By now, you've likely already seen or heard about the postgame interview with Seattle Seahawks corner Richard Sherman after winning the NFC championship Sunday.
Basically, Sherman went off on a short yelling tangent about being disrespected by 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree. (Via USA Today)
Crabtree exchanged words with Sherman shortly after the Seahawks nabbed a late fourth-quarter interception to seal the NFC Championship. Crabtree shoved Sherman, resulting in a personal foul. (Via ESPN)
There wasn't much talk about a public feud between Crabtree and Sherman going into the game, so the rant seemed kind of odd.
But now The Seattle Times reports Sherman's brother says Crabtree tried to start a fight with Sherman at a charity event last summer. The paper writes, "'I'm going to make a play and embarrass him,' Richard Sherman vowed that day."
And many reporters, including Erin Andrews, who was interviewing Sherman at the time, are attributing the fired-up rant to Sherman simply coming off an emotional game. (Via Twitter /@ErinAndrews)
Still, some others called it "classless" of the Seahawks corner. (Via Twitter / @Eric_Branch / @MensHumor / @DwightJaynes)
Classless or not, cartoonist for The Philadelphia Inquirer Rob Tornoe tweeted this comic — suggesting a "classy" interview would've been criticized as boring.
Still, while Sherman received fairly positive reviews from sports writers around the nation for his interview, he says others called him "a thug or worse" after the game.
Sherman received a flurry of criticism on Twitter — including tweets about his race and questioning his intelligence. (Via Deadspin)
Sherman wrote an article for Sports Illustrated Monday saying of the interview, "It was loud, it was in the moment, and it was just a small part of the person I am."
Sherman's response to the response? "Don't judge a person's character by what they do between the lines. ... People find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language. ... It's sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is. I can handle it." (Via Sports Illustrated)
Sherman graduated from Stanford University in 2010 and is working on a master's degree from there, too. The Seahawks will play the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl Feb. 2.
