As I listened to Richard Sherman’s postgame interview following the 49ers’ 20-7 win over the Rams on Sunday in Los Angeles, I loved the way he went down the list of his teammates who he felt were overlooked and made sure they got their due credit.
He had some fun with it, too, sounding out some of his teammates’ names that might be difficult to pronounce.
This lasted for a few minutes, but then it happened: Sherman’s postgame press conference devolved into one of those cliched, annoying “we-don’t-get-any-respect’’ rants. Suddenly the podium at which he was standing became a bully pulpit and all you wished for at that point was for Sherman to shut up.
The 49ers are one of the best NFL stories going right now. They’re 5-0, one of two undefeated teams remaining this season along with the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots.
They’ve allowed only 10 points in the past two games.
After enduring a terrible 4-12 season in 2018 with their newly acquired franchise quarterback out for the year with a knee injury, they finally are enjoying having Jimmy Garoppolo under center.
The 49ers were 30 games below .500 in the past four seasons (17-47) and haven’t been to the playoffs since the end of the 2011-13 glory years when they got to three consecutive NFC Championship games and went to one Super Bowl.
So, Sherman, the 49ers’ loquacious veteran cornerback, had every reason to be exuberant after his team dominated a Rams team that was in last season’s Super Bowl and possesses one of the most potent offensive attacks in the league.
But Sherman got carried away and his exuberance morphed into noise pollution.
“Hopefully they give us that kind of respect [now],’’ Sherman began, referring to ubiquitous they. “I’m sure there was nobody [who] expected us to hold this [Rams] offense to under 60 yards passing [48] and [109] yards rushing and to seven points. But you’ve just got to go out there and execute. You can’t worry about what the experts say. We just hope that they once again stick to their word. If you were calling us pretenders in the beginning, call us pretenders now, call us pretenders the whole time.
“You don’t get to go hindsight is 20/20 with this every year. I mean, just stick to your words: ‘We’re terrible team, we don’t have enough talent, we’re just, you know, on a rebuilding year etc., etc.’ We want them to sound dumb at the end.’’
You know what sounded dumb?
Sherman’s rant.
Enjoy the victory. Bask in being 5-0. Go have a nice dinner with your family or teammates. Celebrate with a three-finger snifter of expensive whiskey. Light up a fat Cuban cigar. Do whatever you like to do when you’re happy.
I felt like Sherman’s rant, though it came after a nice run of crediting his teammates at the start, crossed the annoyance line, and I wonder if even some 49ers fans were turned off by it. The act-like-you’ve-been-there-before rule should have applied here. And Sherman has been there as a proven winner with the Seahawks.
Sherman is a terrific talent, a really intelligent man and he can be a compelling interview. He is also highly emotional. And in this case, he slid off the deep end with that rant.
Not helping Sherman’s cause is that this came a week after he blatantly lied to reporters when he ripped Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield for refusing to shake 49ers players’ hands before their game, when there was video evidence of Mayfield shaking Sherman’s and other Niners’ hands.
So, along with a little restraint, a little self-awareness was in order here for Sherman.
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