SEATTLE _ At least it wasn’t boring this time for Richard Sherman.
When the Seahawks hosted Green Bay in the NFL season opener, the Packers never targeted a receiver covered by Sherman, leading to a frustrating day for Seattle’s All-Pro cornerback.
This time around, Sherman was very much in the thick of things.
On the first series of the game, Sherman intercepted a pass in the end zone to thwart one Packer threat.
Then, at the end of regulation, he tackled Green Bay wide receiver Jordy Nelson short of a first down to force the Packers to kick a tying field goal when a touchdown would have won the game.
In between, he injured his left elbow and was clearly favoring it throughout the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 28-22 overtime victory at CenturyLink Field.
“I couldn’t really extend my arm,” Sherman said. “I’m not coming out of the NFC championship game. You come out there and you’re letting your teammates down, and I’m not going to let my teammates down.”
He said he was surprised that Green Bay didn’t go after him more after the injury, which occurred on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“I couldn’t put my hands on guys, at least my left hand, so I had to do my press with my right,” he said. “I was little surprised, honestly.”
Seattle safety Earl Thomas also finished the game with a bad wing. He missed a series in the second quarter to have his left shoulder X-rayed.
Like Sherman, he said there was no way he was coming out of the game.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine,” Thomas said. “There’s too much at stake for me to be sitting in here while my teammates are out there battling. I’m going to be out there with my teammates no matter what.”
Teammates and coaches were thoroughly impressed with the way both All-Pros played through their injuries.
“You could tell both of them were in a lot of pain,” middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “But they have a lot of heart and a lot of grit, and nothing was going to take them off the field. That’s the type of players we have on this team. You’ve got to damn near kill us to get us off the field.”
“How do you play bump-and-run with one arm?” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said of Sherman. “But he did. He hurt his elbow, but he knew he could make it, and somehow he was doing it. It was a feat by him to get through that and keep competing.
“It’s just total guts, just guts,” Carroll said. “Both those guys, you watch them, you listen to those guys, they’ve been in front, they’re the real deal. They’re the real deal when it comes to competing. They’re as good as you can get at battling.”
Carroll said he expects both players to be whole and in top form for the Super Bowl in two weeks.
Sherman agreed
“I’ll be out there,” he said. “I promise that.”
Baldwin still angry
The Seahawks might be Super Bowl bound for a second straight season, but that doesn’t mean wide receiver Doug Baldwin is any less passionate.
While reporters waited for the Seahawks’ locker room to open, Baldwin came out into the hallway and launched a tirade aimed at anyone who doubted his team on Sunday or at any other point during the season.
“How many of you (expletives) doubted us?” Baldwin shouted. “Write this down. Remember when we were 3-3? Everybody counted us out. Y’all didn’t believe in us. A whole bunch of people thought we weren’t going to make it.
“When we were 6-4, ‘Oh, that’s OK. They have a winning record, but they’re not going to go to the playoffs.’ Remember that?
“Sixteen-to-zero at the first half, how many of y’all counted us out? How many of y’all doubted us?
“It’s indicative of our entire season. You don’t want to believe in us. It’s OK,” Baldwin said. “You don’t have to believe in us, because we’re going to believe in ourselves.
“We ain’t worried about y’all. We’re worried about ourselves,” he said. “When it was 16-0 at halftime, guess what we said? ‘Don’t trip. You don’t win the game in the first half; you win the game in the second half.
“And what did we do? We come out and we do what we do. We played football. We got an opportunity to do what we love, and we’ll see y’all at the Super Bowl.”
Bennett goes for a ride
Defensive end Michael Bennett decided to celebrate Seattle’s victory by borrowing a bicycle from a Seattle police officer who was on the field.
Bennett rode a complete lap around the field before joining the celebration at the platform in the middle.
Wagner said he doesn’t believe Bennett asked for permission.
“When you win a Super Bowl,” Wagner said, “you can do whatever you want.”
The Seattle Police Department even had fun with it, posting a picture of the cycling Bennett on Twitter that said, “Just bring it back before Super Bowl XLIX.”
So what will Bennett do if the Seahawks win another Super Bowl?
“I’m going to borrow Mr. (Paul) Allen’s helicopter.”
Lots of respect
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers reportedly had a nagging calf muscle injury coming into the game, but he showed no ill effects against the Seahawks.
Rodgers was 19-for-34 for 178 yards and a touchdown. Those stats are less than outstanding by his standards, but they appeared to be good enough to win until Seattle staged its remarkable comeback.
“(Rodgers) is a warrior,” Thomas said. “We all respect him. There’s a reason he gets all the credit he gets, and he deserves everything.”
Hard to believe
Place-kicker Steven Hauschka was part of two terrific plays by Seattle’s special teams — a fake field goal for a touchdown and a successful onside kick — and he understood how fortunate and how unusual that is.
“I can’t even count how many ridiculous plays there were (in the game),” Hauschka said. “That has to go down in history as one of the craziest games.”
The wrong Ryan
That guy in the No. 9 Seahawks jersey sitting at Jon Ryan’s locker in the team locker room looked a lot like the Seattle punter. So much so, in fact, that a few reporters wandered over and starting asking questions.
In fact it was Ryan’s younger brother, Steve. The real Jon Ryan arrived on the scene moments later took over the interview.
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