for the new coordinator to coach.
And this much we know, Rob Chudzinksi was the problem. I mean, obviously.
On Adam Gase. The Denver offensive coordinator did the smart thing, as did his former boss in Denver, McDaniels. The coaches of Peyton Manning (Gase) and Tom Brady (McDaniels) both withdrew from the search in Cleveland and will be back piloting their explosive offenses with legendary quarterbacks in 2014 rather than coaching the Browns. Gase is 35 and has a bright future.
He's very good at choosing two plays that his quarterback can run and then allowing his quarterback to choose the play or audible out of it if necessary. If Adam Gase were the offensive coordinator on a video game, he wouldn't even be using "Coach Mode" since the team has to run the play you call in that mode. Gase runs the Broncos offense in "Coach, unless you have a better idea than go ahead and call that play, Mode" if he were the offensive coordinator on a video game.
Nothing against Adam Gase and I wouldn't have wanted the Cleveland Browns job either if I could write Peyton Manning's coattails a little longer and get a better job offer. I don't think I would want to work for the Browns either.
Speaking of McDaniels … Which no one in Denver likes to do. People in Denver figure McDaniels “ran off” Jay Cutler, which he didn’t do, and then drafted Tim Tebow and got fired in the midst of a crash-and-burn 4-12 season. So the venom spews. But let’s be fair here. Look around the Broncos roster, which McDaniels had control of in 2009 and 2010. From the 2009 draft: Knowshon Moreno (1,586 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns this year), defensive end Robert Ayers (sack of Tom Brady in the AFC title game) and special-teams captain David Bruton are here. From the 2010 draft: the two leading receivers—Demaryius Thomas (92 catches, 14 touchdowns) and Eric Decker (87 catches, 11 TDs)—are here, plus starting guard Zane Beadles.
To be ever more fair, I think this goes to show the talent of Brian Xanders as a GM and John Fox as a head coach more than it shows the coaching ability of Josh McDaniels. I recognize most of these guys were really young when they played under McDaniels, but they have flourished under Fox, and Xanders is the guy most responsible for choosing them. So I know Peter is trying to rehab Josh McDaniels' image in a way, but I think Brian Xanders deserves a shout-out too.
He has said time and again that when he compared teams, he liked the young receivers that Denver had. Who would have been in their place, and would they have passed Manning’s muster? Or would be have looked at Larry Fitzgerald and the Manning-friendly offense of Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona a little more fondly? Point is, McDaniels shouldn’t be a Denver pariah in this Super Bowl week. He should be thanked.
Not Brian Xanders? He doesn't merit a mention here? Check out what's done in terms of personnel acquisition. I think he should be thanked more than Josh McDaniels should be thanked.
Well, I never thought I’d be interviewing a rapper for The MMQB. But one of our writers, Robert Klemko, knew how passionate a football fan Lil Wayne is, and Klemko met his publicist, and one thing led to another, and Tuesday night the publicist said to me: “I’m patching you through to Wayne.”
I would love to have heard this conversation recorded. I'm surprised Peter didn't ask Lil Wayne which U2 album he thought was the best and whether he watched "The Office" or not. On a more realistic note, this is the type of addendum to MMQB that causes it to feel bloated. I think the full interview Lil Wayne should be posted as a separate article on THE MMQB rather than spend space in MMQB, but I'm not Peter's editor, so perhaps he thought it fit in well with MMQB. To me, it just adds to the bloat.
“A lot of the writers think I’m boring. So I’m going to go all Richard Sherman on you.”
—Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe.
Riveting. I'm glad this quote was included in MMQB. I mean, I really think this quote is super-important to my understanding of the NFL and MLB.
Peter left out his "Fine Fifteen" this week, which was probably a smart move. I did say the following last week though,
1. Seattle (15-3)
2. Denver (15-3)
I'm guessing Peter will have these teams arranged in this order this week and then flip-flop them once he picks the Broncos to win the Super Bowl despite the fact no games have been played which would give him no logical reason to flip-flop their spots, though it wouldn't shock me if Peter put Seattle #1 in his Fine Fifteen and then picked the Broncos to win the Super Bowl.
Take a wild guess which team Peter has picked to win the Super Bowl? I'll give you a hint, it's not Seattle. Peter did something similar earlier in the year when he put the Kansas City Chiefs at #1 in his "Fine Fifteen" until the week where the Broncos and Chiefs played. At that point, he moved the Broncos head of the Chiefs despite the fact the Chiefs had not lost and had a bye week the week before. What changed on the bye week that could have moved the Chiefs out of the #1 spot on the "Fine Fifteen"? Other than they played the Broncos of course? So Peter's "Fine Fifteen" isn't the most accurate measurement of which team Peter believes is the strongest in the NFL. He ranks Seattle above the Broncos in the previous week's "Fine Fifteen," no games are played the following weekend, and then picks the Broncos to beat the Seahawks.
Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week
I have never covered a Super Bowl in the town where I lived, so even though I think it’s a bad idea to have the Super Bowl in an outdoor freezer, I am pleased to be home this week. To get my credential for the week’s media responsibilities, I left my apartment on the east side of Manhattan Sunday about 2:30 p.m., and walked nine blocks to the Sheraton Times Square, which is the media hotel for the Super Bowl. I picked up my press credential, then boarded a bus at 3:30 for the Broncos’ team hotel in Jersey City, across the Hudson River.
Now these Broncos and Seahawks players can see firsthand all of the big city annoyances that Peter has to deal with on a weekly basis. There are people on the train minding their own business doing weird things while Peter stares intently at them, the Starbucks baristas don't always make every cup of Peter's coffee perfectly and tourists take pictures of the Apple logo. How insane.
What will be odd about this Super Bowl: The media events with the teams, and the team hotels, and the practice sites, and the Super Bowl, will be in New Jersey. Everything else—the parties, the major-domo press conferences, the media center—will be in Manhattan.
