Richard Sherman, Role Models, and the Cheat-a-thon That Was the NFL Championship This Year

The straight-on shot shown by the network last night was better, but this does give the essence of Sherman's dismay at the interception of the ball that never should have been thrown in last night's Superbowl.

Richard Sherman has redeemed himself  in the eyes of at least one sportswriter due to his "classy" tweet following his Seahawks team's demise in Super bowl 49 after it appeared as though the obese lady was in the final strains of her aria. 

I'll post the tweet and leave it to my readers to form their own opinions, though I will, of course, share my own afterward, as dispensing my opinions and philosophy is something I do almost as autonomically  as I breath and blink.

Eichard Sherman@Sherman_25

Thank you God for giving us the opportunity.... That's all you can ask for....Thank you everyone for the support all year

First and foremost, I am tremendously put off by anyone's implication that God takes an active role in the outcome of any football game -- Superbowl, playoffs, or otherwise -- or has any interest whatsoever as to which teams participate.. It would seem to me that if God were doing anything, he'd be creating new worlds or listening to the prayers of parents of children dying of cancer. So even if God is omnipresent and really hears everything everywhere and all the time, why would he care where football is concerned?  

I have a hard time accepting that he influences or even gives a rip about wins and losses when, in the course of games, players such as former New England patriot Darryl Stingley and Former Detroit Lion Mike Utley become paralyzed as a result of brutal hits in football games. Were Stingley and Utley children of a lesser God and of such little consequence to God that he ignored their well-being while otherwise meandering around the  heavens looking favorably down upon other players and their teams? I find that more than just a smidgeon hard to believe.

I'm actually a believer in God, as difficult as it may seem to believe when i write so cynically about god and his direct influence in the NFL. I could subject a reader to a treatise on my philosophy that god created the world and that he listens to prayers, but responds only by giving strength and sometimes inspiration to the one who prays and by trying to exert influence to do right into the hearts and minds of mortals without, on the other hand,  robbing them of their free will. To go any further into my theology would make this a sermon and not a blog. anyone who wants to hear a sermon can either go to a church pretty much any day of the week or tune in to the ubiquitous religious programming available on cable and some even on network and local television and radio. The religious talk stops here.

Sherman turned me into a more or less permanent non-fan with his outburst to Erin Andrews pertaining to  San Francisco 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree.  "Well, I'm the best corner in the game. when you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you are going to get," Sherman ranted, appearing to me to be foaming at the mouth as he hollered. "Don't you even talk about me!" [Andrews: "Who was talking about you?"]  " Crabtree, don't you open your mouth about the best or I'm going to shut it for you real quick!"

i understand that it was an emotional heat-of-the-moment sort of thing  for Sherman, but why not be elated about the win as opposed to exhibiting foaming-at-the-mouth vitriol? I expected a slightly classier response from a Stanford grad.

what it displayed was a disregard for a team victory and instead a response of "Me, me, me, it's all about me!" which is an attitude all too pervasive in today's team sports.  Due to the unfortunate example displayed by Sherman and by many others like him, this attitude is trickling down to the very lowest, youngest levels of team sports, where it's not uncommon for six-year-old T-ball layers to care little or nothing about the play of their teammates or of their team as a whole, but rather, focus upon their individual performances.

Whether Sherman and his counterparts consider that they are being good role models or they think, despite their multi-million-dollar contracts, they have no responsibility to act as role models, they offer a sad commentary on our society as a whole and on its priorities.  

Whenever I watch a televised sport, I typically hate it when a camera zooms in on the sad face of a member of the losing team at the conclusion of the game. I typically look away because seeing the sad face of someone who put his everything into a game and came out on the losing end causes me pain. Yesterday I deviated from my norm in that regard. I looked at Richard Sherman's angry/sad/bewildered face and smiled to myself with a bit of smug satisfaction. While I acknowledge that my feelings caused me to  deprive myself of just a bit of  humanity and made me a poorer person, for the time being I can live with that consequence.