BY CAILIN BURKE

If you watched the NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, you probably aren’t really thinking about what happened during the game, but instead what happened after it. If you haven’t heard from the massive outpouring of comments on social media, during a post-game interview, Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman yelled, “I’m the best corner in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that is the result you are going to get. Don’t you ever talk about me.” After reporter Erin Andrews asked, “Who was talking about you?,” he continued to shout, “Crabtree. Don’t you open your mouth about the best, or I’m going to shut it for you real quick.” If you want to see the interview in all it’s craziness, it’s below!

 Obviously people reacted to what he said in a variety of ways. In my opinion, he should have remained professional and let his final game clinching play do the talking for him. Also, in his interview he could’ve said something to make the Seahawks franchise look good, by thanking the fans for their support or commenting on the team’s efforts as a whole. Here’s how current and former NFL athletes reacted to the interview:

Some tweets showed support for Sherman in what he said, with most of the tweets mentioning that he was passionate, football should involve trash talk, or he was just pumped up and his great play is what ultimately mattered. Others called him “classless” and “dumb,” said they lost respect for him, or pledged to root for the Broncos in spite of him.

After all of this, here was Michael Crabtree’s response:

This was what Richard Sherman had to say:

Now the more important question at hand is what Will Blackmon brought up, “What provoked this?”

Well, Crabtree was recently asked by reporters if he thought Sherman was the best corner in the game, and he responded saying, “No, I don’t think so.” Okay… so that was what Sherman was referring to amidst his shouting! However here’s what I find funny. Sherman’s tweet says, “A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.” If Sherman wasn’t personally offended by what Crabtree said in his interview, than he wouldn’t have defended himself in that manner. He’s going to the Super Bowl after all, so ultimately he got the better end of the deal anyway. Clearly his reaction tonight showed he was in fact concerned with Crabtree’s opinion.

As for the other tweets I’ve read tonight, I have to say that the whole “Sherman being dumb thing” has no merit. He graduated second in his high school class with a 4.2 GPA and had a 3.9 GPA while at Stanford. He also scored a 1400 on his SATs. Not so “dumb” after all. So yes, maybe his comment was unsportsmanlike, disrespectful, and frankly a little terrifiying/hilarious, but I would criticize his judgment in making that comment rather than his lack of intellect. As a final thought, although Sherman is talented at his position, we should look at some stats to back up his statement. (See the stats here: http://wp.advancednflstats.com/defenderstats.php?pos=CB, and here: https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/01/31/signature-stats-ypcs-cornerbacks/)

And here’s the final verdict:

No, Richard Sherman, you’re not the number one corner in the game. You’re number six. Now please don’t be offended by this and come screaming at me too.