Ronde, Honey Badger, Brady... all comment on Sherman

Fennelly: Sherman is just what Super Bowl ordered THE ASSOCIATED PRESSSherman, Seattle’s star cornerback, was the NFL headliner Sunday, and not just because he made a game-ending play. By Martin Fennelly | Tribune Staff Published:  January 20, 2014 at 11:00 PMThe Super Bowl is set:Richard Sherman vs. The World.Seahawks vs. Broncos, too.Sherman, Seattle’s star cornerback, was the NFL headliner Sunday, and not just because he rose and twisted in the air to bat a likely touchdown pass to San Francisco 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree into the arms of a Seattle teammate to send the Seahawks to XLVIII.No, it was the After Party that really rocked. It began right after the NFC title game, when Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews, Tampa’s own, merely asked Sherman to take a national TV audience through the pivotal play. Sherman went pro wrestler on us. I laughed out loud.“I’m the best corner in the game,” he shouted. “When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you gonna get. Don’t you ever talk about me.”You hated him right then, didn’t you?I love the guy.Sherman said it was all about something Crabtree said when they were in Arizona last offseason (no details) and that the choke sign he gave the San Francisco sideline was more for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (well, that’s better). All of this, and more, Richard Sherman pointed out in the Monday entry of his regular column for Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback website.His regular column?Now I really love the guy.New York gets it first Super Bowl and gets Richard Sherman, as performed by Richard Sherman.Many have decided Sherman is a jerk, a Me guy.Sherman might have sensed that wave Monday, so he apologized for his Crabtree comments and for “taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates.”Play on.It’s football. It’s entertainment.We need to get a grip. We want these guys playing this violent game, crashing into each other, scrambling brains, but we jump them for how they get their emotional edge?We’re appalled when someone doesn’t make nice when a microphone is shoved in his face right after a game, in the middle of the bedlam, his included. What do we need every time, a Masters green jacket ceremony?Get over it.Listen to Bucs cornerback and future Hall of Fame candidate Ronde Barber, whose career always spoke to quiet pride.“Believe me, I had (the competitor) in me,” Barber said. “It just didn’t come out as brash and offensive. On some level, we’re all looking for something or someone to drive us. And Richard has many of those. He’s very vocal about all of it. That little heated competition with him and Crabtree was just one of them.”This season, his first as a Fox Sports analyst, Barber interviewed Richard Sherman and sat in studio with him during the Seahawks’ bye week.“He’s a bright guy,” Barber said. “He wasn’t what I was expecting. I don’t even know what I was expecting. If what happened Sunday had happened before I met him, I would have said, ‘What the hell, dude?’ But getting to know him, talking to him, it’s just who he is.“He’s different. He’s different different. But it’s not malicious. Some guys say things and they’re angry. Richard says it and he’s messing around. ... Really, he talks a lot, but he’s kind of a humble dude. Serious.“I don’t have to defend him. Nor do I need to crucify him. We’re not all built the same. What would the world look like if we were all like each other? It would be pretty boring and colorless, right?”New York and its first Super Bowl are already decked out in never-say-die Good vs. Evil: Archie’s son Peyton, the polished, ageless passing machine, throwing at Richard Sherman, the newest guy people love to hate.Only I don’t hate him. Serious.Richard Sherman and football, they’re contact sports.“So here we are, in the Super Bowl. New York-bound,” Sherman wrote in his Monday column. “There will be a lot of talking, but at this point, after 18 games, there’s nothing left to say.”I find that very hard to believe. Tyrann Mathieu has some words for Richard ShermanJanuary 20, 2014 by Paul Jackiewicz    Fox Sports  During last night’s post game interview, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman once again made it clear he’s the top corner in the NFL.Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu doesn’t agree.Sorry Sherman I don’t mean to intercept but my dawg @RealPeterson21 the #1 CB— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) January 20, 2014Hate to break it to Mathieu, but his buddy Peterson is probably number two behind Sherman.Tom Brady on Richard Sherman: ‘We win with graciousness’By Chris Chase 1 hour agoUSA Today SportsIn 2012, Tom Brady became the first big-time target of Richard Sherman’s trash talking. On Monday, Brady was making his weekly appearance on Boston’s Dennis and Callahan show on Boston’s WEEI when he was asked about the latest round of bluster and bravado from the gabby Seattle Seahawks cornerback. “We win with graciousness.” Hey now! Apparently Richard Sherman isn’t the only one who can throw backhanded shade. Who knew Brady could get dirty and sling around a little mud? I like this side of the Pats QB so much I’ll resist countering his claims of gracious winning with an obvious Spygate reference. The “graciousness” line merits the headlines, but Brady gave a longer answer to the question that included more digs and a little praise. Like any seasoned media veteran, the quarterback made sure to end his statement on a positive note, thus obscuring the snipes from the beginning. (Via NESN.) “I don’t know [Sherman] at all. I’ve watched him play. He’s that kind of guy. So, you know. I approach the game — and I have respect for my opponents. That’s the way our team always plays. We win with graciousness, and when we lose, we could do better. Some teams don’t always do that, or that’s not their program. The only way to counter that is to beat them. When you don’t win, it’s hard not to say — you just gotta shut your mouth and listen to it. Maybe when you get an opportunity down the road, maybe that’s a source of motivation. But they got a good team. They played well all year. They played well at home. And that’s why they advanced, too.”