Society

UPDATE: Sherman Fined By NFL For Unsportsmanlike Conduct On Field

Richard-sherman-618x400At the risk of intruding upon our weekend bloggers, I wanted to post an update to our prior posting on the Seahawks’ cornerback Richard Sherman. Sherman has now been fined by the NFL, not for his infamous post-game interview, but his unsportsmanlike conduct on the field after the final play against the San Francisco 49ers. He will pay almost $8000 for his taunting of San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree. As someone who has long objected to increasing example of poor sportsmanship (as well as excessive celebration) incidents in football, I believe the fine is well deserved, though (as I previously stated) I felt Crabtree also acted in a rude manner in refusing to shake Sherman’s hand and shoving Sherman’s face mask. I would have liked to see him fined as well.

I thought the earlier discussion over Sherman was interesting in the sharp difference in how his interview was perceived on this blog. I continue to view Sherman’s conduct in that interview to be disgraceful and unprofessional. I do not believe that it is racist to describe a player screaming at an interviewer and into a camera in this way as “thuggish.” I was surprised by many who not only stated that they felt that the conduct was acceptable but by those who said that they liked this type of trash talking. Sitting with my kids and watching the game, I did not view the interview as “thrilling” but obnoxious. In my view, this is a controversy that turns not on the different way people view race but the different way people view conduct. For some, those issues are inextricably linked and race is distorting the view of the conduct. I found many of those views to be insightful. There are clearly racists who came out in this debate, but I do not believe that the majority of people objecting to Sherman’s rant were acting out of some latent racist motivation. I also do not believe that to call out a black athlete for such conduct must only be due to latent racism. I truly believe that a white player would have been similarly criticized by many of those objecting to this incident. Sherman went directly from an unprofessional taunt on the field to an unprofessional rant on television. His conduct warranted condemnation and, as discussed earlier, this is not a free speech issue.

We have criticized people of all races on this blog for uncivil and “thuggish” conduct. It does not matter that Sherman has a degree from Stanford or that he has an impressive life story. He is an adult and his conduct on the field and in the interview was disgraceful for a professional athlete in my opinion. He certainly has company in this ignoble group, but that does not excuse his conduct.

As I mentioned earlier, I thought it was great that the Seahawks have cracked down on thugs in the stadium who taunt and harass visitors from other teams. If this effort is going to successful, the players need to be held to a minimal standard of conduct on the field. Otherwise, we will allow this game (like other games) to decline to the lowest common denominator of conduct.

Obviously, for those who said that they like to see this type of trash talking or that they believe it is too late to conform the conduct of professional athletes, this is a rather moot point. However, I do not. I have long criticized the decline of civility and basic norms of conduct in our society. That may certainly make me prissy or old-fashioned in the view of many. I must admit that I find myself in a diminishing minority. For those of us who hold to such views, Sherman’s taunting on the field and screaming in the interview was all too familiar and outside of the bounds of professional conduct.

I believe that Sherman should have been reprimanded by the team for the interview as unprofessional and unbecoming for a member of the Seahawks (while the interview occurred on the field and he was in his uniform, it is not subject to the NFL rule or fines). Clearly, many disagree and I am glad that we can discuss those different views on this blog without personal animus or assuming the worst motivations of people. There are good faith views on both sides of this controversy. Issues that touch on race produce strong passions as well as strong rhetoric in such debates. We should not shy away from discussing such issues on this blog but we should show that such discussions can occur without labeling people on the other side as necessarily racists or apologists.

The fine was well deserved for the taunting. A fine against Crabtree would be equally well deserved. I fail to understand why his shoving of the face mask was not denounced and penalized.

117 thoughts on “UPDATE: Sherman Fined By NFL For Unsportsmanlike Conduct On Field”

  2. anonymously posted, thanks for the clip. I do enjoy watching great plays in all sports but am not interested in watching all the other stuff that goes on. Interesting to watch the entire sequence immediately after the play though.

    I think Crabtree’s response to Sherman was due to his disappointment at having his moment at a touchdown taken away by Sherman. C shouldn’t have pushed S’s face thingee though. This led to Sherman reacting as he did. It was only moments later that Sherman sought out at least 2 other opponents in a sporting way.

  5. OS, The PC Police work 24/7 sleuthing for hidden meanings in all words. They must keep the world safe from offending certain folks. My God, is “folks” a loaded word?

  6. Trent Williams was fined, accepted his fine as a man, and said he was wrong. But everyone knows he paid the fine[$7800] gladly. Just don’t want any “gotcha” links from the Linkmeister.

