What's Under The Helmet

With Richard Sherman’s post game rant last night after the Seattle Seahawks victory in the NFC Championship Game has caused him to be a trending topic in the media and social media.  It has gone from simply not caring for his comments to racial epithets being posted all over his Twitter account.  

His comments toward San Francisco 49ers Michael Crabtree have stirred up a wide range of emotions.  What is being missed is the root of his comments are a combination of raw emotion and calculated behavior that has become common place among football players especially defensive backs and wide receivers.

Apparently Crabtree and Sherman have history.  Last year at Arizona Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald’s charity event Sherman went to shake Crabtree’s hand and Crabtree attempted to start a fight.  Sherman confirmed it this morning on Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback in which he contributes to occasionally, “It goes back to something he said to me this offseason in Arizona, but you’d have to ask him about that. A lot of what I said to Andrews was adrenaline talking, and some of that was Crabtree. I just don’t like him.

I call it the helmet complex.  Besides the quarterback very few football players are recognizable without their uniform.  We identify them with a jersey number and position.  We can barely see their faces behind the large helmets and facemask they wear.  The outspokenness of football players and defensive backs can be traced to Deion Sanders.

Deion Sanders senior year at Florida State he sat in his dorm room and came up with the “Prime Time” persona that would lead him to have Nike ads and other campaigns throughout his career that no one else at his position ever had. 

During his Hall of Fame speech in 2011 he stated, “"I pre-rehearsed the saying because I knew I had the substance," said Sanders. "I knew I had the goods, I knew I had the work ethic, but I needed to secure myself enough that my mama would never have to work another day of her life."

Sanders endorsements and large contracts throughout his playing career open doors for players at his position and a generation of young players who looked to him as a template of how to play the position and capitalize on their success.  Defensive backs are away from the action and only have a handful of opportunities to make plays during the game.  A casual fan may not appreciation their contributions because of that.

What Sanders and now Richard Sherman decided to do were to behave in a manner and talk so much that it would cause the public to look at them more closely.  It has been affective for both whether we agree with their methods are not.

As Jon Wilner of the Mercury News reported this morning, without that hyper-drive and that football-sized chip on his shoulder, Sherman would not have become a straight-A student and the first player from Compton’s Dominguez High School to earn a football scholarship to Stanford.

“The chip that makes him a great player also made him a great student,” said David Shaw, who coached Sherman at Stanford and remains a close friend and mentor.

What has gotten lost in all the chatter with Sherman is the raw emotion of making the biggest play in his football life and his personal story of what put him in position to make it. 

Sherman is from Compton, CA.  His father, Kevin, rose daily at 4 a.m. to drive a garbage truck -- and still does today. His mother, Beverly, works with disabled kids in the inner city and preached the value of education. She was happy to give her children money Richard and his brother and sister came home with A’s.

Sherman Nike Ad

Sherman's play and outspokenness has led to commercials with Nike and Beats by Dre.  In our society controversy sales.  Sherman plays a position that does not get compensated like quarterbacks.  Sherman was a fifth round draft pick and is still under his rookie contract that pays him $550,00 base salary.  Endorsement deals already have more than doubled Sherman’s salary, says his Las Vegas agent, Jamie Fritz, of Fritz Martin Management.

“There are a number of successful players in the NFL who don’t have endorsement deals,” Fritz said. “At the end of the day ... people have to like you. If they don’t like you, they won’t buy the product you’re endorsing. Richard has a perception of being loud and in-your-face, but off the field, he’s very sincere, approachable and likable.”

What Sherman missed is an opportunity to introduce himself to a broader audience.  More attention was drawn to his comments after a big play than the play itself.  His story his inspiring, but acting classless and personalizing a big play can hurt him in the long run.  Football is a humbling game, for his sake I hope he can find balance.  He is another example of what being behind a helmet can do and overcompensating to get attention.