RENTON, Wash. — Richard Sherman is standing firm on his belief that his sideline outburst last week was justified.
He also believes the dynamic of the Seattle locker room is such that the Seahawks can handle Sherman’s open questioning of the offensive play calling.
“Sometimes things need to happen like that,” Sherman said. “People need something to talk about this week so you’re going to talk about that. It worked out.”
Sherman remained adamant Tuesday that yelling in the direction of Coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was not out of line in Seattle’s 24-3 win over the Rams. Sherman was angered by the decision to pass the ball on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, a throw that was intended for Jimmy Graham and was nearly intercepted. He was seen on the sideline screaming toward Carroll and Bevell and had to be pulled away and calmed down by teammates.
Seattle scored two plays later on a pass from Russell Wilson to Doug Baldwin, but that didn’t stop Sherman from expressing his displeasure after the game and even invoking memories of Seattle’s Super Bowl loss to New England and Wilson’s infamous interception thrown from the 1-yard line in the closing seconds.
Even after a meeting with Carroll last Friday – which Sherman described as productive – he said his actions were not out of line.
“What’s our rule? Protect the team. Protect the team,” Sherman said. “It goes both ways and that’s what me and Pete talked about.”
Carroll had insinuated last Friday that he may have been considering some form of discipline for Sherman’s outburst but that it was contingent on how the meeting went. Sherman also reached out and met with Bevell on Friday.
When asked Tuesday, Bevell said he did not believe it was OK for a defensive player to question an offensive play call.
“I’m not going to convince Richard of anything,” Bevell said. “I’m just comfortable really with how the conversation went.”
Sherman seemed to grow increasingly defensive answering questions about the outburst during his weekly news conference and it carried over to his final moments in the room. As he walked away, Sherman threatened to “ruin the career” of a radio reporter who had questioned why Sherman believed he had a better handle on what should be called than the offensive coordinator.
“I’ll make sure you don’t get your media pass anymore,” Sherman said as he left.
It’s the second time this year Sherman has spent time answering for his actions on the sideline during a game. He got into a shouting match with defensive coordinator Kris Richard after a blown coverage led to a touchdown in an October victory against Atlanta.
But the most recent outburst had a different dynamic as Sherman openly questioned the decision on the other side of the ball. That brought up the possibility of an offensive/defensive divide in the locker room. Sherman quickly dismissed that.
“I think it’s unique within winning teams. Losing teams, there’s a bit of selfishness with what you’re saying, so you can feel the animosity when someone says something. You can say he’s jealous of this, he’s jealous of this. When you’re on a winning team, everyone knows it’s coming from a good place. So when someone makes a comment, you’re not thinking it’s coming from a terrible place, they’re jealous or they’re this. They want to win just as bad as you do.”
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