Between the lines is where you should be judged most

It isn’t about what you said. It is about how and where you said it.

That is my only message to Richard Sherman.

Be happy. Hell, be filled with raw emotion and joy. You and the Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl. A trip that your team earned with stellar defense and hard work. Nobody denies that for the Seahawks. Nobody denies that Sherman’s pass deflection (and let’s not forget the actual interception) were big plays. If Sherman isn’t there, maybe it is a catch; if the linebacker wasn’t there, it is also just an incomplete pass.

But your rant, that antic…it is uncalled for. This folks is not what sports are about.

Everyone talks trash on the field, especially defensive backs and receivers, the most notoriously cocky and brash of the player positions. But ranting like Richard Sherman did was over the line of good taste. Celebrate the moment, the accomplishment. Don’t, metaphorically, show your ass just because you have a camera and a live mic.

What Sherman said in his second interview, upon the team receiving the NFC trophy, that was perfect. Granted, we all know that probably took someone grabbing him by the dreads and telling him to watch his mouth.

The initial interview with Erin Andrews was a classless moment. Does that make Richard Sherman uneducated? No. You can’t attend Stanford, even as a football player, without being educated. You sure can’t have a high GPA if you aren’t educated. You can’t be your high school salutatorian as he was by being uneducated. But it was an uneducated moment. And it is a moment that Sherman, even in his predictable (probably written by the Seattle front office) apology can’t seem to be educated about.

“Don’t judge a man by what he does between the lines,” he says.

Well why not? Do we not judge Jim Harbaugh for his sideline antics? Didn’t we call Ray Lewis over the top? Wasn’t Deion Sanders considered obnoxious, brash and cocky? Isn’t Terrell Owens ‘classless’ in the minds of many for all of his celebrations?

Have people not called out Michael Crabtree for his mouth during games? Didn’t Richard Sherman call out Michael Crabtree for his mouth during games?

Why not judge a man for what he does between the lines. After all, this is the biggest test of a professional athlete to me. Very few pay key, critical attention to what these guys are really like off the field. Because unless it makes a headline, it doesn’t affect general society.

But Richard Sherman’s $465,000 a year to play a game means to me that what he does between the lines matters. It matters to fans, to kids, to people who you should be a role model to. No wonder some of the fans in Seattle throw popcorn and injured opposing players. Why should they act right? Richard Sherman doesn’t.

Can I roll into work and say what I want, any time I want? Can any of us just act however we want because we shouldn’t be judged by what we do “between the walls?” I think not. And really, most of us aren’t even considered role models, especially to the extent Richard Sherman is. $465,000 and camera time on national television makes your role in society more important than most. So why not make it your best so high school and rec. league age football players who are molding their attitudes don’t think it is best to emulate you and your schoolyard rant?

What you do between those lines does matter, it matters a lot. And yes, I will judge you for those actions, the same way any other athlete is judged for their on-field or on-court antics when they are unbecoming on the team, the league or the sport. You earned that right when you accepted your paycheck.

And ok, it is also a little bit about what you said. Forget who you targeted. Forget that I like Michael Crabtree. Forget his 200-plus receiving yards in the playoffs. This is about Richard Sherman, who for those playing at home, is not the best cornerback in the game. 1 pass deflection and 0 interceptions in two playoff games does not the best corner make. Not to mention, this is a guy, who while leading the league in interceptions during the regular season, was tied with 5 other guys ranked 14^th in pass deflections and only had a career mark in one statistical category. Is he good? Clearly? Is he the best? That is debatable. And when you run your mouth like Sherman did after the NFC Title game, your claim to the top spot has to be a little more clear than “debatable.”

But let’s not take away from the big picture: timing is everything. New Twitter followers are great, but Richard Sherman needs to understand that not all press in good press.

And also, there is still that pesky task of trying to stop Peyton Manning. Isn’t that right Mr. Best Corner?

Jay Gruden? I mean, really?

Finally, someone has half a brain!

Who thought it would end up being Dan Snyder?

But for all of his flaws, the man has a vision. And that vision is Jon Gruden. Wait, what? What do you mean he hired Jay Gruden? Who? Jon’s brother? What? The guy who’s resume is Hall of Fame worthy if only there was an Arena League Hall of Fame?

Oh what the hell?!?

Let’s get this out of the way. Jay Gruden is a chump. He was the offensive coordinator for a team, the Bengals, who were offensively exposed and flaccid whenever it actually mattered. I mean, sure he spent a “great” playing and coaching career with the Orlando Predators. Whatever “great” in the AFL gets you in real life.

But I’ll tell you what, apparently six Arena Bowl titles means you are good enough to be a head coach in the National Football League.

What?!?

And over on the sidelines, in his Monday Night Football best, is brother Jon. One of the great NFL coaches of this era that never was given a shot despite streamlining the major advancement of once and now again NFL joke franchises. And oh yeah, he won a Super Bowl with the TAMPA BAY BUCCANEARS.

The man took the Oakland Raiders to the playoffs in three consecutive years. That’s three Oakland. Any Raiders fans out there? I’m looking at you Carlos, if you are reading this: when was the last time the Raiders made the Playoffs? Wouldn’t you be salivating over three in a row? And yet the guy who took you there can’t get a job?

