RENTON — Richard Sherman did not back down Tuesday.
The Seattle Seahawks’ All-Pro cornerback addressed the media at the Virginia Mason Athletic center for the first time since his one-on-one meeting with coach Pete Carroll last Friday, and Sherman was unapologetic about his sideline outburst directed toward offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell during last Thursday’s 24-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
“No,” Sherman answered when asked if he regretted his actions. “I think sometimes things need to happen like that. Obviously people need something to talk about this week, so you’re going to talk about that. But it worked out. The way our team works it worked out fine and we’re moving forward.”
Sherman’s emotions boiled over against the Rams when, midway through the third quarter, he shouted at Bevell for calling pass plays when the Seahawks had the ball near the goal line. After the game Sherman alluded to the play in the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX, when the Seahawks had the ball at the 1-yard line and elected to throw rather than hand the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, with Russell Wilson’s slant pass being intercepted by Malcolm Butler to preserve a 28-24 victory for the New England Patriots.
Sherman’s outburst, his second sideline incident this season, prompted Carroll to call Sherman in for a sit-down meeting that lasted an hour. Carroll said Friday that the meeting went well, and Sherman echoed those sentiments.
“It was good, it was productive,” Sherman said. “We went over some stuff, we went over some different strategies, it was really cool, fun.”
But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows from Sherman during a sometimes contentious press conference, which included Sherman directing some parting words toward 710 ESPN radio’s Jim Moore after the press conference was over, threatening to have Moore’s credentials revoked after Moore asked a string of pointed questions — Sherman later tweeted an apology.
Sherman said he didn’t regret anything he said on the sideline against the Rams, that he didn’t apologize to any of the coaches, and that his thinking didn’t change because the Seahawks ultimately scored a touchdown on a pass play on that drive.
Bevell also addressed the media Tuesday, and he was asked about whether he thought it was ever a defensive player’s place to question a play call. After a long pause Bevell said, “No, I don’t.”
But Bevell said Sherman sought him out Friday and the two had a productive meeting.
“He came up and we had a really good conversation,” Bevell said. “He’s not the first person to ever question a play call.
“I’m not going to convince Richard of anything,” Bevell added about the conversation. “I’m just comfortable really with how the conversation went. I thought it was a good conversation.”
Then both Bevell and Sherman went on to talk about how they believe the Seahawks’ culture is such that it’s able to withstand incidents such as Thursday’s.
“I think the thing we do really well here that (Carroll) always talks about is we celebrate our players and the uniqueness they have,” Bevell said. “We allow them to do some of those things. But I think there’s repercussions when they step over the line. That’s not for me to handle, that’s for (Carroll) to handle and how he wants to handle that. But I’m comfortable with all our guys, I love the fiery nature.”
Said Sherman: “Our team’s a lot different than other teams and a lot different than, I guess, the public. The public just needs an opinion, a criticism. They don’t even understand, that’s why most people can’t ever get to this point of success because most people live their lives with a foot on the brake hoping not to run into people. We kind of live our lives with the foot on the gas in a search for success. We push the limits, we push the envelope because we’re competitors, we know what it takes to get to the mountain top. Most people don’t understand, so it’s hard for them to comprehend what’s going on here. But it’s not hard for my teammates because we see eye-to-eye on it.”
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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