Roger Goodell better get a handle on Richard Sherman. The Seattle cornerback is too smart for the NFL refs who are tasked with keeping the game fair.
In case you’ve missed the past few weeks of Sherman running roughshod over receivers and kickers. Let me update you on how he’s getting around the rules of the NFL.
– Week 6. Sherman was allowed to maul Julio Jones on a 4th down play late in the game. The refs, too afraid to make a call on such an important play, swallowed their whistles. Seattle wins, while one of the top 5 players in the League in Jones, fails to get a call that was as obvious as Sherman’s arrogance.
– Week 9. Sherman, emboldened by the lack of calls against him leading up to the Bills contest, goes full football anarchist. He basically assaulted Buffalo’s kicker Dan Carpenter at the end of the first half in a close game. He avoided an unnecessary roughness call and was only flagged for being offsides. That led to more incompetence from the officials who caused the Bills to get a delay of game flag, backing them up so they ended up missing the kick.
And on the last play of the game Sherman knocks the wideout he’s covering to the ground in the endzone, way beyond the 5-yard mark where contact is allowed.
This cat is a Stanford grad who knows exactly what he’s doing with these fouls during crucial moments of the game. He’s putting pressure on the officials to make calls. And the refs are pissing their zebra striped pants.
The Julio Jones non-call got the wheels turning in Sherman’s head.
I can see him chomping on some Oberto Beef Jerky and saying to himself, “If they won’t give a call to the best receiver in the NFL, when the game’s on the line…. hell, they won’t flag me for any foul at crucial times.”
Sherman just strikes me as a man who uses a lot of self-talk, OK.
If you’re thinking I’m a Richard Sherman hater at this point, you’re wrong. I like the guy. As a player and as a marketer. I love how he got himself noticed by bringing the spotlight his way in a League that frowns upon individuality.
But we can’t have one player immune to the rules. The fouls against Julio Jones, Dan Carpenter (apparently a farmer and part-time actor), and Walter Powell were so obvious; I believe the refs have some make-up calls to do.
That means some phantom fouls in the coming weeks would be justified in my eyes. There is such thing as karma in football. And surely to God, that Bills’ officiating crew got their collective asses chewed out by Dean Blandino. The Senior VP of Officiating seems mild mannered enough with his explanations on the NFL Network, but he’s got to be tired of being embarrassed by his officials.
If anyone doubts Sherman is being calculated with his rule-breaking ways, just take a look at his swagger after crashing into Buffalo’s kicker. He’s clearly proud of what he did on the play, even though at the time the kicker appeared really hurt. Turns out Dan Carpenter does community theater and was just fine moments later, but still, Sherman is out of control.
With the Seahawks heading to Foxborough this Sunday Night, you can bet there’s one guy who has noticed Sherman’s actions. That man wears a hoodie and apparently writes letters to Donald Trump. And you can bet the officials will get an earful from Bill Belichick before and during the game.
Those zebras will be warned to watch out for cheaters before the game even begins. Belichick knows a thing or two about bending the rules, so he sure isn’t going to let it happen to him or his club.