Mike Florio of PFT defends Richard Sherman

[SeaTown81]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... /#comments

Sherman wasn’t talking trash or otherwise agitating in the seconds before the confrontation with Williams, who is looming as Sherman turns from saying “nice work out there” (in non-sarcastic fashion) to Redskins defensive lineman Kedric Gholston, who publicly called Sherman a “cheater” in the days before the game. Just before the exchange begins between Sherman and Williams, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson breezes by Williams and pats a hand on his chest.

“What you goin’ do, boy?” Sherman asks Williams, who stands and glares at Sherman from behind a helmet and visor.

“I’m gonna punch you in your goddamn face,” Williams says.

“Well then do it then, boy,” Sherman replies.

The strike comes quickly, appearing to be much more violent and potent than the angle captured by FOX. Immediately after the punch, Redskins linebacker London Fletcerh and quarterback Robert Griffin III surround Sherman, who says, “He punched me in my face! . . . I didn’t do nothing, he came up to me!”

The video ends with Sherman and Griffin sharing a long hug, and with Sherman telling Griffin that Sherman is proud of the rookie.

Sherman also makes reference to Griffin’s decision to “spurn us,” an apparent reference to Griffin’s decision not to attend Stanford. And Sherman’s words and demeanor suggest that Sherman believes Griffin did the right thing by not joining a depth chart that already included quarterback Andrew Luck.

In all, the video shows a much different side of Sherman, and it shows that Sherman said or did nothing to provoke the exchange with Williams.

 

[VivaEfrenHerrera]

Truth, gotta love it. Wonder if it has any chance of penetrating the collective football psyche? In any event, now that we can easily perceive the entirety of the incident, it's pretty hard to argue against one-game suspension. That clearly would have been an ejection if it had happened during the game.

 

[Blitzer88]

Most people in the comments section are on Sherm's side of things, kinda nice to see that.

 

[SharkHawk]

I am amazed at how many people here just went off before the audio came out and said what a dick Sherm is and how they are tired of it. He showed nothing but class. He was trying to shake hands with the guys on the Redskins, Williams refuses and punches him in the face. Amazing how even our own fanbase has turned on Richard to some extend and said what a bigmouth he is. His conversation with RG3 was one of the coolest post-game moments I've seen in a game. He specifically is telling him to take care of himself and to take care of that leg and saying how proud he is of him. Yeah... what. a. dick.

 

[Greenhell]

Has the NFL commented regarding the smack? I haven't seen any thing. They couldn't possibly be ignoring this cause Sherm got off on the PED suspension?

 

[Rose City Hawk]

I am amazed at how many people here just went off before the audio came out and said what a dick Sherm is and how they are tired of it. He showed nothing but class. He was trying to shake hands with the guys on the Redskins, Williams refuses and punches him in the face. Amazing how even our own fanbase has turned on Richard to some extend and said what a bigmouth he is. His conversation with RG3 was one of the coolest post-game moments I've seen in a game. He specifically is telling him to take care of himself and to take care of that leg and saying how proud he is of him. Yeah... what. a. dick.

Sherm is boistrous, speaks his mind, doesn't back down, guy is unflappable, love him! Got my Wilson home jersey, wife is getting Lynch home, and next up is wolf grey Sherman. Hope this guy is with us his entire career. When the rubber meets the road the guy is pretty classy, but like anyone worth their salt, when attacked he bites back.

 

[truehawksfan]

We've seen 2 points of view/initial reactions from the crew at NFL Network and ESPN.

NFL Networks MFaulk, MIrvin, and DSanders were on Sherm's side, but, once again, those a@@clowns at ESPN said it was all on Sherm.

I'm really beginning to hate ESPN. I really hope the NBCSports network, FoxSports, etc., build up their programming. I would love to see these guys beat down those ESPN Clowns!!!!

I said this once, and I'll say it again. Keep doing what do best 25. The 12th and your teammates have your back.

It's about time the nation realizes the Hawks are legit and 25 is a major reason why this team is where they are.

 

[IBleedBlueAndGreen]

Truth, gotta love it. Wonder if it has any chance of penetrating the collective football psyche?

Nope. Plain and simple.

 

[Steve2222]

Sherman is the type of player this team has desperately needed for the past decade.

