(DC UrbanSports) - What Richard Sherman, cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, did last Sunday goes on every NFL Sunday between teams after a win. He gloated, and he celebrated.
Nothing new. Right? Players do it all the time.
"Don't you open your mouth about the best," Sherman said in an on-the-field post-game interview, "or I'm gonna shut it for you real quick!"
Keep in mind, Sherman and his team mates not only won the game, defeating the San Francisco 49ers (23-17), they secured a spot in the best game of the season, Super Bowl XVLIII.
Celebrating - at a high level - after playing at a high level, is certainly allowed in this case, right?
Yet, certain members of the so-called "human society", taking issue with Sherman's brand of expressionism and celebration, called Richard Sherman a "thug" an "animal", and other unsavory names after he trashed-talked his opponent, Michael Crabtree, who Sherman says trashed-talked him.
Having a day or so to digest the impact of his 'expressionism', Sherman took the media circuit to explain his actions, letting people like those who expressed evil thoughts about him know these things:
"I was caught up in the moment", and "I didn't mean to detract from the efforts of the team."
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Nothing new. Right? Players do it all the time.
"Don't you open your mouth about the best," Sherman said in an on-the-field post-game interview, "or I'm gonna shut it for you real quick!"
Keep in mind, Sherman and his team mates not only won the game, defeating the San Francisco 49ers (23-17), they secured a spot in the best game of the season, Super Bowl XVLIII.
Celebrating - at a high level - after playing at a high level, is certainly allowed in this case, right?
Yet, certain members of the so-called "human society", taking issue with Sherman's brand of expressionism and celebration, called Richard Sherman a "thug" an "animal", and other unsavory names after he trashed-talked his opponent, Michael Crabtree, who Sherman says trashed-talked him.
Having a day or so to digest the impact of his 'expressionism', Sherman took the media circuit to explain his actions, letting people like those who expressed evil thoughts about him know these things:
"I was caught up in the moment", and "I didn't mean to detract from the efforts of the team."
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| FACT: Richard Sherman. Not a thug, but brilliant. Graduated 2nd in his HS class with 4.2 GPA. 1400 college SAT score. Masters from Stanford. 2014 Super Bowl winner and MVP (yeah, we're predicting that). |
On the racist tweets about him, Sherman answered with dignity, even saying, "I'm not a thug."
We've heard white people say these horrid things before about African American athletes, and unfortunately, whether you're at the top of your game or at the bottom, white people continue to just be mean and spew evil from their mouths - and their computers.
It's unfortunate, but Richard Sherman has joined the long (and increasingly growing) list of African American athletes who have been victimized for just being who they are, BAF. (Black. And Fabulous).
Think back in time to before baseball's Jackie Robinson (and his statue); boxing's Jack Johnson; and of recent history, college basketball's Michigan's Fab Five; the football players for which the movie Remember the Titans was based; hockey's Joel Ward of the Washington Capitals, and just about every other soccer player of color.
At some point in every African American athlete's career (and any other segment of African American life), you can bet some white person - or group of whites - say mean things about you. Women included. Remember Don Imus' "nappy headed hoes" comment?
So, the passion Sherman displayed on the field gets him labeled a thug, and called an animal; however, as Sherman so eloquently stated, the same 'passion' displayed by other athletes, oh, let's say, white hockey players, where the act of acting like animals is a seemingly nightly occurrence (as I pointed out here in 2009), is seen as just par for the course.
No athletes being called thugs. No fines for 'unsportmanlike conduct' (at least none over $2,500). Just hockey players, being hockey players.
And double standards, prevailing (again).
Racism is still prevalent; we know this, but can white people take about a 100 years off from being racist? That's how we can, in the words of the late Michael Jackson, help heal the world.
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| Screen shots from Aloe Blacc vid. |
To Richard Sherman, just know that you have more supporters out here than you have haters. Your dedication to your craft is impeccable; your education and talents, applauded; your work ethic and good works, appreciated.
Yeah, you can tell everybody, go ahead and tell everybody; yes, you can tell everybody, you're the man, you're the man, you're the man people are going to be watching Super Bowl Sunday!
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