But where will Bruce Springsteen be? Isn't he the shining example of New Jersey?
I'm sure Jon Bon Jovi, who is a Jersey guy and apparently a diehard Patriots fan because he is friends with Robert Kraft/a front runner, will be at the game too. They will be in New Jersey, doesn't that count for something, Peter?
I lived in New Jersey with my family for 24 years. I love the state. Not every inch of it,
NOT TO NAME ANY NAMES, BUT HE'S TALKING TO YOU THREE MILES OF LOWER NEW JERSEY!
So I’m a little sensitive about the New York-ification of everything major league that goes on in New Jersey. Like this Super Bowl. The teams are in Jersey. The practices are in Jersey. The players and coaches meet the press in Jersey. The game’s in Jersey.
But it’s the New York Super Bowl.
Well, it's the media that writes this story so they could be directionally correct if they wanted to, but they choose not to. I think part of the reason this is considered the New York Super Bowl is because the Giants and Jets play at the stadium the Super Bowl will be played in and they are both New York teams.
Peter thinks that's bad, he should try living in North Carolina with South Carolina always lurking and looking to confuse everyone that North Carolina wants anything to do with South Carolina. It didn't help that Jerry Richardson named the Panthers the "Carolina Panthers," but South Carolina also insists on talking to North Carolina at parties and just generally being that cousin who doesn't get invited to family reunions but shows up anyway somehow.
I’ll be drinking in Hoboken Tuesday night, thank you.
I bet Peter will be drinking an Allagash White.
“Richard Sherman seems to be on his best behavior during his first Super Bowl media exposure. Unfortunately.”
—@MichaelJLev, of the Orange County Register, tweeting from the Richard Sherman news conference Sunday night.
It's so sad Sherman isn't acting up so sportswriters can call him a thug and generally turn his behavior into a narrative about the entire Seahawks team.
Ten Things I Think I Think
3. I think new Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht (pronounced “Light”) had an interesting take the other day when asked who would have the final say on the draft—him or coach Lovie Smith. (It’s widely thought around the league that the buck will stop with Smith on all football decisions.) Said Licht: “There will be no arguments on draft day
So the buck will stop with Lovie Smith then?
We’ll have arguments on players. I’m going to plead my case. I told Lovie, during the interview process, that if he doesn’t like a player, I’m going to be in his office 20 times trying to prove why my player, that I like, is the guy that we need, and I’m sure he’ll do the same thing. If we don’t come to an agreement, the answer is easy, it lies in itself—we won’t take that player.”
This sounds like one of the worst ideas I have heard as it pertains to a head coach and a GM deciding which player to take. So if neither party can agree on a player then they just won't take the player? What if the Buccaneers are choosing between Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles and Smith likes Bortles while Licht likes Manziel? Will no decision be made and the Buccaneers just won't take a quarterback? This seems counterproductive to me, especially if the Buccaneers need a quarterback.
I’ll be interested to follow that down the line.
Yeah, me too. This method of conflict resolution as it pertains to which player to take seems like a bad way to go about player evaluation and selection. At some point, there has to be a player that neither Licht or Smith can agree upon and they will just not make a decision at all as opposed to making a decision both are unhappy with. This does sound like how Congress goes about their business, but I'm thinking it will cause more gridlock and bad will than just letting Smith or Licht have their way. What do I know though? When there is a conflict over a decision on which player to choose, choosing neither player seems like a bad idea to me.
7. I think San Francisco offensive coordinator Greg Roman, unfortunately, may turn out to be the offensive version of Mike Zimmer, who had to wait far too long for his chance to be a head coach. Cleveland not interviewing Roman … absolutely amazing.
Earlier this year, Peter was wanting more minority candidates to receive interviews for NFL head coaching jobs. Yet I can't help but notice every time he discusses an NFL head coaching candidate who deserves an interview or has waited too long for an interview he always mentions a white guy and not a minority.
9. I think I will make this promise to you, as Super Bowl Week dawns: I promise I will not hit you over the head with weather reporting/complaining. It’ll get a mention now and again, but not a daily pounding.
Peter hit us with weather report and was complaining about the weather in a previous MMQB. So Peter go his weather complaining in earlier in the season.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
d. Bieber. Lohan. How do you tell them apart?
One is a girl but looks like a 40-year old woman and the other is a boy but is slowly looking more and more like a girl.
i. How do the Asbury Jukes wear all Rangers stuff?
They put the clothes over their head and then put their arms through the holes of the Rangers gear they wear. Probably the same way Jon Bon Jovi is a big Patriots fan despite the fact he is from New Jersey and owned a Philadelphia arena league team.
k. Beernerdness: Had the good fortune to meet Jim Koch, the Sam Adams brewer, on the SI Now show the other day in New York. We talked craft beer, and he handed me one of his new ones. “Cold Snap.” A wheat beer, he said
Yep, and "Cold Snap" isn't all that great. It's like a wheat beer for people who like the taste of Bud Light.
with spices like coriander and orange peel. And I’m thinking, “Hmmm. Allagash White.”
And I'm thinking there aren't too many beers I consider real beers if you have to put an orange peel in it.
So I popped it open Friday night. A tad darker than Allagash, but the same nose and similar taste. Loved it.
It tastes mediocre, so of course Peter loved it. I gave it a 2.5 on the Untapped app (which is an awesome beer app where you get to rank the beers you drink and share beers you drink with friends) and I was probably being generous.
l. Matt Garza to the Brew Crew. I like it. Good signing. If healthy, he should win 15.
Congrats Brewers! Your signing of Matt Garza has Peter King's approval! Given Peter's knowledge of baseball and individual baseball players, how can this not thrill you?
The Adieu Haiku
Sad thing re Pro Bowl:
End of Tony Gonzalez.
At least in football.