 

[Falcan Moore]

Speaking as a Falcon fan, I don't think Sherman's behavior is unwarranted. I love the guy. Wish we had him. Dude is incredibly smart and strong, and if you can back up your trash talk I have no problem with it.

 

[Okungfu]

On the inside the the NFL , I watched Trent Williams talking as much shit as Sherman , one incident with Bobby Wagner where he tells him to keep his head on a swivel, if your gonna throw punches over smack talk , your gonna have to punch someone every week !

 

[Sarlacc83]

Florio actually does some real reporting and it favors the Seahawks?

The world really did end on 12/21.

Edit: Also one of the commenters says that Florio wants to call it the Sherman-Williams incident. That's gold, Jerry!

 

[kidhawk]

Funny thing is, when I watched it happen right after the game, I wondered to myself what Sherman had said, either at that point or earlier in the game, but it doesn't really matter what he may or may not have said, because even when I thought he may have said something, it's still a pretty dick move to punch a guy in the face over some words. Sherman likes to talk Smack, but nobody has ever accused him of talking smack about someone's girlfriend, wife, mother, kids or anything like that. He seems to keep his smack talk on football, and as a player, you should be able to shut him up on the field. When you have to do what he did at the end of the game, you only show yourself as a loser. With that said, the apology given after the fact seemed sincere enough to me to retract the 'dick move' I thought it was originally, and the video tape pretty much exonerates Sherman of having said anything worthy of getting hit in the face, so to me, the book should likely be closed on this one. I know it is for me anyway.

 

[ParisPC07]

They say the "what you gon' do boy," line was provocative, but they never make any mention of the obvious confrontational body language of Williams. Sherman says something nice to Gholston, then turns and seems to be caught off guard by Williams who is squared up like all too many drunk angry guys I've seen before. Sherman sees that he clearly wants to do something, so he accepts it and calls him on it.

I'm not a big fighter but it can happen. I feel like the people commenting there have no sense of the fact that it's just two men out there. Sherman is a smart guy but he's from a tough place. He's not going to just grovel and plead to not be hit. He's gonna tell him to do it because that's what you do when you're not afraid of someone who tries to punk you. He demonstrated he was smarter by not doing anything back, that's where brains come in.

Take the hit, let the other guy get banned from the bar.

 

[SharkHawk]

They say the "what you gon' do boy," line was provocative, but they never make any mention of the obvious confrontational body language of Williams. Sherman says something nice to Gholston, then turns and seems to be caught off guard by Williams who is squared up like all too many drunk angry guys I've seen before. Sherman sees that he clearly wants to do something, so he accepts it and calls him on it.

I'm not a big fighter but it can happen. I feel like the people commenting there have no sense of the fact that it's just two men out there. Sherman is a smart guy but he's from a tough place. He's not going to just grovel and plead to not be hit. He's gonna tell him to do it because that's what you do when you're not afraid of someone who tries to punk you. He demonstrated he was smarter by not doing anything back, that's where brains come in.

Take the hit, let the other guy get banned from the bar.

Perfect... the angry drunk standing there with the "whaaatttaa yu luckin at?" slurred words and crossed-eyes going. I've run into it many times. I myself have never had alcohol, but I've run into a lot of guys that have had way way too much, and typically find it funny, just as Sherman found Williams' behavior. I just stand there and laugh at them knowing they are so out of their mind that they couldn't do anything to hurt me. Even in my infirmed condition, I still have no doubt that one-on-one versus any drunk guy that I could kick his butt, so I usually just laugh at them and walk away.

In my younger days I got into a lot of fights and have probably 2-300 stitches to prove it, but never lost one. I used to thrive on it. But now it's just soooo stupid and has been for 20 years. I think Richard showed a lot more maturity than I would have. For that matter, maybe Trent did too.

 

[Jerhawk]

Sherman's been getting a bad rap all year from the PED stuff. Hopefully his reputation will change. But even if it doesn't he's still a dominating corner that receivers hate going against

 

[mikeak]

Sherman was not at fault. I just hope that Sherman doesn't get into an altercation in a bar when he is a Seahawks because his immediate gut reaction to not move away but instead go "what are you going to do" tells me that when confronted in public he would react the same. I am NOT blaming him for that everyone is different and he has a right not to back down. It sometimes doesn't end well though........