Hey Buccaneer fans, plenty of you out there. I watched you all celebrate for months after JON Gruden took a franchise quarterbacked by Brad Johnson and win a Super Bowl. That’s right, a Super Bowl. Lombardi Trophy and all. And yet, the guy who took you there can’t get a job?

It has baffled me for years and now that Jon’s brother Jay is a NFL head coach, I am just mortified. It really is like we aren’t even trying anymore.

>RIP Chris Henry

It is always sad to see someone go at such a young age. Today, the NFL lost Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry at age 26. They lost a man who was working to redeem himself after a troubled early life, they lost a father of three and they lost one of the best pass catchers in the game (a fact that was often overshadowed by that afforementioned trouble).

Don't have much to say other than I just had that urge to write something. It is a shame that he was never able to fully redeem himself on and off the field in the eyes of the public. It is truly sad that Chris Henry's legacy will be of a troublemaker and of a man who died young; because he was so much more.

> Paulus? Again? Damnit.

After a 60-hour post NCAA title game sports strike (to avoid seeing Tyler Hansbrough's crubby hands on the sacred trophy), I am now officially disgusted again.

That is because Greg Paulus won't go the hell away. Duke's ex-point guard is now serious about pursuing football. While I'm not sure how I feel about a 4-year basketball player getting a fifth school year of eligibility for a different sport, I'm shocked that there is even any interest in him.

And of all things, he may end up at Michigan?! Rich Rodriguez is stretching here, isn't he?

Even moreso, there are apparently up to six NFL teams interested in Paulus, including the Packers, who worked him out last week. I realise that Paulus was the Gatorade Player of the Year as a high school quarterback in 2004, but he must have been God-like to have that as the only thing on his resume and potentially turning pro...or even quarterbacking a Big Ten team.

Today os ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, Tony Kornheiser and Bob Ryan questioned why, if he is so good, that Duke wouldn't want him as anything other than a potential wide receiver with no guarantees. Why would Duke football want him? One, they should already be sick of losers with that program. And two, the Duke basketball team didn't even want him. He went from potential savior to flop to bench boy.

The only reason I was happy to see Duke's basketball season end was because I didn't think I'd ever have to look at him again

I have been sick of Greg Paulus for years and that will never change. I only want to see him at Michigan or in the NFL for one reason: so I can see him get hit.

Other than that, go away Greg Paulus...I'm done with you.

> The NFL's 'outbreak' virus

"Both feet." "Fumble."

These are two terms that I have learned, due to the final minute of Super Bowl XLIII, that NFL referees and I have different opinions on.

No, I am not mad or irate about the outcome of the game. I have been a Ben Roethlisberger fan since he as at Miami of Ohio.

But likewise, no Santonio Holmes did not score that touchdown. While his left foot was down, his right foot was clearly caught on his left and never grazed the surface of the endzone.

And no, Kurt Warner surely didn't fumble that football at the end of the game. His arm was moving forward and it was as much of an incomplete pass as it was earlier in the game when the SAME thing happened and they ruled it a- yes, incomplete pass.

My point is this, I will take nothing away from a great game. Sadly, the officials did. They put a sour note on things by screwing up cal after call all game on both sides of the football.

I wanted the Cardinals to win, but I am not upset with a Steelers title. I am however upset with this plague of crappy officiating that is going around in athletics on every level, in every sport like it's the 'outbreak' virus.

>Time to fire your coach

Hey NFL owners (presidents, GM's, etc.)- it is time to fire your coach.

Longtime coach? Fire him.
Still alive in the playoffs? Fire him.
Just hired him? Fire him.

Why? Because Jon Gruden is back on the market.

Friday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired their coach and GM Bruce Allen, sending shockwaves through Tampa and even Gruden himself. Yeah, they haven't been the contenders yearly and never have they made strong draft day decisions. But let's not forget that before Gruden, the Buccaneers were seen only as that dreamsicle colored mess that resembled only present day Detroit Lions.

Jon Gruden, much like before Tampa with Oakland, made the Bucs winners. More importantly, he made them champions. He took previously all-talk, no-walk players like Warren Sapp and Keyshawn Johnson and combined them with never-quite-there vets like Derrick Brooks, Simeon Rice, Mike Alstott and Brad Johnson and won a SuperBowl with them. He even beat his old team, one that he put together.

Jon Gruden is cold blooded. He will win, he will run his mouth and he will drive his team forward.

He made Tampa Bay something that it never would have been without him.

And realize this: Gruden is the best coach in pro football right now. I hope that someone is smart enough to snatch him up in the big league. And if not, Gruden will go on down to the college level and make a team an instant contender. No other coach in the sport has the fire and inner-strength of Jon Gruden.

So go ahead, fire that new coach Detroit...boot that formerly waiting in the wings assistant Indianapolis. Jon Gruden is the only thing that any team needs right now.

>Is this a ReRun?

Let me be short and sweet.

If the Big XII was nonsense when Colt McCoy was jacked an All-First Team honor (even as the conference Player of the Year), then the NFL and the AP just got more nonsensical.

Days ago, Peyton Manning was named the NFL MVP by the AP. Ignore that his team suffered 2/3rds of the season and barely made the Playoffs. But don't ignore that two days later, the Saints' Drew Brees was named AP Offensive Player of the Year.

No, despite amazing numbers, Brees should not have been considered for MVP. But how is the league's MVP an offensive player but not the best offensive player? It makes NO sense.

Stupid AP, stupid NFL, stupid Big XII. Stupid football.