Oh, so Tony Gonzalez will continue living and not die. Thanks for clearing up it's the end of Tony Gonzalez, but only in football. I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW TONY GONZALEZ PLAYED BASKETBALL IN COLLEGE!
Monday, January 27, 2014
3 comments Richard Sherman Is Just Really, Really Dangerous
I'm sure most people saw Richard Sherman's post-NFC Championship game interview with Erin Andrews. If you didn't, Sherman freaked out and talked junk about Michael Crabtree after the game and said Crabtree was a sorry receiver. I'm surprised Gregg Easterbrook doesn't agree since Crabtree is the cause of the 49ers struggles under Mike Singletary due to the "Crabtree Curse." Either way, this interview gave sportswriters a chance to hop up on their pulpit and state that Sherman is a bad sport and probably the worst person in the world. I have two such columns today, one from "Slate" and one from the incomparable Jay Mariotti.
First, "Slate" asks why "everyone" is celebrating Sherman's behavior. Of course one look at social media and the various columns written about Sherman's outburst tells me that not "everyone" was celebrating Sherman's behavior, but I guess it's easier to spit a column out when based on a somewhat false premise like this one.
In the waning moments of the NFC title game, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman made a heady play to send his team to the Super Bowl, tipping a pass into the air so his teammate could intercept it. A few seconds later, Sherman pantomimed a “choke” sign in the direction of 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He then razzed San Francisco receiver Michael Crabtree, patting his butt and offering a mocking handshake. (Crabtree responded with a frustrated shove to Sherman’s helmet.) Once the game was over, Sherman proclaimed to Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews, “Well, I’m the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you’re gonna get! Don’t you ever talk about me!”
I thought it was funny because it was a football player unfiltered. Also, it taught a very valuable lesson about talking crap about Richard Sherman. Don't do it.
It took only a few seconds for Twitter to begin yelling back at Sherman. ESPN’s Mike Greenberg joined a slew of others who called the Seattle corner “classless.”
But remember, the premise of this column is that "everyone" is celebrating Sherman's behavior. It turns out that's not true and the author admits that in his column. (deep sigh)
Soon, a second wave of punditry emerged to right these initial wrongs. Forbes noted that Sherman had graduated second in his high school class and gone to Stanford, “So not only is he not a fool, odds are he’s smarter than you and me.”
Ah yes, a summary of the events seems to be taking up the first part of this column while I patiently wait for how "everyone" celebrated Sherman's behavior and why this was so wrong. Just killing time...
A YouTube video circulated in my Twitter feed like a piece of pro-Sherman agitprop, demonstrating Sherman’s intellectual approach to the game and the value he places on hard work and preparation.
Whether Sherman takes an intellectual approach to a football game and how hard he works is sort of irrelevant in terms of whether his outburst was appropriate or not. It seems like a way to simply defeat the "Richard Sherman is an idiot thug" comments that were going around immediately after the interview. Taking that one event and deciding Sherman is a thug, while using his film viewing and game preparation as an example to frame the incident in one definitive manner or another seems irrelevant to me. A so-called thug can still prepare really well for a football game, while a studious person who takes an intellectual approach to the game can still say something publicly he regrets. Ask Peyton Manning about his "idiot kicker" comment a few years ago for proof of this.
Others focused on the racial dynamics. In a piece titled “Richard Sherman and the Plight of the Conquering Negro,” Deadspin’s Greg Howard argued that Sherman had become “a proxy for the black male id” and that condemnations of him were “based on the common, very American belief that black males must know their place.” The Nation’s Dave Zirin alluded to “stomach-churning racial coding” and described Sherman as “an archetype that has been branded a threat as long as African-Americans have played sports.”
Boy, it's taking a minute to get to the point isn't it?
I will gladly allow that the sight of middle-aged, white sportswriters evincing disgust at the brash behavior of a young, black athlete is depressingly familiar. I also shudder to align myself with the smarmy snobs who use a loaded term like “classless” in talking about a guy who grew up the son of a garbage man in Compton, Calif.
The second someone writes disgust at potentially aligning himself with another group of people, there's always a good chance that person is about to align himself with this group of people.
But can I draw a line here?
I’d like to request that we stipulate a few basic notions.
What follows are nine basic notions, so the author actually wants to draw nine lines here and not just one.
The first six points are basically that Sherman was being dick no matter where he went to school or how well-read he was. I agree. He was being a dick. I don't know if it was being a bad sport though and I'm not sure "everyone" is celebrating his behavior.
7. It turns out that Sherman and Crabtree have history—Sherman’s brother alleges that Crabtree tried to fight the Seahawks player at a charity event. Most of Sherman’s defenders haven’t bothered to mention the existing personal feud. But to be clear: While the prior beef adds some context, those two wrongs don’t make what Sherman did right—or, more precisely, not dickish.
No, but it does point out the background on why Sherman seemed so angry at Crabtree and felt the need to rub it in when he made the biggest play of his NFL career on a pass intended for Crabtree. I think the line I would like to draw is if two players have a previous feud then there's a good chance the bad blood will spill over to the field and also spill over into an interview done two minutes after the bad blood on the field has ended. Emotions were still running high at that point.
8. Talking smack in the lead-up to a contest, or in the middle of it, is permissible. It falls into the hallowed tradition of gamesmanship. Dancing on graves after the battle has been won is dickish.
How the hell does this make sense? So Richard Sherman could have called Michael Crabtree a mediocre receiver and a sorry receiver PRIOR to the game in an interview, but once he's backed up his words after the game has concluded he can't point out how correct he was? How is dancing on graves after the game dickish if it simply backs up the smack that was talked prior to the start of the game? I can't figure out how gamesmanship prior to the game in an interview is fine, but gamesmanship after the game isn't fine...especially since Sherman seemingly backed up his feelings about Crabtree.
