New San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman had plenty of run-ins with 49ers fans during his time with the Seattle Seahawks. The rivalry was intense between 2012 and 2014, and while it has dimmed considerably, there have been some leftover effects. Including the need for some Twitter un-blocking.
It turns out Sherman and 49ers CEO Jed York had blocked each other on Twitter! York told David Lombardi and Matt Maiocco on Wednesday that he and the 49ers newest cornerback had to unblock each other after the signing.
“There’s just a level of competition and that competitive spirit,” York said. “I’m happy to be fighting alongside him. But there was definitely a rivalry.
“At the end of the day, football is a business, but you have to figure out can you work with people who have different perspectives and difference histories. And with Richard, he’s going to come in and be the consummate pro.”
Sherman had blocked plenty of 49ers fans over the years. Last week at his introductory press conference, he and Jennifer Chan figured out a way to get fans unblocked, and raise some money for charity. You can read more about it here.
We are very much in a new world where a team executive and a free agent addition need to deal with Twitter blocking. At some point, will we see an unhappy player blocking his own team’s Twitter account, or that of a personnel executive? Maybe Odell Beckham Jr. will block @giants, and we’ll see the next level of a player-team feud. Of course, the more passive aggressive move would be to just mute them so OBJ don’t see their tweets, and they don’t know that he doesn’t see them (as opposed to purposely ignoring them).
I have to admit, I’m fascinated as to how Twitter could further re-shape the dynamic between player and team.