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NFC Championship Game: Learning from a Football Controversy

Marieke van Woerkom

Two lessons use a Championship Game conflict between the Seahawks' Richard Sherman and 49ers player Michael Crabtree as a taking off point. In Lesson 1, students consider emotional triggers and how to handle them.  In Lesson 2, students look critically at how the public and the media reacted to the incident. 

Current Issues

To the teacher:  

 
On January 19, 2013, the San Francisco 49ers played the Seattle Seahawks in the National Football Conference championship.  With a mere 31 seconds left in the game, Richard Sherman, the Seattle Seahawks cornerback, made the winning defensive play against 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree.  Moments after the game, Sherman was interviewed.  The 15-second tirade that followed turned him into the designated bad guy for Super Bowl XLVIII, which takes place on Sunday February 2.  Richard Sherman's team, the Seahawks, will be playing in the Super Bowl, against the Denver Broncos.
 
The incident also offered a teachable moment about emotional triggers. How do we react in the moment when they're frustrated and upset? And how we can learn to better manage our emotions and think before we act?  In Lesson 1 below, we explore this question.  
 
In Lesson 2 (which can be presented on its own or in addition to Lesson 1), we learn who Richard Sherman is and how he responded to the media onslaught against him.  Students consider whether those reactions were fair, how he handled them, and what lessons we might draw.
 

LESSON ONE:
HANDLING OUR TRIGGERS


Gathering/Opening Ceremony

Post "Aristotle's challenge" below on the board or on chart paper for all to see.  Then, ask a volunteer to read it out loud:

 
Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - this is not so easy.
 
In pairs, have students discuss the quote for a minute or two.  Ask a few volunteers to share what they talked about in their pairs. (Or, if you're using a talking circle, send the talking piece around to ask student reflections on the quote.)
 

Sherman's Interview Moments After the Game

Ask if anyone in your class knows the names Richard Sherman and Michael Crabtree and why they were in the news last week.  
 
Elicit and explain that in last week's NFC championship (football) game, with a mere 31 seconds left on the clock, Richard Sherman, the Seattle Seahawks cornerback, made the winning defensive play against 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree. 
 
Moments after the game, Sherman was interviewed by Fox's Erin Andrews.  The 15-second rant that he unleashed has turned him into the designated bad guy for Super Bowl XLVIII, which takes place on  Sunday, February 2.  Sherman's team, the Seahawks, will be playing in the Super Bowl, against the Denver Broncos.
 
Ask students to watch the video of Fox's Erin Andrew's interview with Richard Sherman right after the NFC Championship game and/or read the description below:
 
In an extremely noisy stadium Fox's Erin Andrews asks Richard Sherman: "Richard, let me ask you.  The final play, take me through it?" (referring to Sherman's game-ending interception) 
 
A loud and animated Sherman: "Well, I'm the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree that's the result you are going to get! Don't you ever talk about me!"
 
Andrews: "Who was talking about you?"
 
Sherman: "Crabtree. Don't open your mouth about the best or I'm going to shut it for you real quick! L-O-B!"   (L.O.B. means 'Legion of Boom, Seattle's nickname for its defense.)
 
Having watched the clip and/or read the transcript ask students: 

  • How do you think Sherman is feeling?  Why do you say that?  Why might he be feeling this way?

  • What do you think about how Sherman is expressing himself?  Why?

 

What Actually Happened?

Ask students if they know what happened to trigger this intense reaction in Sherman.  If they don't know, ask them to speculate as to what might have happened to trigger Sherman's reaction.  Ask them to take into consideration the environment in which the interview took place, the timing of the interview, etc. What is Sherman is trying to tell us about what happened with Crabtree? 
 
Then, if it hasn't come out yet, explain the sequence of events, described here in USA Today:
 
Just moments before ripping 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree in one of the most memorable postgame interviews of all time, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman sprinted out of the endzone and over to Crabtree after the game had been all but decided. Sherman wrote on Monday that he simply wanted to shake Crabtree's hand and told the receiver "good game, good game." When Crabtree responded with a shove, it triggered Sherman's rant with Erin Andrews.  
 
Reality squares with Sherman's account, which he wrote for TheMMQB.com on Monday: "I ran over to Crabtree to shake his hand but he ignored me. I patted him, stuck out my hand and said, 'Good game, good game.' That's when he shoved my face, and that's when I went off," Sherman said.
 
"Going off" not only manifested itself in that postgame rant, but before that, too.
 
