Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) gets shoved in the face by San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) while trying to shake hands after an interception by Seahawks outside linebacker Malcolm Smith (not pictured) during the second half of the 2013 NFC Championship football game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
By now, I think almost everyone either saw Richard Sherman’s rant directed at San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Michael Crabtree live after the game or on the various videos floating around on TV or online. The Seattle Seahawks cornerback is definitely chippy and not afraid to talk smack, but he seemed to outdue himself by calling Crabtree “mediocre” and exploding at the 49ers wideout. Sherman did an amazing job of athletically tipping a pass in the end zone to linebacker Malcolm Smith for a game-sealing interception, and Sherman had a whale of a ballgame overall. But after the play, Sherman and Crabtree got into it (Sherman was flagged), and the bad blood spilled into the aftermath of the game, leading to Sherman’s now-famous post-game tirade.
Interestingly enough, it sounds like the bad blood between Crabtree and Sherman has been brewing for quite some time, as the Seattle Times’s Jerry Brewer reports that Sherman’s older brother Branton stated that Crabtree tried to fight the Seahawks corner this past offseason. According to Branton’s account of the situation, Crabtree tried to fight Sherman this past summer at Larry Fitzgerald’s charity event. Apparently Sherman tried to shake Crabtree’s hand, but the Texas Tech product wanted to start a fight with Sherman.
It’s not surprising to hear that the rival WR-CB duo have had their spouts in the past, but this one was definitely the most public. Not to be outdone, though, Crabtree left this parting shot of Sherman, “He’s a TV guy. I’m not a TV guy. I play ball. He made one play and he talks. It was a good play.”
As for me, I don’t understand why everyone is so up in arms and taking sides; it’s trash-talk and you either fault both players or you fault neither party (unless if more details come out and one side comes up “in the wrong”).