  7. WordPress doesn’t like Italians, it screws w/ us because our names end in vowels.

  9. Research Richard Sherman, all you folks who want to canonize him. He has been fined for using his head as a weapon. He avoided a 4 game suspension for PED’s back in 2012 using the same “flawed process” weasel defense that the lying sack o’ shit Ryan Braun successfully used and proved to be A LIE. For those who REALLY want to see how this guy taunts and what happens when a guy bigger than him defends a Redskin’s[can I say that here?] teammate, Google Sherman and Trent Williams video. Sherman talks trash and takes cheap shots during the game. Then he has the temerity to do this bullshit “good game” passive aggressive after the game. Well, he did that to a Redskins player, the enormous Trent Williams stepped up and slapped him like a naughty child that he was and Sherman just backed away. Stand up to bullies and they back away and run away. There is video of more taunting. He’s not worth some of you good folks effort. But, this is America, you can choose your own heroes. Russell Wilson already has a national TV endorsement for American Family Insurance. He’ll get many more.

  10. Research Richard Sherman, all you folks who want to canonize him. He has been fined for using his head as a weapon. He avoided a 4 game suspension for PED’s back in 2012 using the same “flawed process” weasel defense that the lying sack o’ shit Ryan Braun successfully used and proved to be A LIE. For those who REALLY want to see how this guy taunts and what happens when a guy bigger than him defends a Redskin’s[can I say that here?] teammate, Google Sherman and Trent Williams video. Sherman talks trash and takes cheap shots during the game. Then he has the temerity to do this bullshit “good game” passive aggressive after the game. Well, he did that to a Redskins player, the enormous Trent Williams stepped up and slapped him like a naughty child that he was and Sherman just backed away. Stand up to bullies and they back away and run away. There is video of more taunting.

  11. bettykath, You’re wrong on your game analysis as well as your cultural analysis. That was the last play of the game to preserve the victory. It was a great play. NO ONE disputes that.

  13. There was one user on Daily Kos some time back who went off on another user for using the word “ilk.” Context was something like, “Him and his ilk.” The user was frothing at the mouth that the word was racist, and several others chimed in as well. They were trying to get the person who used the word in a comment banned. I could not help myself. I replied to the ranting comment by pointing out the word “ilk” was a perfectly respectable word in common use, especially in Scotland. Means “people of that group, or family,” almost as a southerner would say, “y’all.”

    He then went off on me, saying his partner was Scottish and he knew all about Scotland. The devil must have made me do it, because I replied, “Cha tèid nì sam bith san dòrn dùinte.

    I didn’t translate it for him. Funny thing happened. He didn’t respond to me. My fee-fees were hurt.

    For the curious, that was Scots Gaelic and translates as, “Nothing can get into a closed fist.”

  14. I’ve been looking for a clip of the last few minutes of the game, beginning with the pass that Sherman deflected. As I understand it, the interception that Sherman set up made it possible for the kicker to get in a field goal for the needed score. I’d rather see the play than more discussion about Sherman’s remarks.

  15. BF–““Thug” is code for calling a black man the N-word.”

    I’m confused. OJ Simpson is a convicted thug and he’s black, therefore I’m calling OJ Simpson the “N”-word?

  16. BF,

    To be honest I’ve never thought of the term thug to be a racist remark…. I just read where Richad Sherman did indeed equate it with that….. Growing up gangsters were referred to as thugs…. They could be Italian, Irish, Jewish etc….. But hadn’t hop hop and rap glorified the term and don’t they even have songs dedicated to thug life…. Thug love….. Just saying… I’m not defending racial behavior….

  17. Dredd is correct. Sherman is a Stanford alum that graduated with a 4.0+ and founded the “Blanket Coverage Foundation.” He’s hardly seems the 2-dimensional “thug” that many have painted him to be.

    “Thug” is code for calling a black man the N-word. Luckily, this event has brought this issue to the forefront. Folks paying attention have seen the trend growing for years. The data is being compiled now, for those that can’t see the trend in real-time. The word “thug,” measured by use in media, is almost exclusively pinned to black men and very rarely used to describe white folks doing the same behaviors.

    I can understand the resistance of people who have engaged in using the word “thug” to be eager to look back at their own use of the word and coming to a realization that they themselves may have unknowingly sustained racial profiling.

    Personal critical analysis is tough. Many find denial and disregard the easier path to follow in the face of such realities. Our own human nature is a tough nut to crack? This would all be ‘much ado about nothing’ if not for the over-compensation of whites (I’m white) needing to justify their own behavior.

    Shocking, I know, to find a white majority overwhelming the airwaves in the ever-constant path to self-justification. Those are the bricks we’ve paved our self-righteous paths with for centuries.

  18. Wow Elaine…..

    We wouldn’t want you to be considered sexist …. Thanks for shoring up that with Harding….. Turn wrestler….

  19. Competitive sports are rife with cheating, use of steroids and HGH, blood doping, purposely trying to injure one’s competitors. Those who have cheated in hopes of winning are legion. Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong, Roger Clemens, A. Rod, Barry Bonds, Ben Johnson, Bill Belicheck are just some that come to mind. Oh, and let’s not forget Tonya Harding.

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