“A tale of two Stanford players:

Richard Sherman: From Compton California. 4.0 GPA at Sanford and going back to get his masters. One of the best trash talkers who gets labeled a “thug” after eleloquently expressing his feelings on Michael Crabtree. Didn’t curse or even say anything derogatory.

Jonathan Martin: Attended nationally ranked Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California. All around smart guy who comes from an affluent family. Some label him soft and some derogatory words because he didn’t “confront” teammate Richie Incognito after harassment in the locker room.

One is getting criticized for talking while the other (by including me) is got criticized by not talking. I’ll let you go from there.” – J.R. Bang

Yesterday’s NFL Football game was filled with emotion. The Seattle Seahawks faced the San Francisco 49ers and it wasn’t just ANY old game. In the final round of the NFC Championship game, the Seahawks snatched the win, coming back from a lead of 17-13 held by the 49ers. It was Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman’s tip of rival Colin Kaepernick’s pass to teammate Malcolm Smith for the clinching interception win that sealed the fate of the team.

But instead of the interwebs exploding with talk of the Seahawks and Broncos heading to the Super Bowl in two weeks, Sherman’s post-game interview with Fox’s Erin Andrews took the shine.

Watch the interview:

Sherman went off, and without context, he looked insane. Many took to Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media to express shock, concern and downright disapproval of Sherman’s comments and expression. GHETTO. The angry black man. A buffoon. A THUG. Wait..ranting makes you a thug? OKAY.

I get it. Sherman’s response was very bizarre. He looked like a madman for going off during what should have been an otherwise celebratory occasion. The fact that it was during an interview with a delicate white female reporter didn’t make it better. I hope you get the King Kong reference. But is trash talking THAT uncommon in sports? Charles Barkley was the king and he’s been rewarded with a regular spot on TNT. Is it the fact that he dissed another player publicly? If he would have stated his response in a less aggressive manner, would the words be accepted?

While I don’t agree with Sherman’s delivery, I understand it. As a black man, hell as a man period, society teaches you to speak more from bravado than humility. It’s all about the Alpha male. Now from what I understand, San Fransciso 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree and Sherman had been beefing since last year.

Without going into detail, Sherman’s brother alluded to an exchange between the two at Larry Fitzgerald’s charity event. It is rumored that Sherman went to shake Crabtree’s hand, and Crabtree tried to start a fight. For what we do not know. According to Sherman’s brother Branton, Sherman vowed to “make a play and embarass” Crabtree.

What we know for sure is that earlier last week, Crabtree was asked if Sherman was the best cornerback in the game. Initially his response was no, but then he followed it up by saying he doesn’t know about the best cornerbacks in the game.

Sherman later apologized to Erin Andrews, and clarified his statement once he calmed down:

According to USA today, Sherman says that he “was making sure everybody knew Crabtree was a mediocre receiver. Mediocre,” Sherman said, enunciating the repeated word so there would be no doubt. “And when you try the best corner in the game with a mediocre receiver, that’s what happens. “

If anything this is an example of why the male bravado needs to be scrapped. I saw nothing but Sherman’s ego talking during that entire interview and in turn, it made him look like a fool. Sherman has a reputation for being an arrogant, cocky, mouthy dude. But to refer to him as a thug is crossing the line.

We as black people have enough stereotypes working against us to last a dozen lifetimes. Take issue with the main cause of Sherman’s behavior, his EGO. Being arrogant doesn’t make the man an uneducated thug, he did go to Stanford, it makes him a jerk.