"I threw a choking sign at 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick" Sherman continued. 
 
"Why? Because he decided he was going to try the guy he was avoiding all game [i.e. Sherman], because, I don't know, he's probably not paying attention for the game-winning play."
 
Now ask students to watch the next clip, which is edited to first show Sherman (in blue) with Crabtree (in white) at the end of the game moments before the now infamous interview with Andrews.  We then see Sherman once again during that interview and finally in another interview later that same night.
 
Now that students have seen more of what happened, ask them whether that changed their perspective on the interview with Erin Andrews.  
  • How do they think Sherman was feeling:
a) in the run up to the Andrew's interview
b) during the interview with Matthews
c) in the studio later that night? 
  • How do you think the way Sherman was feeling affected his behavior that night?
  • What was the original trigger for this behavior?  What escalated the situation?
  • Why do you think he was so much calmer in the interview in the studio?  

 

Now have students consider how Michael Crabtree was feeling. In the last minute of the NFC Championship game he had a good chance of catching the game winning touch down, till Sherman batted the ball away. 
  • How do you think Crabtree was feeling as he watched Sherman bat the ball away?
  • How do you think he was feeling next, when Sherman slapped him on the rear, saying good game, good game, and offered him his hand? 
  • How do you think the way Crabtree was feeling affected his behavior, right after seeing the ball batted away?
 
Both players reacted in the heat of the moment.  But in the week following the game, Sherman was at the center of a media firestorm, while Crabtree was been all but forgotten.   The reactions to Sherman's postgame interview ranged widely from indignation and disappointment, to support, understanding, resignation, and boredom.  Sherman, defending himself on the day after the game, wrote on The MMQB.com:  "It was loud, it  was in the moment, and it was just a small part of the person I am. I don't want to be a villain, because I'm not a villainous person..."
 
Also on that day he apologized for his actions. In tweets to ESPN's Ed Werder he wrote: "I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates ... That was not my intent." 
 
Sherman also addressed his postgame comments in an interview with ESPN Radio on the "SVP and Russillo" show. "Obviously I could have worded things better and could obviously have had a better reaction and done things differently," he said during the interview. "But it is what it is now, and people's reactions are what they are."
 

Small Group Work or Circle Go Round

Ask students to think about a time they acted out of frustration or anger only to regret it after the fact.  
  • What was their trigger?  
  • Who was involved?  
  • Was there anything that escalated the situation?  
  • What might they have done differently had they been able to remain calm?
 
Summarize what students have shared and explain that when emotions escalate in these ways, our thinking is often not clear.   It is why cooling or calming ourselves down in situations such as these is so important.  
 

Cooling down

In the second, in-studio interview, we saw Richard Sherman, talking about the incident on the field in a calm and collected way, very different from the original interview.  
  • Ask students what he might have done to calm down between the two interviews?  Chart their responses.
  • Adding to the list, ask students what they do to calm down when they get frustrated or angry?  Continue the list.
 
If there is time, give students some guidance about what to do when we are triggered.
 
Explain that the best current thinking about cooling down when we get angry, frustrated or upset, is to use relaxation techniques and self-talk.  As Aristotle suggested, 
 
1) We need to be smart about when, how, and with whom we express our anger, if at all.
2) To think clearly about the most appropriate response to the situation giving rise to our anger, frustration or other intense feelings, we need to cool down.
3) We can cool down without rehearsing or dramatizing the anger; in fact, self-talk and relaxation techniques are more effective than emotional displays.
 
Ask students if there are things they say to themselves (that is, self-talk) to cool down. Ask them to think of a time when someone did something that made them angry, and consider what they told themselves to keep from flying off the handle.  See if students can come up with an example of a time when self-talk kept them from leaping to the (perhaps false) conclusion that the other person was intending to disrespect them. 
 
Note that people use different ways to calm themselves down and think more clearly.  What works for one person may not work for the next.  Have students look at the list and think about what works best for them/what might work best for them.
 
Remember: the aim of these cooling down strategies is not to get us to accept the situation giving rise to our escalated anger or frustration, but to enable us to think clearly about how to address the situation most effectively.
 

Closing/ Closing Ceremony

 
Ask students to look at Aristotle's Challenge once more.  
 
Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - this is not so easy.

Ask some volunteers to share a take away from today's lesson. 
 