9. And this is the most delicate of these notions but needs to be addressed: Whatever archetypes may be conjured by the specter of white people tsk-tsking a black man who loudly brags alongside a blond woman, those uncomfortable overtones don’t change the fact that, in this case, in that moment, the man was being a dick.
No, but why is it okay for Sherman to be a dick before the game has started?
I also recognize that the despicable, racist language being lobbed at Sherman needs to be shouted down, aggressively. But that doesn’t mean that Sherman was acting in a commendable manner when he wrapped his hands around his neck to signal that Colin Kaepernick choked. Or when he needlessly taunted Michael Crabtree
Actually, this "needless taunting" took place during the game so it's perfectly fine according to notion #8. Right, talking smack in the middle of the game is permissible. That's what Sherman did by pointing out Kaepernick choked and by taunting Crabtree. Try your best to stick to the rules (sorry, "notions") you have made up.
Why can’t we say that Sherman is probably a great guy who did not act like one in the moments after the NFC championship game?
Despite the author's attempts to push reactions towards "He's a thug!" or "He's a great guy!" I think most people do think Sherman is a great guy who didn't act like a nice guy after the game. That being said, it was still funny to see a professional athlete call out an opponent immediately after the game like that.
So let’s glorify Sherman for what deserves glory: his amazing performance on the field, and his accomplishments off it. He doesn’t deserve to be virulently attacked for his actions at the tail end of the NFC title game, but please let’s not celebrate them
I'm not sure his actions are being celebrated, but Sherman's adrenaline was still pumping after the game and he said what he thought when he was immediately interviewed upon the game ending. This is why the media waits to speak to athletes in the locker room after games, so the athlete can shower and prepare responses to questions asked.
As Sherman wrote: “[I]t was in the moment, and it was just a small part of the person I am.” Yes—a small, dickish part of who he is.
I'm still confused how it's okay to show gamesmanship during a football game according to notion #8, but Sherman was out of line for taunting Kaepernick and talking junk to Crabtree immediately after the great play by Sherman was over. Isn't that supposed to be permissible? I guess gamesmanship is fine unless the gamesmanship isn't fine.
Now Jay Mariotti urgently tells us about the dangers of Richard Sherman, and in such a caring fashion, he gives Pete Carroll unsolicited advice. The title of this column is "Carroll Must Realize Dangers of Sherman Tank." This is a reference to Sherman's March through the South after the Civil War I would presume, except Jay must have failed history because tanks were invented until the 20th century. But hey, it's a catchy title for a column isn't it? Actually, it really isn't catchy either.
Without intervention, the screaming loon who assaulted America’s senses with a post-game slam rant would have been devoured by the media throngs awaiting him in New York. Sherman was ready to attempt a Super Bowl takeover next week, but his coach, understanding how such a daily farce could distract the Seahawks and leave his player vulnerable to untold viral controversies, moved quickly to corral the Sherman Tank.
Simply because Richard Sherman made one comment after the game about Michael Crabtree doesn't mean he was looking to take over the Super Bowl. The media has the ability to control the viral controversies that they attempt to start, but I know that would take self-control and the need to not chase controversies which result in easy stories to write, so that's not an option.
Nothing can destroy a team in its proudest moment, Carroll knows, quite like a media maniac obsessed with himself.
Jay Mariotti understands this because he looks in the mirror everyday at someone who fits this description perfectly.
If Sherman proceeds with more stunts like his already-infamous Fox interview with Erin Andrews — and we can’t assume he won’t until next week is over — he may have been recalled as the idiot who buried his team with his mouth in the world’s media capital.
I think Jay is taking this a little far. Sherman simply called out Crabtree in an interview. He hasn't done anything like this in his previous two seasons in the NFL, so I don't think this one interview is a preview of an entire Super Bowl week of Sherman running his mouth and telling the entire world which receivers are mediocre and which are not. Let's not run too far with this story and make it more than it is.
“We try to stick to Rule No. 1, which is always protect the team. It’s the rule we live by. You always represent us. In a time like that one, it was a little bit representing yourself. How we handle it is we try to grow and learn and work our way through who we are and figure out who we want to be. This was an extraordinary learning opportunity. You’ll see some benefit from it.”
This is great advice from Pete Carroll that Richard Sherman didn't heed. It's unfortunate, but his comments to Erin Andrews after the NFC Championship game wasn't a prelude to more hi-jinx during Super Bowl week. Of course Jay Mariotti has to make it seem like Richard Sherman is a loose cannon who is liable to say anything at any point, even though this hasn't been proven to be true. Jay tries to be as extreme as possible, it's part of what makes his writing style so wonderful that no major mainstream news outlet cares to employ him.
“I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates … That was not my intent,” Sherman said in a text message to ESPN.
Earlier, Sherman said, “Obviously I could have worded things better and could obviously have had a better reaction and done things differently. But it is what it is now, and people’s reactions are what they are.”
“But people find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language far worse than what you’ll see from me. It’s sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is.”
As a Stanford guy, Sherman knows the meaning of hypocrisy.
And he is a flaming hypocrite.
Says the sportswriter who trashes mainstream and large organizations like ESPN and FoxSports after desperately trying to get them to hire him prior to taking this job writing for Sports Talk Florida that probably gets 500 hits a day judging by the complete lack of comments on Mariotti's columns. But here is how Sherman is a hypocrite. Be prepared.
He’s complaining about “bullying” language? Just what would he call his rant on Crabtree, a lullaby?
I'm guessing Jay didn't do well in school as it pertained to "Reading Comprehension." Sherman isn't saying his rant wasn't a form of bullying, he was saying the slurs and language aimed at him is FAR WORSE than what you'll see from him. He's saying what he said after the game may have been wrong at the time, but those who took offense to his statement about Crabtree are using stronger and much more hurtful language that he classifies as bullying.
Of course, what mean things Sherman said to Crabtree wasn't known until a few days after the NFC Championship ended. I'm not sure this counts as "bullying." Listen to Sherman "bullying" Crabtree after the game.
