RICHARD SHERMAN STILL HAS HUGE CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER

 

Last updated 6/6/2017 at Noon



KAZ’S KORNER

The best way to view previous years is to use the old Civil War theory and say it’s history.

However the Seattle Seahawks’ All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman is still seething about the call Head Coach Pete Carroll made in Super Bowl XLIX when the Seahawks were inside the New England Patriots’ one-yard line, trailing by a few points with time running out.

The victory was there for the taking, especially with Marshawn (Beast Mode) Lynch in the backfield. He had been successful on 95 of 100 plunges during his career.

But for some unknown reason Carroll called for a pass play that was intercepted, handing the Patriots the Super Bowl victory after they ran a couple of plays as time expired.

The call infuriated most of the defensive players, including the Legion of Boom, of which Sherman was the ringleader.

Most of the players got over it, EXCEPT Sherman who was still hopping mad. He felt that the Seahawks’ defense had held quarterback Tom Brady’s offense pretty much in check and gave Seattle a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls.

All through the off-season both Carroll and quarterback Russell Wilson down-played the loss and implied that it was just a bit of bad luck that caused the loss.

The following season in June during a non-contact mini-camp practice, Sherman ripped the helmet and jersey off receiver Phil Bates, igniting a brawl as both sides cleared their benches.

According to an article in this week’s edition of ESPN The Magazine, “ Sherman is famous for loving practice, for treating it like a game, for rarely missing it even when injured.

“And a few plays later, when Sherman picked off Wilson, it wasn’t enough just to make a great play. He wanted to get inside Wilson’s head, to remind the young Pro Bowler that despite his Super Bowl fame—and being the highest-paid Seahawk and getting several endorsements that many of the defense felt they deserved—Sherman still owned his ass.”

The article continues that Sherman threw the football back to Wilson and told him he sucked, which led to another all-out brawl.

The time Carroll stopped practice and would later hold a series of team meetings to remind the players they needed to build one another up, not tear one another down and they needed to support their quarterback, further irking the defense that already thought the head coach went out of his way to protect Wilson.

The Seahawks made it to the divisional round of the playoffs before running into the likes of Cam Newton and Matt Ryan. Wilson did not appear to be developing into a franchise quarterback and the defense failed to become the first since the 1950’s Browns to lead the league in points allowed for four straight years.

But the strangest storyline occurred after the 2016 season when future Hall of Famer Sherman announced to the front office that he was open to a trade and the Seahawks were open to shipping him.

But with Sherman still having two year left on his hefty contract, only a couple of perennial losers like the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets offered a couple of future first-round draft picks.

Sherman had the notion that perhaps the Dallas Cowboys or the New England Patriots would come a-knocking and that Marshawn Lynch would come out of retirement to join him. Lynch did come out of retirement, but he signed with his hometown team—the Oakland Raiders.

I don’t believe that Richard Sherman would be nearly as effective with another team because he would miss Orange native Earl Thomas’ ability to “quarterback” the defense and holler what play was coming and in what direction just before the snap.

Just before the Seahawks reported from the off-season workouts, Sherman tweeted, “Honestly, a lot of times nightmares come before the dream.”

Pete Carroll could not have said it any better.

KWICKIES…Congrats to the Port Neches-Groves Indians for earning a berth in the Class 5A state baseball tournament. PNG (32-8-2) will take on Frisco Wakeland (38-4-1)at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Thurs.) in the semifinals at Round Rock. The other two 5A teams vying for the state championship are Corpus Christi Moody (30-2-3) and Grapevine (32-12).

The Golden State Warriors continue to mow down their playoff opponents, this time taking two straight at home over the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-91 and 132-113. The action shifts to Cleveland tonight for Game 3. The Cavs are in a “must win” situation, but Golden State is on a vendetta to get through the entire playoffs undefeated. I believe the Warriors will accomplish their goal.

Golfer Jason Dufner jumped out to a huge lead in last weekend’s Memorial with a pair of 65’s Thursday and Friday but then threw the tourney wide open by ballooning to a 77 on Saturday. But Dufner rebounded on Sunday with a 68 for his fifth PGA Tour victory, winning by three strokes. The win was worth a first-place check of $1,566,000.

The final leg of the Triple Crown races—the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes--should have 12 entries with the addition of Irish War Cry and Hollywood Handsome. Other familiar horses competing in the $1.5 million race on June 10 include Classic Empire, who was a favorite in the Kentucky Derby, Lookin at Lee and Patch.

Houston Astros nemesis Albert Pujols has inflicted problems all over the major leagues as he clobbered Home Run No. 600 Saturday night to help the Los Angeles Angels down Minnesota 7-2. The 37-year-old slugger joins the elite list of 600 homers led by Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Alex Rodriguez (696), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey, Jr. (630), Jim Thome (612) and Sammy Sosa (609).

According to a recent poll conducted by Sportsnation on NFL playoff teams least likely to return to the playoffs in 2017, the Detroit Lions have a 54 per cent of not making it, followed by the NY Giants (13%), Dallas Cowboys (12%), Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers (both 7%) and the Seattle Seahawks (6%).

JUST BETWEEN US…The Houston Astros went into the four-game series at Kansas City Monday sporting a hefty 10-game winning streak in which they averaged 8.2 runs per game. Winning streaks are usually meant to be broken and I’m sure it will happen here pretty soon. But it sure is fun listening and watching our team mow down the opposition with home runs, timely hitting and great pitching, especially from the bull pen. Most of the hitters have fattened up their batting averages while the pitchers saw their ERA’s drop. It’s almost like Utopia!!!

 

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