As the game clock ticked to an end, the Seattle Seahawks were lined up at their 1-yard line, preparing to win their second consecutive Super Bowl. Seattle’s coach Pete Carroll just needed to make the call. Hand the ball to “beast mode” Marshawn Lynch and win the game. Instead, Carroll asked QB Russell Wilson to throw the ball. On the 1-yard line, Wilson threw an awkward slant pass, and rather than connect with Ricardo Lockette, the ball landed directly into the hands of Patriots undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler. Tensions were so high after the game-ending INT that a hockey-esque fight broke out . As the game clock ran out, one more unexpected thing occurred. When Tom Brady took a knee, Seahawks corner back Richard Sherman was the first to shake his hand.
Lets rewind. In 2012, the Patriots fell to Seattle 23-24 in a regular-season match-up. A barrage of trash-talking ensued, famously coming to a head with Sherman’s “U Mad Bro?” post-game 
tweet directed at Brady. This is old news now, but Sherman has maintained a reputation of being a smack-talking troublemaker in the NFL. After Seattle’s 23-17 NFC Championship win over San Francisco in 2014, Sherman angrily ranted to Erin Andrews in a post-game sideline interview, calling himself the “best corner in the league.” Instantly, Sherman was pegged into the stereotype of the angry black man.
It’s much too narrow-minded to continue to view Sherman as a trash-talking thug. Sherman scored a 1400 on the SAT and graduated high school as salutatorian with a 4.2 GPA, going on to earn a degree from Stanford University. Despite his achievements, sports media has focused on his unsportsmanlike, “thuggish” trash-talking. According to iQ media, the word “thug” was used 625 on local TV and radio stations while talking about Sherman’s post-49ers rant in 2014.
Time Magazine called Sherman one of the top 100 pioneers of influence in 2014. “Sherman’s rant solidified his reputation as one of the brashest and most candid players in the buttoned-up NFL. More important, it sparked a national conversation about race, stereotyping and sportsmanship,” writes Sean Gregory. “When critics labeled the dreadlocked defensive star a “thug,” Sherman, a Compton, Calif.–raised Stanford graduate, engaged the debate, asking if the term was today’s way of calling him the N word? In a heartbeat, Sherman altered the discourse and emerged as the smartest voice in the room.”
Sherman’s pigeonholed reputation does him little justice. He is brazen, sure. He is unafraid to get in your face, to be loud, and to be proud of his accomplishments on and off the field. But that’s precisely why he should be respected – or at least not racially labeled. He’s unafraid to speak his mind in a league where white players can do the same without fear of being pegged as a troublemaker. The NFL has seen its fair share of thugs, from Aaron Hernandez to Michael Vick – but Richard Sherman is not one of them. You don’t have to like him, but you shouldn’t fall for the trope that sports media has placed him in.
In Between the Uprights 