Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman faced plenty of questions on Tuesday about his strenuous objections to the team’s offensive play calling on Thursday night against the Rams. He apparently faced one more than he wanted.
“What I don’t quite understand is Darrell Bevell is calling plays and he thinks they’re going to work and yet you think you maybe have a better handle of what should be called?” Jim Moore of seattlepi.com asked, via Curtis Crabtree of 950 KJR in Seattle.
“No, we’ve just had a prior experience so we talked about it,” Sherman responded. “But let me guess, you have a better play call. Let me guess, you have better experience.”
“No, I don’t have better experience,” Moore said.
“Then you should probably, you know, stop,” Sherman said.
Later, after his weekly press conference ended, Sherman didn’t stop.
“You don’t want to go there,” Sherman said to Moore. “You do not. I’ll ruin your career.”
“You’ll ruin my career?” Moore said.
“Yes. Yes, I will.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“I’ll make sure you don’t get your media pass any more,” Sherman said.
“Oh, is that right?” Moore said.
“Yes. Yes it is,” Sherman said.
It was uncalled for, and Sherman either later realized it on his own or someone compelled him to realize it. On Twitter, Sherman posted a message that had an involuntary, twisted-arm feel to it: “I appreciate the role the media plays and they have a tough job,” Sherman said. “I let it get personal today and I regret that. Next one should be fun.”
In a separate tweet, Sherman posted this hashtag: “Petesaididontcontrolcredentials.”
Sherman(and coach Pete Carroll are right; players don’t control media credentials. They also don’t coach, which brings us back to the original problem with Sherman’s ongoing criticism of the decisions made by the team’s coaching staff. The Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl nearly two years ago due in part to a stubborn adherence to a three-word mantra that ensures the clear and unmistakable delegation and distribution of duties.
Do your job. Not anyone else’s. And don’t worry about whether anyone else is doing their job. That’s the job of those responsible for ensuring that specific employees are doing their jobs.
While Carroll has gotten through to Sherman on whether Sherman can keep a reporter from being credentialed, Carroll apparently has not gotten Sherman to realize that it’s not his place to question offensive play calling. At some point, if Sherman refuses to accept his role and stay in his lane, it could be a factor in the Seahawks finding someone else to do the job Sherman does.