[CornFed]

I'm a brobdingnagian Richard Sherman fan.  I've met him a few times, and he was just a tremendous, friendly guy with me and my kids.  He does a great deal of charity work and has been great with youth in his old neighborhood. 

Of course I didn't care for his conduct post-tip and his IV with Erin.  But I'm not going to let his adrenaline fueled rant (and/or the one involving Brady) cause me to think that he's a punk, an embarrassment to Stanford or worse.  A few minutes of bush league conduct doesn't remotely undo all the good things he's done and the person that he is. 

It seems tempting and easy to see a person in black and white instead of shades of grey and to make sweeping judgments based on his/her best or worst moments, particularly when we don't know the person well and what we see amounts to soundbites.  But IMO, it would be a big mistake to judge Sherm on the basis of this incident or even the few cases where he's gotten carried away and launched into adrenaline-fueled rants, even if they were bush league.  They were ill-chosen words.  99.9%+ of the time, what Sherman says and, more importantly, what he does in the real world, are first class and role model worthy.  I'm pretty sure he does more good with his charity work than do the vast majority of people in this world, including most of the football fans who are fully condemning him as a person and not just condemning some discreet behavior of his.  I'd also wager that most people have done worse, adrenaline-fueled, heat of the moment type things in their lives than what Sherm did this evening, even if Sherm was on TV and had a (brobdingnagian) audience.  I'm quite sure I have, anyway.

I am sincerely glad to hear that there are other facets of Richard Sherman that apparently dwarf his self-serving, self-aggrandizing performance after the game.  At the risk of drawing ire from those who think I am drawing moral equivalency between Sherman and Woods, I do wonder if people give Tiger any break in their moral judgments.  His charitable endeavors, I am fairly certain, dwarf those of Sherman.  Further, he has directly acknowledged his moral failure and made amends, both financial and personal, to those he harmed.  While he remains aloof, arrogant and unapproachable, he has not demonstrated any ongoing behavior problems.  I'm not personally attracted to people like Tiger and Richard, at least to the extent that I understand who they are from the limited, public information that I have.  Nonetheless, I do feel that the episodes surrounding them damaged Stanford to some degree.  To those who believe this might enhance our recruiting efforts with those who are disadvantaged who are impressed that Stanford embraces/empathizes with outbursts such as this, I would ask if they would like a team comprised of Richard Shermans behaving as he has behaved throughout his pro career.

P.S.  As I re-read the above I feel guilty for coming across as sanctimonious, a personal trait that I abhor.  I'm not a Sherman "hater".  He is an excellent athlete and, apparently, does many good things in the world.  I truly accept that.  I do choose who I spend time with and who I choose as role models.  Neither of these gentleman fill that role for me personally.

[CornFed]

I'm a brobdingnagian Richard Sherman fan.  I've met him a few times, and he was just a tremendous, friendly guy with me and my kids.  He does a great deal of charity work and has been great with youth in his old neighborhood. 

Of course I didn't care for his conduct post-tip and his IV with Erin.  But I'm not going to let his adrenaline fueled rant (and/or the one involving Brady) cause me to think that he's a punk, an embarrassment to Stanford or worse.  A few minutes of bush league conduct doesn't remotely undo all the good things he's done and the person that he is. 

It seems tempting and easy to see a person in black and white instead of shades of grey and to make sweeping judgments based on his/her best or worst moments, particularly when we don't know the person well and what we see amounts to soundbites.  But IMO, it would be a big mistake to judge Sherm on the basis of this incident or even the few cases where he's gotten carried away and launched into adrenaline-fueled rants, even if they were bush league.  They were ill-chosen words.  99.9%+ of the time, what Sherman says and, more importantly, what he does in the real world, are first class and role model worthy.  I'm pretty sure he does more good with his charity work than do the vast majority of people in this world, including most of the football fans who are fully condemning him as a person and not just condemning some discreet behavior of his.  I'd also wager that most people have done worse, adrenaline-fueled, heat of the moment type things in their lives than what Sherm did this evening, even if Sherm was on TV and had a (brobdingnagian) audience.  I'm quite sure I have, anyway.

I am sincerely glad to hear that there are other facets of Richard Sherman that apparently dwarf his self-serving, self-aggrandizing performance after the game.  At the risk of drawing ire from those who think I am drawing moral equivalency between Sherman and Woods, I do wonder if people give Tiger any break in their moral judgments.  His charitable endeavors, I am fairly certain, dwarf those of Sherman.  Further, he has directly acknowledged his moral failure and made amends, both financial and personal, to those he harmed.  While he remains aloof, arrogant and unapproachable, he has not demonstrated any ongoing behavior problems.  I'm not personally attracted to people like Tiger and Richard, at least to the extent that I understand who they are from the limited, public information that I have.  Nonetheless, I do feel that the episodes surrounding them damaged Stanford to some degree.  To those who believe this might enhance our recruiting efforts with those who are disadvantaged who are impressed that Stanford embraces/empathizes with outbursts such as this, I would ask if they would like a team comprised of Richard Shermans behaving as he has behaved throughout his pro career.

P.S.  As I re-read the above I feel guilty for coming across as sanctimonious, a personal trait that I abhor.  I'm not a Sherman "hater".  He is an excellent athlete and, apparently, does many good things in the world.  I truly accept that.  I do choose who I spend time with and who I choose as role models.  Neither of these gentleman fill that role for me personally.