No one should make any excuses for Sherman's poor sportsmanship. A lot of us here on CZ have played sports on some level. I have. The code drilled into me by my coaches and that I've always tried to live by is to be gracious in victory and gracious in defeat. I don't think my school was unique. I believe these are the values taught throughout the country. You play hard. You play fair. You act classy, win or lose. Anything else doesn't fly.
I've seen blogs excusing Sherman's behavior because he's an outstanding athlete. I've seen blogs excusing it because he came from a tough background where a lot of young men end up in prison instead of well off like he is. There can be no doubt that Sherman deserves respect for the great athlete that he is and for the fact that he's risen above much adversity. So give him those props, but that doesn't give him license to act like an unclassy jerk. I've seen others point out that Crabtree likely acted with poor sportsmanship throughout the game and even before then. All that proves is that Crabtree is also an unclassy jerk. When another player takes the low road, you don't go down to the low road to meet him. You keep it classy. Settle your arguments on the scoreboard. The sad thing is, Sherman had done just that. He had just served Crabtree his just deserts. There was no need whatsoever for any mouthing off to the camera. Most of America doesn't need to know about their being POed at one another. It's better to have no trash talk at all, but if there is some, keep it on the field.
Another thing: Unfortunately on Twitter, BBSes, and other places on the Internet, some people used Sherman's rant as an excuse to spew bigotry against him over his race. That crap is far worse than what he did. That falls into the category of deeds far worse than a lack of sportsmanship. I have no sympathy for that kind of behavior.
I've said my piece. I hope this all blows over soon and they can get back to the game. We've got a championship game coming up, and it looks like a good matchup. Let's hope they keep everything on the field and don't make the NFL look like some kind of sleazy wrestling league.
