WALKING THE WALK AND TALKING THE TALK

Super Bowl XLVIII is now set as the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks will now play for the NFL’s richest prize come Feb. 2 in East Rutherford, N.J.

However, I’m not here to talk about the game yet. Nor am I going to talk about what another ring can do and pulling even with Tom Brady in the playoffs can do for Peyton Manning’s legacy (maybe at a later time).

My post is about Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman and his ability to talk the talk and walk the walk.

Sherman helped make the game-clinching play against the San Francisco 49ers by batting an interception and to punch the franchise’s second trip to the Super Bowl.

Yet, it was Sherman’s postgame comments that draw the ire of many (play below).

This is hardly the first time Sherman has been known for being outspoken.

Honestly, I did not know who he was until he talked smack to Tom Brady last season.

Then he was mic’d up during the Seahawks’ wild card game against the Washington Redskins--leading to a punch by Trent Williams after the game.

And one cannot forget his exchange with Skip Bayless on First Take (which, you may or may not say was warranted.)

But his comments at his biggest moment in his career thus far drew responses of him being a “thug” to some and various other names to others (you can see Shermans’s mentions here or just look at the Deadspin article).

In this day where we are criticizing a player’s postgame attire (see: Colin Kaepernick) or the speech of postgame comments (see Jameis Winston), most of it comes off as negative criticizing over trivial things.

While I do not think what Dee Dee McCarron---mother of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron---said of Winston was racist (mainly because many Twitter users---of all colors---possibly said the same thing), I do believe she could have used a different tone.

Last week, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle sports reporter Sal Maiorana tweeted (and then deleted), “Kaepernick. Always so media friendly. Turn your cap around and act like a professional quarterback.”

So much is being made of what these players do and what most critics do not realize is that they are not monotonic robots with no sense of emotion.

How Peyton Manning dresses might not work for Kaepernick at this point of his career, and as long as Kaepernick is dressed casually, should it matter?

Will Richard Sherman talk trash to Peyton Manning after winning
Super Bowl XLVIII? (Photo by John Lebya/Getty Images).

Ditto for Sherman and his outburst.

A Barry Sanders, he is not, but that is what makes each individual different and likeable.

NFL fans---at least myself---loved Barry for being the class act he was, just as much as we might like Sherman for being the next coming of another Sanders---Deion.

Sherman is from Compton, but he is not a product of the environment, having went AND graduated from Stanford---while working on his masters’---along with becoming a top cornerback in the game.

If I had a child, I would not want him or her to do what Sherman did, but we are talking about a grown man here.

Here’s hoping that Sherman gives us an epic showing in the Super Bowl and on Media Day.