First Impressions, Boasting and Beef

If you watch the steer get slaughtered, that filet mignon might not taste as good.

First impressions are powerful things.

One of the interesting exercises in writing (and debate) is to look at the other side of an argument.  It can be a humbling experience.

In order to see the other side, you must acknowledge that your side is not necessarily correct; you simply have an opinion.  That's usually enough to scare most people off.

This brings me to the interesting "controversy" over Richard Sherman, cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks.

And before you stop reading because this is "football talk," please understand that it is not.

This is more to do with first impressions, fledgling opinions, and having the courage to admit that you just might be wrong.

You see, most of the world, including myself, had an initial 20-second impression of Richard Sherman immediately after the biggest play in the biggest game of his life.

Seconds after the game, he was asked to describe the moment, and he exploded:

"I'm the best corner[back] in the league.  When you put me up against a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's what you're gonna get... don't you ever talk about me!" said Sherman, referring to 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who - like Sherman - likes to flap his jaw on the field.

My first impression?  Most likely the same as yours:

This guy, Richard Sherman, is a cocky a**hole.

Then I realized how hypocritical I was being.  I am always to first to complain about interviews with athletes.  They read from a script: "We capitalized on opportunities.  We stuck to the game plan. We were fortunate to come away with a victory.  Blah, blah, blah."

And when someone comes along and gives you a raw glimpse of how they really feel, of how it really sounds on the field, of what competition in the NFL is really like without the filter of sweet sugar coating, we are offended.  Totally appalled.

The truth is, we like watching football, but we don't want to see the underside.  Sort of like not wanting to watch that steer get slaughtered before dinner.

William T. Sherman.  No relation to Richard Sherman, but he was badass.

To his credit, after Sherman had the chance to decompress, to "turn off the switch" and get out of game mode, he apologized for the outburst, calling it immature and unprofessional.  It also cost him a $7,875 league fine.

But there's way more to the story.  What I didn't know was that Sherman grew up in Compton, California, a place notorious for crime, drugs and gang activity.  He could have easily become a gangster, but Sherman made all of the right choices in his young life.

Not only was he an all-star athlete, he was the Salutatorian of his high school graduation class.

He earned a scholarship to Stanford, graduated with a degree in Communications and returned for a fifth year to begin his Master's degree.  He's a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

My point?  This Richard Sherman guy isn't the thick-skulled thug his first impression gave.

This is Richard Sherman.  You don't know him, but you know his music.   He wrote all the tunes for the Walt Disney movies, "Mary Poppins," "The Jungle Book," "Winnie the Pooh," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "The Aristocats" and many more.  He also wrote "It's a Small World (After All)" and the top ten hit, "You're Sixteen."  He, too, is badass. 

And while Sherman has quickly become public enemy #1 by sanctimonious American sports fans for being a cocky and conceited jerk, I can't help but turn my thoughts to Muhammad Ali.  I don't think there was ever an athlete more full of himself than Ali.  Yet his boastful, narcissistic behavior was viewed as "entertainment" by the American public:

If you even dream of beating me you better wake up and apologize.
Humble people, I've found, don't get very far.
It's hard to be humble when you are as great as I am.
I'll beat him up so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.
I'm so mean I make medicine sick.

 But of Ali's quotes, the one most telling is this:

If Richard Sherman has a good game on Super Bowl Sunday and ends up with a ring, all of his detractors, of all his critics, all of his (to use modern parlance) "haters" will have to eat a massive dose of crow.

Either way, he has polarized this year's Super Bowl audience.  The general public regards it as Peyton Manning and the Forces of Good versus Richard Sherman and the Forces of Evil.

I'm willing to bet it will be the most-watched game in Super Bowl history.

Perhaps instead of fining him, the NFL should give Sherman a bonus for capturing a whole new audience?

Boy, that would piss people off.