Richard Sherman has been one of the most intriguing football players in the National Football League for quite some time now. When he openly assailed media practices regarding black male imagery via semantics and admonishments, when he smashed the stereotype of the inarticulate, cowed professional athlete by calling out bigotry with a depth that belied society’s “norms” of what he should be, Sherman has been razor sharp.
As iron sharpens iron, so too does Sherman sharpen the America’s views on exactly what’s happening to Colin Kaepernick in his quest to return to the National Football League, but from a player’s perspective.
Seahawks CB Richard Sherman sits down w/ Josina Anderson Part 2
In this edition Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman talks about his thoughts on quarterback Colin Kapernick’s ongoing unemployment, bank-breaking NBA contracts, and issues he like remedied in the NFL’s next collective bargaining agreement.
Sherman was reportedly halfway through an interview when the Seattle Seahawks All-Pro cornerback decided to go rogue, asking a question of the interviewer instead.
“So what do you think of Colin Kaepernick?” he asked the USA Today reporter before answering his own question.
“The funny thing about it, when you’re not being blackballed, you don’t have to say he’s not being blackballed,” said Sherman. “When football’s a safe game, you don’t have to say, ‘Football’s a safe game.’ It seems like the Commissioner always has to say things to justify something. But you don’t even do this with Mike VIck. Vick came back and got a $100 million deal.”
“What is it about?” he continued. “It’s not about football or color. It’s about, ‘Boy, stay in your place.’
“Not a lot of guys are willing to step out there. So the guys not speaking up for him are doing him a disservice. There should be a lot more guys saying something. Most guys are like, ‘I don’t want my job to end up the same way.”
“Mike (Bennett), speaks up, but on our team it’s like, they’re a bunch of hippies over there.”
Michael Bennett was one of the first NFL players to come out in favor of giving Kaepernick a fair shot at getting back on the field. Ironically, though the Seattle Seahawks would appear to be a perfect fit for Kaep, they decided to pass.
If the team some think is the NFL’s version of Woodstock didn’t give him a shot, and we already know there are more conservative minded owners than not in the NFL, then it’s going to take some serendipity for Colin to get signed.
However, the NFL does stand for Not For Long. Teams are still in training camp, and quarterbacks get injured “everyday, B. Kaep just might be a’ight. He tough, right?’ (Camron voice)
In the meantime, though it’s great that Sherman, Bennett, Joe Flacco and other players have spoken out in Kaepernick’s favor, there does need to be many more who are unafraid to at least speak truth in the face of hypocrisy from behind the NFL shield.
