Richard Sherman Mocks NFL’s Media Fines With Presser

Richard Sherman has a big game on Thanksgiving.

The All-Pro cornerback and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks are scheduled to play their bitter division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers this holiday. The last time they met? The NFC Championship game, where Sherman famously tipped away a possible game-winning pass that Colin Kaepernick threw to Michael Crabtree. His teammate Malcolm Smith secured an interception, Sherman gave Crabtree a pat on the butt, threw a choke sign to Kaepernick and went on an infamous post-game ramped up “rant” about Crabtree being a “sorry” receiver.

The Internet spiraled the sequence of those events into a discussion of race and sportsmanship that totally missed the mark. Meanwhile, Sherman and the Seahawks weren’t distracted. They went on to win the Super Bowl in resounding fashion, 43-8 vs. the Denver Broncos.

Why do we bring this up? Because as the heavyweight game of this Thanksgiving line-up, while you’re unbuckling your post-turkey-dinner jeans and leaning back in your papa’s recliner, we’re sure that NBC will be showing Sherman’s feat and “rant” ad nauseam before, during (and depending on the outcome, maybe even after) the Seahawks and 49ers re-match.

So Sherman, the delightful showman that he is, cooked up something new for everyone to talk about. While teammate Marshawn Lynch recently received a $100,000 fine for not talking to the media enough this season, Sherman and Seahawk receiver Doug Baldwin staged a press conference. Using a cardboard cutout of Baldwin, Sherman fielded questions from a crouching Baldwin below. 

Sherman cheekily referenced all the companies that he has sponsorship deals with (Beats by Dre, Campbell’s Soup) that he’s not supposed to endorse on the sidelines (49ers quarterback Kaepernick was fined by the NFL for wearing Beats by Dre headphones on the sideline this year), but notes that the NFL has alcohol sponsorships all over the stadiums. Also that the NFL crows about player safety, yet here they are week 13 in the most important game of their season (both the Seahawks and 49ers are 7-4 and fighting for a playoff spot) and they’re playing their second game in five days.

Even one of their rivals, safety Eric Reid of the Niners, agreed:

As fun and as on point as Sherman and Baldwin’s talent show display was, this is the No Fun League. And they’ll probably be fined.

Sherman and Baldwin signed new contracts this year, so they’re probably not so worried about the quantity. What Sherman should be worried about is if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is dialing the Levi’s Stadium officiating crew to watch #25 closely and adhere to that defensive holding infraction they’re hellbent on over-enforcing this year.

Brian Formo is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @BrianEmilFormo.