Richard Sherman is very classy concerning Super Bowl loss

Jeremy Gottlieb, Boston:
Richard Sherman exploded into the national consciousness in 2012 when he famously asked Tom Brady, "You mad, bro?"

On Sunday night, the roles were reversed. And Sherman has clearly mellowed, as was made abundantly clear in this photo from Mark J. Rebilas of USA Today Sports, when he approached Brady for a handshake as the game's MVP took a knee to run out the clock.

It only took two years, three months and 18 days for Richard Sherman to grow up. Of course, it required a gut wrenching loss in Super Bowl XLIX for this to transpire. The Seahawks scored 24 points in the first matchup with the New England Patriots in Seattle on October 14, 2012 in a 24-23 win. It was Seahawks' QB Russell Wilson who took a knee to preserve the victory. Seattle scored 24 points again on Sunday, but this time the Patriots scored 28. The Super Bowl MVP was taking a knee before the classy gesture from a "true professional."

The same could not be said about the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks, Darrell Bevell.

Without question, the worst play call in NFL history has the offensive coordinator of the Seahawks blaming a converted track star who had 18 receptions in the professional ranks. While the QB Russell Wilson: "I put the blame on me. I'm the one who threw the ball" and head coach, Pete Carroll: "That was my fault, totally" accepted blame, the one who calls the shots blames the seldom used wide receiver.

The New England CB Malcolm Butler delivered 800 lbs. of force to the Seahawks' WR Ricardo Lockette on Seattle's final offensive play. Butler was moving at 13 MPH from the snap of the ball, and arrived 0.05 seconds before Lockette. RB Marshawn Lynch was used as a decoy, running a pass pattern to the left. The real problem was that Darrell Bevell didn't use his "king", and an undrafted seldom used CB called "checkmate." Darrell Bevell should check with Richard Sherman to see how an adult should act.




With friends like that, who needs enemies?


Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.

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