FanPost

Thinking out loud about Richard Sherman two days later

After watching him talk on CNN, I've sort of changed my opinion about Richard Sherman. After the game, I posted a Facebook status that he deserves to get hurt. That was ridiculous of me, I should never wish that on anyone. He doesn't deserve to get hurt. The interview was in the moment, of course he was amped up. That's fine. I understand why he said what he said. He has his history with Crabtree and the adrenaline was pumping. That particular situation is pretty understandable. I do think, however, that he plays football in a way that it doesn't need to be played. He's very smart (Stanford educated), and he knows exactly how he plays: competitive, confrontational and aggressive. It seems to me that he thinks that in order to play at a high level he needs to be that kind of person: a mean person, frankly, even if just on the field. I don't think sports need to be that way. There are plenty of good, even great players who are perfectly humble and respectful on and off the field (see: Gore, Frank) The common argument about why people like Sherman are good for the sport is that they make it more "interesting." Okay, sure. They do that. But at the expense of other players? Sure, he's not hurting anyone physically, but why does the competition need to extend to these mental games that he thinks he needs to play to win? It's still not nice. He's a very good cornerback, but does he need to be angry to be a good cornerback? Are sports not competitive enough without extending to mind games of this level?

The idea of "getting in your opponent's head" is one thing. It's a competitive edge and I understand that. But it can certainly be taken to far, and it seems to me that Sherman has taken it too far.

It must be acknowledged that every team talks trash and plays mind games. Anquan Boldin certainly gets into it. Apparently this all started with Crabtree. It really doesn't matter. I just think that there's something about the way Sherman not only acknowledges it as part of his game, but fully embraces it and even builds a persona around it that's a little off-putting. Is it just because I'm a 49ers fan?

I'd love to hear what anyone else thinks. These are by no means solidly formed ideas (hence the title of the post). Also, this is my first post on Niners Nation, so If I breached any kind of protocol, take it easy on me.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.