The Super Bowl media game is old hat to him, as it is with Broncos coach John Fox and executive John Elway, and their overall equilibrium could be a major deciding factor as we see how Sherman and other flamboyant Seattle players handle the attention siege.
Somehow Jay Mariotti has managed to take these comments by Richard Sherman and turn them into the entire Seahawks team calling out their opponents and making statements they will regret all through Super Bowl week. Walter Thurmond has stated Welker's hit on Talib was uncalled for, but only the most desperate sportswriter (and ESPN did this) could say he "blasted" Welker.
What else did Carroll tell him? “There’s some stuff in there I think you should think about and did you really want it to come out the way it did and talk our way through that,” he said. “And he didn’t. He didn’t feel right about that. There were a lot of great things that happened (Sunday) night and we’re talking about some other stuff.”
Officially now, the Seahawks are hateable.
I actually like them better because of this. I appreciate an NFL player willing to tell his true opinion on an opponent every once in a while. At a certain point, constant comments about Crabtree would be overboard and get boring, but a quick peek behind the curtain of trash talk was a little refreshing to me.
They’re as loud and boisterous as their decibel-busting, mini-quake-shaking fans. Their architect, Carroll, escaped USC as the building was burning down and the NCAA was swooping in, and he also has this annoying way of saying “cool” a whole lot when he’s 62 years old.
It seems Jay Mariotti is desperately clinging to the "good versus evil" narrative for the Super Bowl. The Broncos are of course "good" and the Seahawks are "evil."
Then there’s Sherman, the most vocal member of Seattle’s Legion of Boom, who may not be able to himself in making enemies and spewing noise.
I guess Sports Talk Radio can't afford an editor for Jay. Read that sentence again. It makes not of sense.
As you will discover these next two weeks, he is the face of this upstart franchise, full of dread,
I don't understand how the Seahawks are full of dread. They don't seem to be full of dread at all. They seem eager to play Peyton Manning and the Broncos in the Super Bowl.
adorned with dreads and armed with a big head.
Oh, so that's why. Jay wants accuracy and the ability of his readers to comprehend what he is writing to fall by the wayside in favor of rhyming and cutesy writing tricks. I'm guessing he learned this from Rick Reilly during his time at ESPN.
We all remember Sherman, of course, for approaching Tom Brady after a victory and asking him, “You mad, bro?” Then he tweeted of Brady, referring to secondary mate Earl Thonas,
Quick! I need an editor now!
I'm not sure who Earl Thonas is, but I do know Earl Thomas plays safety for the Seahawks.
“He told me and earl to see him after the game when they win … I found him after ….” What Sherman does is turn in-game verbal jousting into warfare.
Actually, it seems like Sherman takes trash talk prior to the game and reminds the person talking the trash after the game is over that he backed up his bravado. I'm not saying I enjoy it all the time, but it's fun once and a while.
And that leads us to ask: Is he possibly going to be dumb enough to say something that will tick off Manning, who has more than enough motivation as it is to win this Super Bowl for his personal legacy?
The sports media can only hope that Sherman says something about Manning and they will certainly be baiting Sherman all week to say something negative about Manning so it can be blown up into a huge story.
Not only are the allegiance roles drawn definitively — Manning as the sentimental favorite, the Seahawks as the loudmouths in his way —
Idiot writers just prefer putting narratives into a box where everything makes sense and there is zero nuance involved with these storylines.
Said Crabtree of Sherman: “He’s a TV guy, I’m not a TV guy,” Crabtree said. “He didn’t make any other plays in the game … But he made a good play there. He can keep talking. You make one play and you talk? Good play.”
Later, a Crabtree tweet was more biting: “`Film don’t lie… @nflnetwork @espn pull up the tape of that game and show me where this guy is the best? #fake #fake #fake.”
And of course if Michael Crabtree had said this in front of an open microphone then I'm sure everyone would be up in arms at how rude, unprofessional and dangerous these comments are, right? He's turning in-game verbal jousting into warfare!
Richard? “He wouldn’t make the top 20 of NFL receivers,” Sherman said. “If any team had a chance to pick Crabtree, they wouldn’t draft him.”
The slap on the butt? “I was making sure everyone knew Crabtree was a mediocre receiver,” Sherman said. “And when you try the best corner in the game with a mediocre receiver, that’s what happens. I appreciate that he knows that now. There has been a lot of talk from him running his mouth about me.”
What's interesting to me about this feud and Jay Mariotti writing about this feud is that Jay had his very own feud when he worked in Chicago with Ozzie Guillen. If any writers knows what it is like to exchange words with someone who doesn't like you then it is probably Jay. Of course, when Guillen fired back at Jay he chose to cower in his office and shoot his mouth off in print rather than say anything without the protection of not being in the same room as Guillen.
I wouldn’t have minded Harbaugh in New York.
It's good to know the San Francisco 49ers would have had Jay Mariotti's permission to play in the Super Bowl.
The 12th Man will be represented in New York by Richard Sherman. He can make more noise than 68,454 people combined.
"He's such an entertaining loud-mouthed black man! Dance for us all! Put on a show so I can judge you for it!"
Will he listen to his coach?
Doubtful. You know how headstrong these educated, loud-mouthed minorities can be. Always flaunting their intelligence by talking loudly and never following the directions given to them.
Carroll said. “At times they are going to make mistakes and break your heart, but if you love them, you stay with them. You give [them] the best chance to be all they can be.
“Richard is a wonderful spirit. He’s got an amazing heart, and he has great sensitivity. He goes all the way to the end of the spectrum when it comes to expressing himself.”
Which is exactly what should concern the Seahawks as Manning quietly licks his chops, ready to exploit a raging distraction.
Clearly, Jay Mariotti wants to embrace this distraction while also criticizing Richard Sherman for being dangerous. Jay thinks Richard Sherman is a jerk and hateable, but he sure likes that Sherman has given him something interesting to write about.
