Erin Andrews caught Richard Sherman at the wrong time, the somewhat apologetic Seattle Seahawks cornerback said.
Sherman gave a memorable interview after his defended pass led to the game winning interception in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. After making the play, Sherman ran up to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree and patted him on the behind, leading Crabtree to push him away. Sherman then threw a two-handed choking sign to 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Richard Sherman was still high on emotions when sideline correspondent Erin Andrews caught up with him for a memorable interview .
“Well I’m the best corner in the game,” he yelled at a frightened Erin Andrews. “When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you’re going to get! Don’t you ever talk about me!”
On Monday, Richard Sherman tried to explain his motives and why he came across so angry during his interview with Andrews.
“Erin Andrews interviewed me after the game and I yelled what was obvious: If you put a subpar player across from a great one, most of the time you’re going to get one result,” Sherman said. “A lot of what I said to Andrews was adrenaline talking, and some of that was Crabtree. I just don’t like him.”
Sherman also took issue with the negative response he’s seen, saying people shouldn’t judge him by what he said in a moment of exuberance.
“To those who would call me a thug or worse because I show passion on a football field—don’t judge a person’s character by what they do between the lines,” he said. “Judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family. But people find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language far worse than what you’ll see from me. It’s sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is. I can handle it.”
For her part, Erin Andrews didn’t seem too phased by the interview, tweeting that “Richard Sherman gave a candid response seconds after an emotional game..looking forward to a great Super Bowl matchup.”
