Seahawks CB Richard Sherman "stole the show and lit up Twitter" with his rant about 49ers WR Michael Crabtree when Fox' Erin Andrews
interviewed him live on the field following the NFC Championship, according to Tim Booth of the AP (
AP, 1/19). TIME's Sean Gregory noted Andrews "asked Sherman to take her through the final play" of the game, in which Sherman tipped the would-be game-tying touchdown away from Crabtree to Seahawks LB Malcolm Smith for an interception. Viewers likely expected "the usual blabber" from Sherman, but instead got a "good ol' rant." After Sherman's first response, Andrews asked "what may seem like an obvious question, but it got Sherman to keep going." Andrews "handled herself like a pro here" (
TIME.com, 1/20). SI.com's Richard Deitsch reports a Fox Sports spokesperson indicated that it was the game producer that "made the call to cut short" Sherman's interview with Andrews (
TWITTER.com, 1/20). FORBES.com's Tommy Tomlinson writes 99% of on-field interviews "are boring and useless," but TV networks "do them anyway for the 1 percent of the time they get a moment like Richard Sherman." Tomlinson: "If you stick a microphone in a football player's face seconds after he made a huge play to send his team to the Super Bowl, you shouldn't be surprised if he's a little amped up" (
FORBES.com, 1/20).
STAYING PROFESSIONAL: Newsday's
Neil Best tweeted, "I thought @ErinAndrews handled herself well in a bizarre situation." NBCSports.com's
Jeff Kassouf: "Andrews handled it about as well as possible." The Vancouver Sun's
Cam Cole: "Way to go, Erin Andrews. If you have to talk to a jerk like Sherman, at least call him on his stupid ego." The Seattle Times'
Geoff Baker: "My favorite part of Sherman interview was Erin Andrews attempting a follow-up question in quest of a logical explanation." DC-based WJFK-AM's
Grant Paulsen wrote, "Erin Andrews stared at him in disbelief. 'But who was saying that about you?' Haha. So awkward for her. Well handled." The Charlotte Observer's
Jim Utter wrote, "I credit Erin Andrews, though, for trying to get to the root of the problem."
SHERMAN GIVES HIS SIDE: Sherman's latest column for THE MMQB was posted this morning, in which he briefly addressed the postgame interview. He writes, "Erin Andrews interviewed me after the game and I yelled what was obvious: If you put a subpar player across from a great one, most of the time you’re going to get one result." More Sherman: "A lot of what I said to Andrews was adrenaline talking, and some of that was Crabtree. I just don’t like him. It was loud, it was in the moment, and it was just a small part of the person I am. I don’t want to be a villain, because I’m not a villainous person" (MMQB.SI.com, 1/20). MMQB Editor-in-Chief Peter King writes he "did not like" how Sherman acted in the interview. However, King writes, "I'm not firing Richard Sherman. I'm not muzzling Richard Sherman. I asked him to write for us for the season, and write he shall do. I don't have to like what a man says to the cameras to give him a forum to discuss intelligent football topics" (MMQB.SI.com, 1/20).
