LEANING RIGHT-Like everyone else I saw the San Francisco versus Seattle NFL play-off game. Like everyone else I saw the rant of Richard Sherman after the game. Like everyone else I asked myself “why doesn’t he shut his mouth.”
For a week following the game I listened to the pundits and talking heads opine on the rant and asked myself “who is Richard Sherman?”
I learned that he comes from one of the hell holes of south/central Los Angeles – Compton notorious for its gangs such as the Bloods and the Crips.
His best friend – and high school football teammate - was killed in a shooting and his elder brother went to jail for drug dealing.
I learned that even his father was once a gang member before turning his life around after being shot twice in the chest.
I learned that all this experience was turned to Sherman’s advantage making him even more determined to succeed, his family said.
I learned that Richard Sherman is a smart man.
He’s always been smart. He graduated high school with a 4.2 GPA because he got straight A’s and also took a bunch of honors classes and did well in them.
In high school he always completed class projects in 15 minutes then stayed for an additional 2 hours helping the other students with their work.
In college he graduated in 4 years. His GPA isn’t public knowledge at this point, but the team GPA he graduated with was 3.63. Some quick math shows that 95% of the team had a GPA over 3.13. It’s safe to say his was pretty high, since he got into graduate school and completed a year’s worth of study before joining the Seattle Seahawks.
I almost forgot to mention that Richard Sherman was recruited by many schools, including USC, out of high school because of football. Instead he chose Stanford because of academics.
Why bring all this up? Because some people don’t know that Richard Sherman is damn smart. And not just football smart. I’m talking smart smart.
Most people just haven’t figured out how smart just yet, but they will.
On the field he loves to talk trash. It’s part of his game. It is doubted that he will ever stop. For some people, it is simply part of how they operate. We should just accept it.
Off the field is where most people take exceptions to his actions. And every one of them is calculated. They are done on purpose with one goal in mind.
Remember, Richard Sherman is a very smart man.
Now we can answer the question as to why Richard Sherman did not shut his mouth.
He is growing his brand. He’s making himself a household name, and he’s doing it with almost unprecedented speed.
Sherman’s name is in the conversation now, and it wasn’t before. That’s a major victory for the Stanford grad. And it’s not like he’s just talking about it. Sherman has a legitimate claim to the throne of being the NFL’s best CB. His on-field abilities back up the talk.
How does he capitalize?
The next step is to increase his exposure: make a few headlines so non-football fans start to recognize him and his name.
At some point, Nike or some other company will write him a blank check to represent their products. It’s how it works. He’ll be very well known, as well as thought of as one of the absolute best players in the NFL. Those 2 things will make him perfect for a lot of company’s marketing campaign.
Robert Griffin isn’t making Subway commercials because he likes sandwiches. He’s doing it because he likes the money they pay him and he’s pretty damn good.
Finally, Michael Crabtree was paid about $2.745 million last year. Sherman was paid $500,000. I’ll bet you won’t see that discrepancy again.
One thing I never noticed until yesterday is that on the final play of the game Sherman did not smack the ball to the ground or out of Crabtree’s grasp. He tapped it to his team mate’s waiting hands. Did I mention “on-field” abilities?”
Everybody, pundits included, missed that.
Now we know why Sherman doesn’t shut his mouth.
(Kay Martin is an author and a CityWatch contributor. His new book, Along for the Ride, is now available. He can be reached at [email protected])
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 8
Pub: Jan 28, 2014