I hope everyone saw Richard Sherman on CNN the other night. If you did you saw an exemplary human being speaking openly with great insight. And, he plays a mean corner.
Before the interview, I assured my wife that he would come through. It wasn’t just that I’d seen previews. He’s a Stanford man. For the first time in the over thirty years since I earned that distinction myself, I felt protective of my alma mater. Really? How dare you call one of us a thug. We’re the nice guys. Well, maybe Tiger Woods and John McEnroe had their bad days, but still.
Above all I felt protective of my adopted city since ’81, Seattle, Washington, the United States. I say that because it was obvious nobody understood. I’ve watched every single game this season, religiously. It has become a big part of our lives up here in the remote can’t believe you’re really in America ya bunch of coffee swillin‘, dope smokin‘, gay liberal Northwest eggheads. [Hey, out here gay people can smoke pot at their weddings. Bet you can’t say that, California.]
But, this is not about race or the Northwest or mean football players. It is about Ignorance.
I asked my wife what she thought I might do if someone shoved a mike in front of me after a big win and asked me what I thought about the prosecutor. She laughed and immediately said, “Oh, you would’ve been waaaay worse. I’ve had to listen to it for thirty years!” I agree. My quote would have been replete with multiple bleeped f-bombs.
The Seahawks are the American Dream, personified. Not just Sherman. Forget Defense. What about Offence? Aka Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, not to mention Golden Tate and Baldwin and Miller and ….. Let’s start with Russell.
Here’s a kid who, like Sherman, was disrespected. Most expected him to fail. Too small. But, fate gave him a shot. And he seized his opportunity like nobody else could. I mean, how many QB’s are sitting in the offices ? on Monday morning, hours into tapes from yesterday’s game before the coaches arrive every week? And, who have enough guts to run into a wall of giants and grab huge yardage out of thin air or dance in the pocket the way he does?
Then there’s Lynch. Heard of him? Most hadn’t before this year, which is odd, since he has been awesome ever since he got to Seattle. He has been unstoppable, dragging half a dozen giants downfield with him on half his runs.
Then we get to one of the best defensive players in the world, Earl Thomas and his close second Chancellor and on and on and on. There are so many wonderful players on this team. And so many of them are totally underrated and paid only a fraction of what they are worth. We have the best players for the least amount of money in professional sports. Period. And, they all strive every day to be better. That is what makes us great.
This place has that effect on people. Ask Jimi Hendricks, or Quincy Jones, or Nirvana or Pearl Jam or Bill Gates or Starbucks Amazon Microsoft Boeing ……to name a few. Excellence exists here. Sorry.
We are better than most of America. Sorry to say. But true. More beautiful place to live. Smarter. Richer. Healthier. More Enlightened, educated, intellectual, artistic and well read. The list is endless. We are what America is supposed to be. A beautiful melting pot of extremely gifted and industrious people, who are who they are without pretention and who live every day to be truly the best they can be.
So, YOU GO Richard Sherman. Stanford man. Best Corner in the League. You spoke truth to power and idiots like John McCain call you a loudmouth and a thug, “just like the rest of your team.” But we know, don’t we? We know.