First, "Slate" asks why "everyone" is celebrating Sherman's behavior. Of course one look at social media and the various columns written about Sherman's outburst tells me that not "everyone" was celebrating Sherman's behavior, but I guess it's easier to spit a column out when based on a somewhat false premise like this one.
In the waning moments of the NFC title game, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman made a heady play to send his team to the Super Bowl, tipping a pass into the air so his teammate could intercept it. A few seconds later, Sherman pantomimed a “choke” sign in the direction of 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He then razzed San Francisco receiver Michael Crabtree, patting his butt and offering a mocking handshake. (Crabtree responded with a frustrated shove to Sherman’s helmet.) Once the game was over, Sherman proclaimed to Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews, “Well, I’m the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you’re gonna get! Don’t you ever talk about me!”
I thought it was funny because it was a football player unfiltered. Also, it taught a very valuable lesson about talking crap about Richard Sherman. Don't do it.
It took only a few seconds for Twitter to begin yelling back at Sherman. ESPN’s Mike Greenberg joined a slew of others who called the Seattle corner “classless.”
But remember, the premise of this column is that "everyone" is celebrating Sherman's behavior. It turns out that's not true and the author admits that in his column. (deep sigh)
Soon, a second wave of punditry emerged to right these initial wrongs. Forbes noted that Sherman had graduated second in his high school class and gone to Stanford, “So not only is he not a fool, odds are he’s smarter than you and me.”
Ah yes, a summary of the events seems to be taking up the first part of this column while I patiently wait for how "everyone" celebrated Sherman's behavior and why this was so wrong. Just killing time...
A YouTube video circulated in my Twitter feed like a piece of pro-Sherman agitprop, demonstrating Sherman’s intellectual approach to the game and the value he places on hard work and preparation.
Whether Sherman takes an intellectual approach to a football game and how hard he works is sort of irrelevant in terms of whether his outburst was appropriate or not. It seems like a way to simply defeat the "Richard Sherman is an idiot thug" comments that were going around immediately after the interview. Taking that one event and deciding Sherman is a thug, while using his film viewing and game preparation as an example to frame the incident in one definitive manner or another seems irrelevant to me. A so-called thug can still prepare really well for a football game, while a studious person who takes an intellectual approach to the game can still say something publicly he regrets. Ask Peyton Manning about his "idiot kicker" comment a few years ago for proof of this.
Others focused on the racial dynamics. In a piece titled “Richard Sherman and the Plight of the Conquering Negro,” Deadspin’s Greg Howard argued that Sherman had become “a proxy for the black male id” and that condemnations of him were “based on the common, very American belief that black males must know their place.” The Nation’s Dave Zirin alluded to “stomach-churning racial coding” and described Sherman as “an archetype that has been branded a threat as long as African-Americans have played sports.”
Boy, it's taking a minute to get to the point isn't it?
I will gladly allow that the sight of middle-aged, white sportswriters evincing disgust at the brash behavior of a young, black athlete is depressingly familiar. I also shudder to align myself with the smarmy snobs who use a loaded term like “classless” in talking about a guy who grew up the son of a garbage man in Compton, Calif.
The second someone writes disgust at potentially aligning himself with another group of people, there's always a good chance that person is about to align himself with this group of people.
But can I draw a line here?
I’d like to request that we stipulate a few basic notions.
What follows are nine basic notions, so the author actually wants to draw nine lines here and not just one.
The first six points are basically that Sherman was being dick no matter where he went to school or how well-read he was. I agree. He was being a dick. I don't know if it was being a bad sport though and I'm not sure "everyone" is celebrating his behavior.
7. It turns out that Sherman and Crabtree have history—Sherman’s brother alleges that Crabtree tried to fight the Seahawks player at a charity event. Most of Sherman’s defenders haven’t bothered to mention the existing personal feud. But to be clear: While the prior beef adds some context, those two wrongs don’t make what Sherman did right—or, more precisely, not dickish.
No, but it does point out the background on why Sherman seemed so angry at Crabtree and felt the need to rub it in when he made the biggest play of his NFL career on a pass intended for Crabtree. I think the line I would like to draw is if two players have a previous feud then there's a good chance the bad blood will spill over to the field and also spill over into an interview done two minutes after the bad blood on the field has ended. Emotions were still running high at that point.
8. Talking smack in the lead-up to a contest, or in the middle of it, is permissible. It falls into the hallowed tradition of gamesmanship. Dancing on graves after the battle has been won is dickish.
How the hell does this make sense? So Richard Sherman could have called Michael Crabtree a mediocre receiver and a sorry receiver PRIOR to the game in an interview, but once he's backed up his words after the game has concluded he can't point out how correct he was? How is dancing on graves after the game dickish if it simply backs up the smack that was talked prior to the start of the game? I can't figure out how gamesmanship prior to the game in an interview is fine, but gamesmanship after the game isn't fine...especially since Sherman seemingly backed up his feelings about Crabtree.
9. And this is the most delicate of these notions but needs to be addressed: Whatever archetypes may be conjured by the specter of white people tsk-tsking a black man who loudly brags alongside a blond woman, those uncomfortable overtones don’t change the fact that, in this case, in that moment, the man was being a dick.
No, but why is it okay for Sherman to be a dick before the game has started?
I also recognize that the despicable, racist language being lobbed at Sherman needs to be shouted down, aggressively. But that doesn’t mean that Sherman was acting in a commendable manner when he wrapped his hands around his neck to signal that Colin Kaepernick choked. Or when he needlessly taunted Michael Crabtree
Actually, this "needless taunting" took place during the game so it's perfectly fine according to notion #8. Right, talking smack in the middle of the game is permissible. That's what Sherman did by pointing out Kaepernick choked and by taunting Crabtree. Try your best to stick to the rules (sorry, "notions") you have made up.
