The Politics of NFL Trash Talk
What Richard Sherman's meltdown says about America
By GREGG EASTERBROOK, Politico.com
January 21, 2014
At the conclusion of the NFC title game in Seattle, a wound-up Seahawks star Richard Sherman spoke to Erin Andrews of Fox for all of 20 seconds. He declared himself “the best corner in the game,” then denounced Michael Crabtree of the San Francisco 49ers, a player most Americans had never heard of, as “a sorry receiver.” The clip—Sherman looks straight into the camera and heatedly declares, “don’t you ever talk about me!”—became an Internet sensation. His diatribe was covered not just by sportstalk and web ‘zines but highbrow sources like the New York Times, Slate, the Atlantic and, well, now by Politico. Sherman and the Seahawks have repeatedly apologized, and two days later, his brief comments still are being treated as the biggest story of the upcoming Super Bowl.
Why would 20 seconds of an athlete boasting—especially in the adrenaline-pumped moment just after he’d made the play that won a football championship—be received as so significant? Why would anyone care at all? At a time when football is under intense political scrutiny, be it over the four million youth and high school players in danger of sustaining concussions, public subsidies and tax breaks for the NFL, the Washington R*dsk*ns’ name or a looming scandal regarding NFL painkiller use, the Sherman outburst was unwelcome. Even President Obama, a big NFL fan, said again this week, “I would not let my son play pro football.”
(More here.)
By GREGG EASTERBROOK, Politico.com
January 21, 2014
At the conclusion of the NFC title game in Seattle, a wound-up Seahawks star Richard Sherman spoke to Erin Andrews of Fox for all of 20 seconds. He declared himself “the best corner in the game,” then denounced Michael Crabtree of the San Francisco 49ers, a player most Americans had never heard of, as “a sorry receiver.” The clip—Sherman looks straight into the camera and heatedly declares, “don’t you ever talk about me!”—became an Internet sensation. His diatribe was covered not just by sportstalk and web ‘zines but highbrow sources like the New York Times, Slate, the Atlantic and, well, now by Politico. Sherman and the Seahawks have repeatedly apologized, and two days later, his brief comments still are being treated as the biggest story of the upcoming Super Bowl.
Why would 20 seconds of an athlete boasting—especially in the adrenaline-pumped moment just after he’d made the play that won a football championship—be received as so significant? Why would anyone care at all? At a time when football is under intense political scrutiny, be it over the four million youth and high school players in danger of sustaining concussions, public subsidies and tax breaks for the NFL, the Washington R*dsk*ns’ name or a looming scandal regarding NFL painkiller use, the Sherman outburst was unwelcome. Even President Obama, a big NFL fan, said again this week, “I would not let my son play pro football.”
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home