The Monday Mommy: Richard Sherman is an Evil Genius
“Call it what you want, but that seemingly off the cuff rant was the catalyst for generating way more revenue than Sherman would have ever seen over the course of his NFL career.”
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Looking back, Richard Sherman’s NFC Championship post-game rant was pure genius. We all thought he was a bit over the top, perhaps slightly off his rocker when he verbally vomited into the camera, saliva going every which way, during his obligatory post-game Erin Andrews interview. The majority of his remarks were aimed at Michael Crabtree but instead, the world listened.
His unabashed enthusiasm that night caused quite the media stir for days, even weeks past that NFC Championship game. Richard Sherman, who was relatively unknown outside of Seattle, became the topic of sports radio, print and television across the country, even perhaps the world. He was called everything from a thug to brilliant based on his actions and everyone wanted a piece of him. Details of Sherman’s life had begun to reveal themselves and we all started to see that this Stanford educated athlete was way more than he was being portrayed in the media.
Sherman finished off the 2013 regular season in a statistical tie for the 13th ranked cornerback in the NFL. Not one of the other 12 guys above him were even in consideration for the 2014 Madden cover and Richard Sherman is now in the final bracket paired against Carolina Panthers’ Quarterback Cam Newton. You can view the full bracket here and even place your vote through Friday if you’re so inclined.
In its history, only two defensive players have ever had the honor of gracing the Madden cover. Ray Lewis was chosen in 2004 and Troy Polamalu was a co-cover guy along with Larry Fitzgerald in the 2009 version of the game. If Sherman edges out Newton for the 2014 cover, he will be the first corner to achieve the cover spot but arguably not the best, or even close.
Sherman has also parlayed his rant heard round the world into established writing gigs on multiple platforms, most notably Sports Illustrated’s MMQB created by Peter King. We can’t fail to mention his various endorsement deals worth over $5 million with Campbell’s, Body Armor Super Drink and his BFF status and healthy eating promotion videos with the President and First Lady Michelle Obama.
Historically speaking, it is difficult for a player at the corner position to gain the notoriety that Richard Sherman has experienced over the past six months. Call it what you want, but that seemingly off the cuff rant was the catalyst for generating way more revenue than Sherman would have ever seen over the course of his NFL career.
In less than five minutes of air time, Sherman created a persona what would propel him to the upper echelon of the NFL and secure a space in the spotlight for the rest of his NFL career. Some say it was dumb luck, others argue that it was the work of an evil genius. I personally vote for the later and can’t wait to see where this road takes him.
If Richard Sherman does win this season’s Madden cover spot, Denver Bronco fans can hope the path to Super Bowl redemption will be a bit less rocky if that Madden curse is alive and well in 2014.
