Even if you aren't' a Seahawks fan, you're bound to know who Richard Sherman is. By now, if you don't, you either don't watch football, or live under a rock. Standing at 6'3" and weighing 195 pounds, he is widely considered the best corner in the league. He'll tell you that, too, famous for not only his playing on the field, but his words off of it. Richard talks a lot of smack, but is it justified?
Sherman has had many accomplishments in his short 26 years, graduating from Stanford in 2010, he was drafted in 2011 in the fifth round. He was the Best Breakthrough Athlete at the ESPYs this year. In 2013, he lead the league in interceptions and was ranked 50 in the top 100 players. A two time first-team All Pro player in both 2012 and 2013, he is a force to be reckoned with. He was the NFL Defensive player of September in 2013, and was a three time Defensive player of the week in that same year. He was in the Pro Bowl in 2013, won the NFC Championship with the Seattle Seahawks, and won the Super Bowl with them to top off that amazing year for himself. In 2014, he was ranked #7 in the top 100 players in the NFL.
He has been heard on multiple occasions either bad mouthing the other team or praising himself. After a 2012 victory over the Patriots in which he intercepted quarterback Tom Brady, he proceeded to tweet a picture of himself yelling at Brady and captioned it "U mad bro?". In an interview later that year, he calls interviewer Skip Bayless an "ignorant, pompous, egotistical cretin", and says that he is "better at life" than the interviewer. He proceeded to repeat the phrase "All pro" as the interview continued, constantly praising himself. On another occasion, he got into a twitter fight with Darrell Revis, a fellow NFL corner who is probably his biggest competition for the best corner in the league. If Sherman was to have justifiable reasons for all the smack talking he does, it would be his undeniable talent and stats thus far.
You would think with all his accomplishments that Sherman would easily be the best corner in the league, no competition and that opponents would be scared to throw the ball anywhere near him. Actually, the quite opposite is true. San Diego Chargers player Keenan Allen was not phased by Sherman in Sunday's game. "All week we said we were going to throw at him because he's not what he's hyped up to be," says Allen. An author on utsandiego.com adds to that saying, "It would be tough to argue that the second year receiver (Allen) dominated Sherman at Qualcomm Stadium Sunday..." To conclude, he also added that "Sherman is known around the league as the corner-back who shuts everybody down. Sunday, Allen shut him up,". After the 30-21 loss, Sherman refused to speak to the media. Could it just have been a bad day for him?
"In the end, comparing corner-backs comes down to the old fashioned eyeball test. As pure physical specimens, Revis looked better than Sherman," says Andy Benoit. Revis is physical, and polished, and a true man-to-man defender. Action does not occur around him, quarterbacks are afraid to throw at him. Both compared to playing against the Patriots, Brady didn't fear Sherman as he did Revis, throwing at him over five times. It's hard to compare the two, due to factors out of both of their control. Physically, as stated earlier Revis, is bulkier but shows fluid change of direction despite his size. Benoit says "Based on available film, Revis is the better corner,".
So, in some instances, Sherman's trash talking isn't justified, in fact the opposite is true. He can sometimes under perform, and has nothing to say about it, but when he achieves, he may have too much to say about it. Whether you like his trash talking or not, he is a good player and it sometimes can be justified. Personally, I think that his playing should speak for itself, if you're good, people know, you don't have to tell them. However, if you talk the talk, you at least have to be able to walk the walk, and Sherman does just that.
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