 

LESSON TWO:  
Reacting to a media storm

 
 
To the teacher:

On January 19, 2013, the San Francisco 49ers played the Seattle Seahawks in the National Football Conference championship.  With a mere 31 seconds left in the game, Richard Sherman, the Seattle Seahawks cornerback, made the winning defensive play against 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree.  Moments after the game, Sherman was interviewed.  The 15-second tirade that followed turned him into the designated bad guy for Super Bowl XLVIII, which takes place on Sunday February 2.  Richard Sherman's team, the Seahawks, will be playing in the Super Bowl, against the Denver Broncos.
 
In Lesson 1, we looked at triggers and how to handle them. In this lesson (which can be presented either on its own or in addition to Lesson 1), we learn who Richard Sherman is and how he responded to the media onslaught against him in the days since that 15-second rant went viral.  Were the charges against him fair? What do students think about the way he handled them?  What lessons can we draw from the situation?
 


Gathering

Ask students to turn to face a partner and play the following word association game.  First determine which student is A and which is B. 
 
A starts the activity by saying "football" to B, eliciting a one word association, the first thing that comes to mind. Immediately afterwards, A says "football" again, eliciting a second association from B. And then A asks a third time, eliciting a third association from B.   When done, students switch roles: B now presents A with the word "football" three times, to elicit A's associations. 
 
Ask a few volunteers what some of their associations were.  Summarize how football is the most popular sport in the US, a violent and aggressive game, a multibillion-dollar business that provides entertainment to millions.  Mention that one of the reasons it's been in the news is that the season ending championship, the Super Bowl, is being played on Sunday, February 2, 2014.  The two teams that made it to the finals are the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. 

 

Sherman interview 

(Skip this section if you have already done  Lesson 1 in the class)

 
Ask if anyone in your class knows the names Richard Sherman and Michael Crabtree and why they have been in the news.
 
Elicit and explain that in last week's NFC championship (football) game, with a mere 31 seconds left on the clock, Richard Sherman, the Seattle Seahawks cornerback, made the winning defensive play against 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
 
Moments after the game, Sherman was interviewed by Fox's Erin Andrews.  The 15-second rant that he unleashed has turned him into the designated bad guy for Super Bowl XLVIII, which takes place on  Sunday, February 2.  Sherman's team, the Seahawks, will be playing in the Super Bowl, against the Denver Broncos.
 
Ask students to watch the video of Fox's Erin Andrew's interview with Richard Sherman right after the NFC Championship game and/or read the description below:
 

In an extremely noisy stadium Fox's Erin Andrews asks Richard Sherman: "Richard, let me ask you.  The final play, take me through it?" (referring to Sherman's game-ending interception)
 
A loud and animated Sherman: "Well, I'm the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree that's the result you are going to get! Don't you ever talk about me!"
 
Andrews: "Who was talking about you?"
 
Sherman: "Crabtree. Don't open your mouth about the best or I'm going to shut it for you real quick! L-O-B!"   (L.O.B. means 'Legion of Boom, Seattle's nickname for its defense.)

 
Ask students:  What are your thoughts and feelings about the clip?  What do you think about how Sherman is expressing himself?

 

 

YouTube Responses to the Interview

Print out the handout at the bottom of this lesson and cut the quotes into strips. 
 
Ask students: How has the media responded to the video clip  of Richard Sherman's interview with reporter Erin Andrews?  What have they seen or heard?
 
Explain that as the video of the interview went viral, many people responded to it - in the media and on the internet, including YouTube.  Tell students that they'll each get one of the responses people made to the video on YouTube. 
 
Distribute the slips of paper randomly among your students.  Ask students to read out the responses one after the other (using a talking piece if you're in a talking circle). 
 
Next ask students:

  • What are your thoughts and feelings about how people responded to the clip?
  • Were there any responses that resonated with you more than others?  Why?
  • What did you learn about Richard Sherman from these responses? 

Elicit that several people talked about how there is more to Richard Sherman than football.
 
In a recent article in the New Yorker magazine, journalist Amy Davidson wrote:
 

It's worth noting that Sherman, who grew up in Compton as the son of a garbageman and a social worker, was his high school's salutatorian and that, according to Sports Illustrated, "eight players from Sherman's graduating class earned scholarships to Division I schools, several of whom had walked into the coach's office at one point or another to ask, ‘How do I get into college? Because if I don't, Sherm is never going to let me hear the end of it.' " Sherman turned down the University of Southern California for Stanford. He said, "I had to prove it was possible: Compton to Stanford." He did well there academically; he also stayed in touch with his high-school friends, helping to make sure that they graduated, too—something that, according to several studies, many colleges fail to do for their athletes. After the Seahawks drafted him, in the fifth round, he became known as an inventive verbal provocateur on the field, as well as one of the best players in his position. But he is, by all accounts, a considerate and community-minded teammate.