Why can’t we say that Sherman is probably a great guy who did not act like one in the moments after the NFC championship game?
Despite the author's attempts to push reactions towards "He's a thug!" or "He's a great guy!" I think most people do think Sherman is a great guy who didn't act like a nice guy after the game. That being said, it was still funny to see a professional athlete call out an opponent immediately after the game like that.
So let’s glorify Sherman for what deserves glory: his amazing performance on the field, and his accomplishments off it. He doesn’t deserve to be virulently attacked for his actions at the tail end of the NFC title game, but please let’s not celebrate them
I'm not sure his actions are being celebrated, but Sherman's adrenaline was still pumping after the game and he said what he thought when he was immediately interviewed upon the game ending. This is why the media waits to speak to athletes in the locker room after games, so the athlete can shower and prepare responses to questions asked.
As Sherman wrote: “[I]t was in the moment, and it was just a small part of the person I am.” Yes—a small, dickish part of who he is.
I'm still confused how it's okay to show gamesmanship during a football game according to notion #8, but Sherman was out of line for taunting Kaepernick and talking junk to Crabtree immediately after the great play by Sherman was over. Isn't that supposed to be permissible? I guess gamesmanship is fine unless the gamesmanship isn't fine.
Now Jay Mariotti urgently tells us about the dangers of Richard Sherman, and in such a caring fashion, he gives Pete Carroll unsolicited advice. The title of this column is "Carroll Must Realize Dangers of Sherman Tank." This is a reference to Sherman's March through the South after the Civil War I would presume, except Jay must have failed history because tanks were invented until the 20th century. But hey, it's a catchy title for a column isn't it? Actually, it really isn't catchy either.
Without intervention, the screaming loon who assaulted America’s senses with a post-game slam rant would have been devoured by the media throngs awaiting him in New York. Sherman was ready to attempt a Super Bowl takeover next week, but his coach, understanding how such a daily farce could distract the Seahawks and leave his player vulnerable to untold viral controversies, moved quickly to corral the Sherman Tank.
Simply because Richard Sherman made one comment after the game about Michael Crabtree doesn't mean he was looking to take over the Super Bowl. The media has the ability to control the viral controversies that they attempt to start, but I know that would take self-control and the need to not chase controversies which result in easy stories to write, so that's not an option.
Nothing can destroy a team in its proudest moment, Carroll knows, quite like a media maniac obsessed with himself.
Jay Mariotti understands this because he looks in the mirror everyday at someone who fits this description perfectly.
If Sherman proceeds with more stunts like his already-infamous Fox interview with Erin Andrews — and we can’t assume he won’t until next week is over — he may have been recalled as the idiot who buried his team with his mouth in the world’s media capital.
I think Jay is taking this a little far. Sherman simply called out Crabtree in an interview. He hasn't done anything like this in his previous two seasons in the NFL, so I don't think this one interview is a preview of an entire Super Bowl week of Sherman running his mouth and telling the entire world which receivers are mediocre and which are not. Let's not run too far with this story and make it more than it is.
“We try to stick to Rule No. 1, which is always protect the team. It’s the rule we live by. You always represent us. In a time like that one, it was a little bit representing yourself. How we handle it is we try to grow and learn and work our way through who we are and figure out who we want to be. This was an extraordinary learning opportunity. You’ll see some benefit from it.”
This is great advice from Pete Carroll that Richard Sherman didn't heed. It's unfortunate, but his comments to Erin Andrews after the NFC Championship game wasn't a prelude to more hi-jinx during Super Bowl week. Of course Jay Mariotti has to make it seem like Richard Sherman is a loose cannon who is liable to say anything at any point, even though this hasn't been proven to be true. Jay tries to be as extreme as possible, it's part of what makes his writing style so wonderful that no major mainstream news outlet cares to employ him.
“I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates … That was not my intent,” Sherman said in a text message to ESPN.
Earlier, Sherman said, “Obviously I could have worded things better and could obviously have had a better reaction and done things differently. But it is what it is now, and people’s reactions are what they are.”
“But people find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language far worse than what you’ll see from me. It’s sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is.”
As a Stanford guy, Sherman knows the meaning of hypocrisy.
And he is a flaming hypocrite.
Says the sportswriter who trashes mainstream and large organizations like ESPN and FoxSports after desperately trying to get them to hire him prior to taking this job writing for Sports Talk Florida that probably gets 500 hits a day judging by the complete lack of comments on Mariotti's columns. But here is how Sherman is a hypocrite. Be prepared.
He’s complaining about “bullying” language? Just what would he call his rant on Crabtree, a lullaby?
I'm guessing Jay didn't do well in school as it pertained to "Reading Comprehension." Sherman isn't saying his rant wasn't a form of bullying, he was saying the slurs and language aimed at him is FAR WORSE than what you'll see from him. He's saying what he said after the game may have been wrong at the time, but those who took offense to his statement about Crabtree are using stronger and much more hurtful language that he classifies as bullying.
Of course, what mean things Sherman said to Crabtree wasn't known until a few days after the NFC Championship ended. I'm not sure this counts as "bullying." Listen to Sherman "bullying" Crabtree after the game.
The Super Bowl media game is old hat to him, as it is with Broncos coach John Fox and executive John Elway, and their overall equilibrium could be a major deciding factor as we see how Sherman and other flamboyant Seattle players handle the attention siege.
Somehow Jay Mariotti has managed to take these comments by Richard Sherman and turn them into the entire Seahawks team calling out their opponents and making statements they will regret all through Super Bowl week. Walter Thurmond has stated Welker's hit on Talib was uncalled for, but only the most desperate sportswriter (and ESPN did this) could say he "blasted" Welker.
What else did Carroll tell him? “There’s some stuff in there I think you should think about and did you really want it to come out the way it did and talk our way through that,” he said. “And he didn’t. He didn’t feel right about that. There were a lot of great things that happened (Sunday) night and we’re talking about some other stuff.”
