The NFL schedule is such a bully. Right in the middle of a compelling psychodrama involving CB Richard (“I’ll ruin your career”) Sherman and the role he plays in the Seahawks family (Michael Corleone, Sonny Corleone, Peter Clemenza, Luca Brasi or Johnny Fontane), the calendar insists interrupting it to present a game Saturday (1:25 p.m. FOX).
The NFC West championship has been won, so any Seattle rivalry drama with the visiting Arizona Cardinals has been bled from the game, as it was a year ago, when the Seahawks played a 13-3 team resting starters and won 36-6. This time the disappointing Cards are 5-8-1 and so broken and delirious that their quarterback, QB Carson Palmer, is eager to play at the Clink.
“It’s my favorite place to play,” he said this week via teleconference. “It’s obviously by far the most difficult place to play. But there’s such a great energy in that stadium. The fan base is just spectacular, and it’s a beautiful stadium. I think it’s so cool sitting down there on the water downtown. There’s just so much electricity in that stadium and we enjoy that.
“No doubt it’s difficult there; going to be some offside and some bad plays because that’s what kind of environment that creates. We really look forward to playing there.”
If that wasn’t enough sucking up to the opposing crowd, here’s what Arizona offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin told Phoenix reporters when asked if Seattle’s defense was a different animal:
“This is a very different animal. It’s from outer space. It’s not necessarily an animal, it’s an alien.”
Speaking of the Predator movies’ lead character, Sherman came up again Thursday in coach Pete Carroll’s final presser of the week. He was asked about Sherman’s Tuesday press conference in which he offered no apology or regret for his sideline outburst during the win over the Rams. He yelled and pointed fingers at Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell over play-calling.
Asked if he was surprised he didn’t apologize, Carroll said, “I was a little surprised. I thought he would, more than he did. You guys got after him pretty good, and it got to him a little bit. He didn’t really get everything out that he maybe wanted to get out, in the way he wanted to.
“We’ve been together throughout the week to make sure that everything is in the right place for us. We’re fine here. I think these are learning experiences, these are opportunities. We don’t do things right all the time, we make mistakes, we go too far and we have to correct.”
Asked if that correction included punishment, he said, “We’re done with it right now. We’ve already taken care of it. Whatever we do, we do it inside internally and it’s been taken care of.”
Carroll was confident any team damage from Sherman’s rant would be detectable. He saw none.
“It’s pretty obvious to me,” he said. “I’m deep into this thing with our guys and know them well. I’ve been through a lot with them. We’ve handled everything we need to handle.
“I don’t expect everybody to understand that because they’re not a part of what’s going on, and they won’t be. What’s really important is what we’re doing here and our team and our locker room and our relationships.”
Bennett, Ryan expected to play
Carroll said DE Michael Bennett (neck) and P Jon Ryan (concussion) will likely play Saturday. Ryan still had to pass some tests after practice Thursday, but Carroll was confident he would . . . Regarding the return of Garry Gilliam to right tackle after being benched for two games prior to the Rams game, Carroll said, “He handled it very professionally during the couple weeks. He worked hard in practice in the role that he was in, and he worked hard to battle back. He deserves the opportunity to show what he can do again.” . . . Asked about the decision by star RB Christian McCaffrey to skip Stanford’s Sun Bowl game to prep for the draft, Carroll said, “I understand why guys do that, and I understand that there is a bit of a trend here that I’m seeing. I don’t really like it. I would like guys to play for their teams and battle for their teams and finish up. I understand why a guy maybe makes a choice to secure his future, or be safer, or whatever. But I don’t agree with it.”
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2228076 https://sportspressnw.wpengine.com/?p=2228076">10 Comments
Sherman seems like Sonny Corleone with a touch of Fredo once in awhile. He should probably avoid toll booths for awhile, and just head to LV to hang out with Moe Green and the cocktail waitresses. Nah…Sherman is just being a true Richard about this incident.
I’m fine with Richard being Richard, but this incident is really distasteful because he’s embarrassing Carroll. And Carroll is the guy who gave him his shot and lets him have his big persona. Sherman can say what he wants about the NFL and the media, but to show such disregard for Carroll is very low character.
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Well said.
KL
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Sherman should trade in the jeep from his TV commercials for a clown car. He has acted like a clown all year from his weird Harry Potter act, to blasting reporters for not being athletes so they don’t know anything. I think it is about money. He is following the path of other grand-standers like Terrell Owens and Brian Bosworth. They did okay compared to some other NFL players who just faded into obscurity. Sherman’s World Wrestling act means he must want a reality show. Personally, I change the channel whenever I see any of them.
Going back to Crabtree and Erin Andrews, there is no way anybody should be surprised at Richard’s comportment. It is part of his package. Always been that way.
This latest outburst is another level beyond the NFCCG. I have little problem with a player dustup with a competitor and obviously there was some previous animosity between Sherm and Crabtree.
However this years behavior with the two incidents of him getting in this teammates and coaches faces on the sideline crosses a major line. This latest one worse than the earlier one. I REALLY hope this doesn’t widen the division between the O and D, which IMHO I think there could be some dysfunction already.
I just don’t think that Richard is a mindless robot. If he see something he going to say something.
We all saw what happened, and what happened before that was that the O-line was not very effective in that game punching holes for the RB on routine plays, and then they were facing a fully stacked D against the play Sherman thought should have been called. It wasn’t Sherman’s decision to make and he really was out of line. You have to wonder what would have happened if the couch he was yelling at was Rivera . . .