I know many of you are getting sick and tired of Richard Sherman, and particularly discussing Richard Sherman here at Niners Nation. And yet, things keep happening with this guy. Sherman is a talented cornerback, who backed up his previous trash talk with a fantastic 2013 season. And yet, somehow he can't keep his mouth shut about Michael Crabtree.
Yesterday, he had some comments about Michael Crabtree, saying he hopes to play him every year and "choke him out." I caught the Discovery Channel show, and there is no real additional context that needs to be added. He really doesn't like him, and he's made that clear.
And now, Ahmad Brooks has chimed in. The 49ers outside linebacker had some pointed comments for the Seahawks chatty cornerback:
I'm with you @KingCrab15 Fuck em!
— Ahmad Brooks (@AhmadBrooks55) July 10, 2014
@RSherman_25 keep the NFL entertainment going, see you where it's real on the field.
— Ahmad Brooks (@AhmadBrooks55) July 10, 2014
This twitter stuff is funny, only the Internet can get everyone hyped up like this.
— Ahmad Brooks (@AhmadBrooks55) July 10, 2014
Ahmad Brooks has 182 tweets as of this morning, so this is not a man to get too engaged on social media. And it's not like he's a guy who says a lot during the season when the media is around. That makes these tweets all the more interesting. Obviously he can't get into it with Sherman on the field, but it will be interesting to see what happens if Anquan Boldin lines up opposite Sherman at some point. Boldin is smart enough not to do something that will get him tossed from the game, but you know those two will get physical.
As Bay Area Sports Guy pointed out, the 49ers and Seahawks have the best rivalry in professional sports, and it's not even close right now. It might not be an all-time rivalry like Yankees-Red Sox or Giants-Dodgers, but there is no rivalry in professional sports that is more heated. I say professional sports because college sports rivalries bring a whole different brand of crazy to the table.
It is a little disappointing the 49ers and Seahawks will not square off in the Week 1 kickoff game, but if each team can maintain their performance in the two and a half months leading up to Thanksgiving, that game is going to be off the charts. If both teams are playing well, I would bet money that game will be the highest rated football game of the regular season. And it could very well challenge some wildcard matchups for ratings. It's the primetime game on Thanksgiving, so pretty much everybody in America will have eaten, and will be ready to be around the television. The east coast and midwest will have gotten through their tryptophan-induced naps, and this game should get the west coast woken back up pretty quickly.
Given the heated nature of this rivalry, and the national nature of the Thanksgiving game, I have to think the NFL will make sure the referees are proactive in stopping any nonsense. I would be surprised if anybody got ejected, given the rare nature of that, but I would not be surprised to see a handful of unsportsmanlike conduct and personal foul penalties that night. This could be the kind of game the refs will need to reign in quickly before it gets too ugly.