After the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks met in the Divisional Round of the playoffs last season it became clear that Falcons receiver Roddy White and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman don’t like each other very much.
White thinks Sherman talks too much. Sherman thinks White isn’t very good. Both players won their fair-share of plays in the playoff meeting. Sherman swatted away a handful of passes toward White but White also caught a 47-yard touchdown pass over Sherman. Five months after the Falcons earned a last-second win over Seattle the feelings between the two haven’t seemed to improve.
The latest war of words came courtesy of the latest edition of the NFL Network’s countdown of the “Top 100 Players of 2013.” Sherman said White wasn’t deserving of a place on the list at all after White was listed at No. 39 on the countdown.
White was a guest on the show and had his own comments to share about Sherman in return. White said Sherman “talked his way into being an All-Pro” and that he doesn’t lose sleep over having to face Sherman on the field.
“He would actually be the first guy that I would want to face,” White said, via Dan Hanzus of NFL.com. “Frankly, I watch film and I know what I can do. I know what my ability is, I know what his ability is. I sit there and watch him and I’m like, OK. I’m not sitting there, losing any sleep getting ready for Richard Sherman.”
White was more complimentary of Sherman than Sherman was in return. He said Sherman is a Top 100 player in the league but just doesn’t like how much Sherman talks. At least one thing White says is correct - as much as Sherman has talked himself up this offseason he’s going to have a spotlight on him to prove he can live up to his own billing.
“He’s a front-runner. When things are going good, he’s all good,” White said. “When things ain’t going his way, he has nothing to say -- that’s just how he is. You let him talk in the offseason because that’s what he likes to do. You let guys like that talk, but at some point when September rolls around, you gotta come play football.”
The rematch between the Seahawks and Falcons in Week 10 this season should be fun.