Brash Sherman is back for Seahawks — and that’s a good thing

Published 8:15 pm Wednesday, November 9, 2016

RENTON — Richard Sherman took the podium at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Wednesday afternoon for his weekly press conference.

The Seattle Seahawks cornerback spoke for more than nine minutes. During that time he fiercely defended his attempted field-goal block during Monday’s 31-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills, chided Bills kicker Dan Carpenter’s wife for what he described as a “B.S. apology,” and said he wasn’t disappointed by Tuesday night’s presidential election results because he was “disappointed a long time ago.”

It was, all things considered, a somewhat tame press conference by Sherman’s standards.

Yes, it’s good to have the real Richard Sherman back.

Last year the brash, charismatic and controversial version of Sherman was mostly missing in action, melting into the crowd. But he’s back with a vengeance this year, and that’s a good thing not only for Seahawks fans, but for society as a whole.

When I became The Herald’s Seattle sports reporter/columnist last August, one of the things I was most looking forward to was covering Sherman on a regular basis. Sherman is a lightning rod, one of those rare personalities who can at times transcend his sport. We in the Pacific Northwest were accustomed to Sherman grabbing the spotlight with his steady diet of antics and intelligence. Whether you loved him or hated him, you couldn’t take your eyes off of him.

However, I found to my dismay that the Sherman I saw up close was no longer the Sherman I’d seen from afar. He was still talkative and thoughtful when dealing with the media, but the buzz wasn’t there the way it was before. Media members who covered Sherman in the past lamented the change. There were theories that he had been tamed by his large contract and endorsement deals, or that he’d been mellowed by fatherhood.

But whatever the cause, it was temporary.

Sherman is back in the headlines in a big way this season, both for his actions on and off the field. There was his sideline meltdown during Seattle’s 26-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, a tirade that eventually required the assistance of the entire defense to temper. There was his 15-minute diatribe last week when he spent the bulk of his press conference railing against the NFL and its officiating.

This week Sherman became a subject of national debate following Monday’s game because of a trio of incidents. First, there was his offsides field-goal block on Carpenter, which resulted in Carpenter requiring treatment from the trainers and setting off a chaotic scene at the end of the first half — as well as prompting Kaela Carpenter to send out a controversial tweet about Sherman that went viral. Then there was his staredown of Bills coach Rex Ryan, which caused Ryan to say after the game that Sherman was “too good of a player to act like an ass.” Finally, there was his knockdown of Buffalo receiver Walter Powell in the end zone on the game’s final relevant play, an action the Seahawks insist was a legal chuck because Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was outside the pocket. Sherman was A-block material this week for all the sports talking heads.

All that may be fun and entertaining, but what I‘ve appreciated most about Sherman is his willingness to speak about subjects beyond the football realm. On Wednesday he talked about the election, earlier this season he spoke at length about social injustice. And in the wake of this bitter election cycle I think we need people like Sherman.

In this internet age it’s increasingly easy to filter the information we receive, tailoring our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds to reinforce what we already believe. But one of the few areas that still draws in people from all walks of life is sports. Whether you’re the CEO of a successful tech company in south Lake Union, a longshoreman at the Port of Everett, or a dairy farmer in Arlington, we all come together on Sunday afternoons, don our blue and green, and cheer for the Seahawks.

That gives athletes a platform to reach people of all races, classes and cultures, and it’s a platform they’re increasingly willing to use.

Athletes like Doug Baldwin, who’s taken the initiative to begin dialogues between local law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

Athletes like Cliff Avril, who pledged to fund the building of a house in hurricane-ravaged Haiti for every sack he gets this season.

And yes, athletes like Sherman.

Maybe you agree with the things Sherman says, maybe you don’t. But what he does is help get the discussion started between people of different viewpoints, and I believe that with the help of those like Sherman we will eventually push our way through the white noise and static and begin to truly hear one another. At least that’s my hope.

And because of that, it’s good to have you back Richard.

For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.