To the victor, the spoils, or so they say.

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They said what about a Stanford graduate?!?

They said what about a Stanford graduate?!?

Seattle Sehawks’ Richard Sherman’s response to criticism

Article: Michael Chmielewski – Editor-in-Chief

[dropcaps round=”no”]S[/dropcaps]eattle Seahawks’ now infamous cornerback Richard Sherman has been in the news lately for his viral post-game interview, and the criticism has come from all angles, now including a fine from the NFL.

He’s fined for “unsportsmanlike conduct/taunting,” referring specifically to the choking symbol he made towards the defeated 49ners after Sherman made the NFC Championship winning play, which takes his team to the Super Bowl.

The backlash was insane, and sickening for a couple reasons.

Firstly, why are we, as a society, discouraging success? Sherman won the game, and it’s a product of a lifetime of hard work for him to get to where he is today. So he bragged, so he taunted, so what? As the victor, he deserves it. He, in large part due to his efforts, is about to play in the biggest game of his life, and we’re worried about what the 49ners feel? They’ll be fine, and if they’re really that hurt, perhaps they should have played better.

What’s wrong with a passionate person? It’s a required part of being successful, and even more so in physical competition like football. Achievers are usually passionate.

The next awful part is the media and their coverage. Firstly, the word thug was used copiously and liberally to detract him, just because of his skin colour in the context of his post game comments, I assume. If Peyton Manning, after his win over the Patriots, did the same thing, I doubt that he would be described as a “thug,” maybe “uncharacteristic.”

Sherman, whose alma mater is Stanford, responded very graciously. This man is more talented than the “journalists” on traditional media and armchair quarterbacks on social media who either called him a thug or, on social media, the n-word. He said “[w]hat’s the definition of a thug, really?… there was a hockey game where they didn’t even play hockey, they just threw the puck aside and started fighting. I saw that, and said, ‘Oh man, I’m the thug? What’s going on here?’”

“The only reason it bothers me is because it seems like it’s the accepted way of calling somebody the n-word nowadays.”

These answers, which came during a press conference, are perfect. Sherman is not a thug. He is a successful, hard-working and passionate man, and it’s something that should be celebrated, not fined, nor criticized, and especially not by backwards racists hiding behind a twitter handle.

Either way the Super Bowl goes, there will be a revival of unfair criticism directed towards Sherman. Count on it.

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