Officially now, the Seahawks are hateable.
I actually like them better because of this. I appreciate an NFL player willing to tell his true opinion on an opponent every once in a while. At a certain point, constant comments about Crabtree would be overboard and get boring, but a quick peek behind the curtain of trash talk was a little refreshing to me.
They’re as loud and boisterous as their decibel-busting, mini-quake-shaking fans. Their architect, Carroll, escaped USC as the building was burning down and the NCAA was swooping in, and he also has this annoying way of saying “cool” a whole lot when he’s 62 years old.
It seems Jay Mariotti is desperately clinging to the "good versus evil" narrative for the Super Bowl. The Broncos are of course "good" and the Seahawks are "evil."
Then there’s Sherman, the most vocal member of Seattle’s Legion of Boom, who may not be able to himself in making enemies and spewing noise.
I guess Sports Talk Radio can't afford an editor for Jay. Read that sentence again. It makes not of sense.
As you will discover these next two weeks, he is the face of this upstart franchise, full of dread,
I don't understand how the Seahawks are full of dread. They don't seem to be full of dread at all. They seem eager to play Peyton Manning and the Broncos in the Super Bowl.
adorned with dreads and armed with a big head.
Oh, so that's why. Jay wants accuracy and the ability of his readers to comprehend what he is writing to fall by the wayside in favor of rhyming and cutesy writing tricks. I'm guessing he learned this from Rick Reilly during his time at ESPN.
We all remember Sherman, of course, for approaching Tom Brady after a victory and asking him, “You mad, bro?” Then he tweeted of Brady, referring to secondary mate Earl Thonas,
Quick! I need an editor now!
I'm not sure who Earl Thonas is, but I do know Earl Thomas plays safety for the Seahawks.
“He told me and earl to see him after the game when they win … I found him after ….” What Sherman does is turn in-game verbal jousting into warfare.
Actually, it seems like Sherman takes trash talk prior to the game and reminds the person talking the trash after the game is over that he backed up his bravado. I'm not saying I enjoy it all the time, but it's fun once and a while.
And that leads us to ask: Is he possibly going to be dumb enough to say something that will tick off Manning, who has more than enough motivation as it is to win this Super Bowl for his personal legacy?
The sports media can only hope that Sherman says something about Manning and they will certainly be baiting Sherman all week to say something negative about Manning so it can be blown up into a huge story.
Not only are the allegiance roles drawn definitively — Manning as the sentimental favorite, the Seahawks as the loudmouths in his way —
Idiot writers just prefer putting narratives into a box where everything makes sense and there is zero nuance involved with these storylines.
Said Crabtree of Sherman: “He’s a TV guy, I’m not a TV guy,” Crabtree said. “He didn’t make any other plays in the game … But he made a good play there. He can keep talking. You make one play and you talk? Good play.”
Later, a Crabtree tweet was more biting: “`Film don’t lie… @nflnetwork @espn pull up the tape of that game and show me where this guy is the best? #fake #fake #fake.”
And of course if Michael Crabtree had said this in front of an open microphone then I'm sure everyone would be up in arms at how rude, unprofessional and dangerous these comments are, right? He's turning in-game verbal jousting into warfare!
Richard? “He wouldn’t make the top 20 of NFL receivers,” Sherman said. “If any team had a chance to pick Crabtree, they wouldn’t draft him.”
The slap on the butt? “I was making sure everyone knew Crabtree was a mediocre receiver,” Sherman said. “And when you try the best corner in the game with a mediocre receiver, that’s what happens. I appreciate that he knows that now. There has been a lot of talk from him running his mouth about me.”
What's interesting to me about this feud and Jay Mariotti writing about this feud is that Jay had his very own feud when he worked in Chicago with Ozzie Guillen. If any writers knows what it is like to exchange words with someone who doesn't like you then it is probably Jay. Of course, when Guillen fired back at Jay he chose to cower in his office and shoot his mouth off in print rather than say anything without the protection of not being in the same room as Guillen.
I wouldn’t have minded Harbaugh in New York.
It's good to know the San Francisco 49ers would have had Jay Mariotti's permission to play in the Super Bowl.
The 12th Man will be represented in New York by Richard Sherman. He can make more noise than 68,454 people combined.
"He's such an entertaining loud-mouthed black man! Dance for us all! Put on a show so I can judge you for it!"
Will he listen to his coach?
Doubtful. You know how headstrong these educated, loud-mouthed minorities can be. Always flaunting their intelligence by talking loudly and never following the directions given to them.
Carroll said. “At times they are going to make mistakes and break your heart, but if you love them, you stay with them. You give [them] the best chance to be all they can be.
“Richard is a wonderful spirit. He’s got an amazing heart, and he has great sensitivity. He goes all the way to the end of the spectrum when it comes to expressing himself.”
Which is exactly what should concern the Seahawks as Manning quietly licks his chops, ready to exploit a raging distraction.
Clearly, Jay Mariotti wants to embrace this distraction while also criticizing Richard Sherman for being dangerous. Jay thinks Richard Sherman is a jerk and hateable, but he sure likes that Sherman has given him something interesting to write about.
Without
intervention, the screaming loon who assaulted America’s senses with a
post-game slam rant would have been devoured by the media throngs
awaiting him in New York. Sherman was ready to attempt a Super Bowl
takeover next week, but his coach, understanding how such a daily farce
could distract the Seahawks and leave his player vulnerable to untold
viral controversies, moved quickly to corral the Sherman Tank.
Read more at http://www.sportstalkflorida.com/carroll-must-realize-dangers-of-sherman-tank/#8XJQWmSkcdcB2pHW.99
Read more at http://www.sportstalkflorida.com/carroll-must-realize-dangers-of-sherman-tank/#8XJQWmSkcdcB2pHW.99
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