Why the Everyman Should Embrace Richard Sherman. -By Eric Marty An Excerpt: Former first round picks and all everything college players like Patrick Peterson should not be upset that Richard Sherman has become the best/most recognizable cornerback in the league. No, Peterson should be upset that he let a guy who went to Stanford when no one wanted to go to Stanford, who the NFL tried to switch to receiver, who wasnt selected until the fifth round of the draft – Peterson should be upset that he let that guy surpass him to become the most dominant, play making corner in the league regardless of what style of defense he tends to play in. Read the whole thing on my blog: coachericmarty/qb-blog Or read it below: Enough is enough. I know he’s loud, I know he’s obnoxious. I know he’s got the football equivalent to little man syndrome so consequently he feels the need to constantly remind everyone how good he is. But I have to stand up for ol’ RIch. Every week now some player or analysts tries to hate on Richard Sherman. They’ll say he’s good but Darrelle Revis is better. Or a guy like Patrick Peterson will puff his chest out and announce that he is better than Sherman as he just did in a radio interview (espn.go/nfl/story/_/id/10971847/patrick-peterson-says-richard-sherman-handle-arizona-cardinals-scheme): Obviously, his job is definitely much easier than mine. If you look at their scheme and look at our scheme, hes a Cover 3 corner. Period. Yes because everyone knows NFL teams, much like high school teams, can exclusively play one coverage against NFL passing attacks and not get picked apart – much less win Superbowls. Hes only covering space. Hes not really covering a guy. At the end of the day, he has great stats and he has great playmaking ability, not taking that away from him because he is a good corner. I don’t know how they coach Cover 3 in Arizona (obviously not as well as they do in Seattle) or coached it at LSU, but Cover 3 turns into man pretty quickly for the cornerbacks when the outside receiver runs any type of vertical stemming route (go, post, curl, comeback, dig, etc.). But as far as being a shutdown corner, man-to-man guy, in my eyes, I dont believe hes that. And this is the beauty of Richard Sherman. Peterson griping about Sherman becoming the best cornerback in the game despite his lack of athletic ability to play press man is like Cam Newton complaining about Peyton Manning being the best quarterback in the league (in 2013 at least) even though Manning has a weak arm and can’t run the ball. Manning has found a way to play his position in the NFL in a manner that maximizes his strengths and hides his weaknesses. You know who else has done this? RICHARD SHERMAN. Former first round picks and all everything college players like Patrick Peterson should not be upset that Richard Sherman has become the best/most recognizable cornerback in the league. No, Peterson should be upset that he let a guy who went to Stanford when no one wanted to go to Stanford, who the NFL tried to switch to receiver, who wasnt selected until the fifth round of the draft – Peterson should be upset that he let that guy surpass him to become the most dominant, play making corner in the league regardless of what style of defense he tends to play in. For all the bluster, Sherman announced he was the best only – get this – after he was playing better and making more game changing than any other corner in the league. In stark contrast Peterson who today announced he’s the best and justified accordingly by saying – get this – he’s more athletic. Sherman long ago admitted his limitations (https://youtube/watch?v=Va29YFkchXo): “Some dudes play with pure athleticism, I’m not one of those guys.” “Film is like my second hobby because it makes the game easier…It takes discipline on and off the field. You might play well, you might make some plays – but you aren’t making all the plays you could have made. …I feel like I’m a decent athlete but my tape study and my meticulous attention to detail are what makes me a good ball player.” The question then becomes is Peterson a better cornerback than Richard Sherman because he is athletic enough and execute the simple most, most brainless assignment in football – man to man cover? Or is Sherman a better player because within the confines of the Seahawks defense (whatever coverage they may be in), he makes play after play after play. Maybe Sherman doesn’t do it with freak first round athleticism but because when you add up all his tools, he’s found away to become a more impactful football player than Patrick Peterson (or Darrelle Revis). But if anyone still wants to argue, just flash back to the 2013 NFC Championship Game with Seahawks on the ropes and the 49ers driving inside the 20 with two timeouts and thirty seconds left. Then a ball was thrown at Sherman. With that opportunity he made one of the greatest, most clutch plays in sports history (I am not exaggerating). Sherman made a play that turned what should have been one of a couple 49er attempts at a potential game winning touchdown pass into a game ending interception that sent his team to the Superbowl. Peterson and Revis are both great players, but never will they make a better, more impactful play in their NFL careers than that one. So instead of dogging Richard Sherman for doing more with less, respect him for doing more with less. Even if he often is annoying the bejeezus out of most folks while he’s doing it.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 04:20:31 +0000
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