Richard Sherman

[thrill]

He's an MBA student at Stanford. He understands marketing and branding. In the NFL, especially on defense, it's hard to establish a personal brand hiding behind those face masks. He did something to stand out. Now he's probably the most recognizable defensive player in the league.

Of course, he's also receiving death threats, people are calling him a [expletive] all over the place, and he's been called a "thug" on national tv more times than Anwar al-Assad.

Did you read this?
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/r ... man-012114

It couldn't be more dead-on.

What I do know is this, there's a certain way that black people talk that makes white people crazy, and it's long past time for that to be the case

[Socnorb11]

Erin Andrews had that "Michael Meyers after Kanye West dropped his GWB doesn't care about black people" deer in the headlights look.

You know what? Richard Sherman is awesome. Great player, fiery competitor, and an actual human with a personality.

Here is the post game interview of 99% of athletes:

"Great game out there today. I believed in my teammates, we believed in ourselves, thanks Jesus."

Nothing but boring stock expressions and cliches. Sherman showed human emotion and that he actually cares about this game and its outcome, and that this isn't just a paycheck for him. I think that was awesome.

No offense, but this is bunk. Most players have passion, and care about the game. Just because they don't wait for a camera to tell everyone how great they are doesn't mean that they don't love the game. How on earth does saying "you better shut your mouth before I shut it for you" or "I'm the best" express how much you care about the outcome of the game?

As I said in the other thread, you can see Sherman's act virtually every night of the week on cable. Just tune in to WWE if that's what floats your boat.

No offense, but if you prefer your athletes to be bland automatons who regurgitate stock expressions and cliches, you're probably rooting for guys who care more about their own marketability than the outcome of the game. Or maybe they're just boring people. As a boring person myself, I understand why giving a tired and boring interview would be the desired option. But I like to watch sports for entertainment, rather than to hear something resembling a conversation between my mother and I.

If you read the rest of this thread, I think it's quite apparent that Sherman's act is almost entirely contrived for marketability. It had nothing to do with him caring about the outcome of the game, which was your original position. As JL said in another thread, I think there's a lot of room to work between "boring" and "out of control". Sherman couldn't find that middle ground. Heck, I thought Peyton handled his post-game well last week when they asked him what his thoughts were and he said "What’s weighing on my mind is how soon I can get a Bud Light in my mouth after this win". A little humor, but not over-the-top disorderly.

He has every right to behave however he chooses, but it's disingenous to behave like a caged beast, and then wonder why people view you as some kind of animal.

[Socnorb11]

He's an MBA student at Stanford. He understands marketing and branding. In the NFL, especially on defense, it's hard to establish a personal brand hiding behind those face masks. He did something to stand out. Now he's probably the most recognizable defensive player in the league.

Of course, he's also receiving death threats, people are calling him a [expletive] all over the place, and he's been called a "thug" on national tv more times than Anwar al-Assad.

The death threats are stupid.

As far as the thug comments, what did he expect? If you behave like a violent person, people are going to view you as a violent person. Either own it or don't.

[go birds]

Hilarious:

[/youtube]

Disgusting Thug:

[/youtube]

[Jocephus]

and just to pile on....Erin Andrews is soooooooooooo overrated

she really is. she's certainly pretty, and there's overt no reason to hate her (for me), but she is not a good reporter/journalist. and on the other side of the field was pam oliver, and i think shes solid.

and i want to focus on the similarities of wwe and football:

big guys crashing into each other
big guys wearing spandex
elaborate entrances, fireworks, blaring music/theme songs
faces (good guys) - peyton, brady, tony gonazalez, adrian petersen, jj watt, strahan
heels (bad guys) - sherman, suh, vick, romanowski, sanders, irvin
managers - coaches
valets - cheerleaders
the big bad boss (mcmahon and goodell)
arenas/stadiums filled to the brim with drunk, crazy passionate fans
steroids

[lukethedrifter]

What I can't understand is why you can't say nonboring things without coming across like an aholio. For instance, " I love this [expletive]! Bring on the Super Bowl" or "goddam I love being in the middle of the [expletive] with the game on the line. that was freaking awesome, wasn't it?"

[Jocephus]

He's an MBA student at Stanford. He understands marketing and branding. In the NFL, especially on defense, it's hard to establish a personal brand hiding behind those face masks. He did something to stand out. Now he's probably the most recognizable defensive player in the league.

Of course, he's also receiving death threats, people are calling him a [expletive] all over the place, and he's been called a "thug" on national tv more times than Anwar al-Assad.

The death threats are stupid.

As far as the thug comments, what did he expect? If you behave like a violent person, people are going to view you as a violent person. Either own it or don't.

wouldnt everyone who plays football, a notoriously violent game, be considered a thug? he spoke for 15 secs. there is no doubt he's getting the word thug because he's black.

[Socnorb11]

Hilarious:

[/youtube]

Disgusting Thug:

[/youtube]

Did Bart Scott threaten anyone? Did he talk about how great HE is, or did he say how proud he was of his team?

[Socnorb11]

What I can't understand is why you can't say nonboring things without coming across like an aholio. For instance, " I love this [expletive]! Bring on the Super Bowl" or "goddam I love being in the middle of the [expletive] with the game on the line. that was freaking awesome, wasn't it?"

There you go. JL more or less took the same stance yesterday. You can have "personality" without acting like a jackass.

[Socnorb11]

He's an MBA student at Stanford. He understands marketing and branding. In the NFL, especially on defense, it's hard to establish a personal brand hiding behind those face masks. He did something to stand out. Now he's probably the most recognizable defensive player in the league.

Of course, he's also receiving death threats, people are calling him a [expletive] all over the place, and he's been called a "thug" on national tv more times than Anwar al-Assad.

The death threats are stupid.

As far as the thug comments, what did he expect? If you behave like a violent person, people are going to view you as a violent person. Either own it or don't.

wouldnt everyone who plays football, a notoriously violent game, be considered a thug? he spoke for 15 secs. there is no doubt he's getting the word thug because he's black.

Oh brother. I didn't even relate the word "thug" to being black. Maybe I need to get out more.

Champ Bailey is a terrific black cornerback. Is anyone calling him a thug?