It's not Richard Sherman's postgame against Michael Crabtree that should be met with disgust, but rather the reaction to Sherman's postgame rant.
This sentiment comes from a blog from Kevin Beckford in Huffingtonpost.com, who comes to the defense of the Seattle Seahawks cornerback. Sherman's interview with Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews immediately after the Seahawks' 23-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers went viral.
In it, he railed against Crabtree, the 49ers wide receiver with whom he apparently has had a lengthy feud. Beckford, however, accused Sherman's critics of reacting before understanding the background of the situation.
"Despite not having any context about Sherman's message, thousands rushed to social media to critique the 'unsportsmanlike, thuggish ways' of Sherman," Beckford wrote. "The real-time language flying over social media ranged from passive jokes with subtle racist undertones to the blatant use of racist terminology. Of course, a lot of the online/ social media thugs used deplorable language that Sherman, one of the most intellectually astute players in the NFL, would probably never use himself."
Beckford went on to write that society has put boundaries on black men, which are not supposed to be blurred.
"The exaggerated response to Sherman's (epically awesome) interview reflects this problematic way of thinking," Beckford writes. "Before thinking that the Stanford educated cornerback was passionately expressing himself following the most high-stakes game of his career, thousands of people jumped to calling Sherman names like a thug, a goon, a villain, and much worse. It's as if the 25 years of accomplishment and success had been reduced to nothing."
Beckford called attention to what he considered a double-standard between the treatment of Sherman and the treatment of Jonathan Martin.
"Ironically, the same folk that are calling Sherman a thug are the same folk that called Jonathan Martin a 'sissy' for taking a professional and personal stand against harassment. The same critics who are deploring Sherman's thuggish behavior' are the ones who called Martin, a Stanford educated scholar of Classics, soft for leaving the Miami Dolphins. Does this make any sense?!"
Beckford's "same folk" generalization, however, seems to mimic what he accuses Sherman's critics of doing.
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