Around the NFL Championship Weekend

Sherman's subsequent responses, as far as I can tell, have been reasonable and solid reactions. Based on those, I have a higher opinion of him than I did before the game.

For me, it's felt more like damage control. I mean he's obviously well-spoken, but like I said earlier, you can name a NUMBER of great DBs in this league and they aren't surrounded by controversy like he is. This last outburst was just the icing on the cake.

It surprised me. I knew people would criticize it, but the monkey this and shoot the monkey in head tweets caught me off guard.

It surprised me. I knew people would criticize it, but the monkey this and shoot the monkey in head tweets caught me off guard.

People are haters and yes they may not really be racist like in the 60s but they just use the word because they are lazy and think it's ok. I learned a long time ago that racism will never leave, whites vs blacks , blacks vs whites , hell I have native American friends that don't like any other race. Just the way it goes

What Sherman said really wasn't a big deal, but for those that saw it live don't tell me you weren't like WTF was that all about? That type of reaction leads to it being talked about and dissected all week. Just how it works.

The follow up comment is this: the NFL and Seattle love it. Like DP said, NFL and Seattle will make Sherman available all week for every interview and want him to keep talking. Folks, the NFL loves it. They love the show, it gets people to talk about football who normally may not, and then they develop an opinion and ultimatly tune in.

My 2 cents on the word thug, Ive never considered it racist and if it wasnt for 2 Pac it wouldnt be used that much. He propelled the word in his music and tattoo and made it apart of the culture.

Mike Pettine expected to be offered job by Cleveland Browns - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10338529/mike-pettine-expected-offered-job-cleveland-browns)

Woo Hoo!!!

For me, it's felt more like damage control. I mean he's obviously well-spoken, but like I said earlier, you can name a NUMBER of great DBs in this league and they aren't surrounded by controversy like he is. This last outburst was just the icing on the cake.


Precisely. Like most public apologies, that's exactly what it looks like. What he sits down and types up for a blog (and probably has input from others) or an interview he's prepped for with his PR team doesn't show you what kind of man he is...the way he reacts in the heat of battle does. Based on that with MANY examples over the past couple of years, he's an instigating headcase comes off as a thug on the field.

It's no surprise that multiple players have basically said "get out of my face" in one way or the other. He tracks players down to taunt, trash talk and as I said, instigate after plays and after games.

Whether it's Crabtree, Steve Smith, Trent Williams or anyone else, there's a definite pattern of behavior going on with Sherman.

Mike Pettine expected to be offered job by Cleveland Browns - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10338529/mike-pettine-expected-offered-job-cleveland-browns)

Woo Hoo!!!

Wow, they found someone!

The rumor was that if Pettine was hired, he'd like to bring in Packers RB Coach Alex Van Pelt (former Pitt and longgggggtime Bills backup QB) as OC.

Also, Jason Campbell expected to be released because he triggered salary incentives for playing so much.

He played fairly well for them actually. He's better than Weeden and Hoyer just had ACL surgery so they better have e draft plan at QB.

My 2 cents on the word thug, Ive never considered it racist and if it wasnt for 2 Pac it wouldnt be used that much. He propelled the word in his music and tattoo and made it apart of the culture.

It has more to do with behavior than skin color. Heck, Justin Bieber is acting like a thug (or trying to) and he's the whitest singer since Michael Jackson.

Back to the subject of Sherman. He was called all types of monkeys. Monkey was the favorite word thug was second. Your philosophy on bigotry reveals a special kind of hatred, but this is a football thread so who cares.

My last word on this and only b/c the "special hatred" comment. To be clear, I have no "special kind of hatred" towards any racial group or any individual solely b/c they belong to a certain racial group. While I disagree with how broadly you appear to categorize people as racists, I absolutely agree that, in the context presented, a significant number of the comments made in response to Sherman's initial outburst were intended to be derogatory and used terms that were intended to be specifically related to race.

I think it a danger to place any word on the "censor list of automatic public condemnation" because it empowers the word, emasculates discussion and favors mob mentality over considered thought. In that light, I simply, and strongly disagree, with adding "thug" to the "you said X so you are a racist" list.