By now you are probably seen or heard of Richard Sherman’s response immediately following the Seattle Seahawks victory over the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday night. If you have not, take a look.
Michael Strahan, former NFLer and current FOX sport analyst, made light of Sherman’s diatribe saying to Sherman, “I think you scared Erin Andrews.” Michael Crabtree responded shortly after during an interview and later on Twitter. Sherman has since “apologized.”
Over the last couple of days, there has been significant and divergent response via social media, TV, online blogs, etc. to Sherman’s comments. Affirmations include:
– “That was awesome. That was so awesome. And I loved it.” Interviewer Erin Andrews
– “Richard Sherman’s explosion is what I miss in sports!” Craig Fouhy, Phoenix sportscaster
Others have had a more negative reaction:
– “Richard Sherman made the play to win it. But show a little class Richard.” Tony Dungy, former NFL Coach and current NFL Analyst
– If you’re trying to show your kids what to be like when they grow up, show them Richard Sherman and tell them to do the exact opposite. Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo)
Reading the responses to these various articles and blogs shows the greater polarization of the responses. Strong for. Strong against.
I’ll summarize the “fors” as saying – “His passion and rawness are what sports are all about. That’s why we love sports – they give a chance to show off this passion.”
“Athletes…They’re usually composed,” she said. “They usually take a minute and that’s why we grab them right after games because we hope they lose their minds like that, we hope they show pure joy. We hope he does the same thing at the Super Bowl. We don’t want a watered-down version of him.” Erin Andrews
I summarize the “againsts” as saying – “His passion and rawness are not what are all about. There needs to be boundaries on the expression of the passion in sports (what we might call ‘sportsmanship).”
I bring this up not so much to settle this debate but to show that unlimited expression of “raw passion” doesn’t work. Ask the Richard Sherman. During the 4th quarter of the same game, Navarro Bowman, 49ers linebacker, suffered a gruesome knee injury which required he leave the field via a cart. During that exit, Seahawks fans took it upon themselves to shower Bowman with food and garbage on his way off the field – action Sherman later criticized. Even he has boundaries.
We love sports for the passion, but we won’t love them for long if all the governors are removed and “raw emotion” is let loose. (Just remember, it was not long ago that a referee was killed brutally after a soccer game in an expression of such raw emotion.) TV may not like them, but we need these governors.
I don’t completely blame Richard Sherman for his unrestrained expression. I also point to the the underlying goal for today’s competition – the “win at all costs” – that he has grown up in. This goal is what produces such prideful declarations – “I am the best…..” and leads athletes to treat their opponents as enemies to be conquered at all costs, including humiliating them in the largest way possible.
The wake of this rant shows the confusion about sports and sportsmanship that has been created in the vacuum of a clear and compelling definition of competition. If you see this need like we do at CSO, pray with us that the Church would bring forth that definition and call with godly passion for the redemption of sports. Until we do, rants like Sunday are just going to multiply to the destruction of what we really love about sports.