 
Ask students: 

  • Based on this information about Richard Sherman how do you feel about the responses on YouTube now?

Sherman himself responded to the outcry in the AP in the following way:
 

I was surprised by it. Because we're talking about football here and a lot of people took it a little bit further than football.  I guess some people showed how far we have really come in this day and age and it was kind of profound what happened and people's opinions of that nature, because I was on a football field showing passion. Maybe it was misdirected, maybe things may have been immature, maybe things could have been worded better but this is on a football field. I didn't commit any crimes, I wasn't doing anything illegal. I was showing passion after a football game.

 
Sherman apologized for taking away the spotlight from some of his teammates' impressive plays during the game. Marshawn Lynch's 109 yards rushing and 40-yard touchdown, Jermaine Kearse's 35-yard touchdown catch on fourth-down and Bobby Wagner's 15 tackles all became secondary to Sherman's words in the interview.
 
What seemed to bother Sherman the most in the fallout was hearing the word "thug" attached to his name.  "The only reason it bothers me is it seems like it's an accepted way of calling someone the N-word nowadays," Sherman said. "It's like everybody else said the N-word and they said thug and they're like, 'that's fine,'" Sherman said. "That's where it kind of takes me aback. It's kind of disappointing because they know. What is the definition of a thug, really?"
 
In small groups, ask students to talk about what Sherman asserts here:

  • How do you feel about what Sherman says about being called a thug?
  • What in your opinion is the definition of a thug?
  • Do you feel that this then is an accurate description of Richard Sherman?
  • Do you agree with Sherman that thug has become a substitute for the N-word?

Bring the class back together. 
 
Ask:   
 
Will this incident involving Sherman change the way you react the next time a controversy like this erupts in the media or on the internet? If so, how?

 



 

YouTube responses:

 


"He's living the American dream and you're just envious. He didn't say anything wrong, he just got Seahawks to the superbowl, it was an extremely excited moment, he just had a little more adrenaline going. That's all."  Ranjan Lamichha
 

 
"No one is going to hype down after a game. Let be real here. Any real football fan loves to see that aggressiveness and competitiveness from their team.  This isn't fine dining or a book review.  This is a sport for goodness sakes!"   SOExclusive Swagtastix
 

"You can call Richard Sherman many things, but uneducated is not one of them.  Geez."  kelley walker
 
 
"Yawn he had to apologize for that." Upful Soul
 
 
"At first glance this is certainly not cool behavior. Well to be truthful it's way out of pocket. But having played football at one time myself, I see the adrenaline pumping and the testosterone fully engaged. Ego is monster. There are lessons from this rant he has yet to experience and will be paying dividends on his head for years to come. Graciousness in winning and in losing is the way of a champion." James Goins 
 

 
"This is what all this hype was about? I'd be mad to if I am being a good sport and someone pushes me in the face.  So Crabtree wanted to be a poor sport, Sherman had every right to act the way he did." Jorge Ramirez
 


 
"I finally took the time to watch the infamous post game interview everyone's been talking about.  I don't have a problem with it.  These guys are amped up.  You can't blame him for letting off a little steam.  What Sherman said is nothing compared to what goes on during the game on the field. ..."  Steve Bredall
 

 
"... It was really loud in there, and he probably felt as though needed to compensate in order to be heard.  At any rate, I can't believe it's generated so much controversy.  He wasn't the model of sportsmanship but I've heard worse.?"  kelley walker

 
"He is an athlete with post-game adrenaline saying he is the best and telling a player who made previous comments about him, that he is the best. What is the big kerfuffle? What does that have to do with being a ‘thug' or any of the other ignorant labels that have been thrown at him, or the racist and hateful comments all over YouTube, Twitter and multiple sites? ... Because it's an African-American athlete that was rushed post-game, was still pumped on the adrenaline that got him through the game ... he didn't have time to get into PR mode ..."  Dana R
 
 
"The young man from Compton did well, more power to him. The racists come out, and even those who don't actually use racial slurs still cannot back up their so called disgust with reasoned arguments." John Nicholas
 
 
"[To call him a] ‘thug' is way to harsh.  I agree however, I don't care if he's black, white, green or paisley, there is such a thing as dignity and class, neither which is showcased in this soundbite. That being said, I'm sure Mr. Sherman is basically a good guy and just got a little fired up. I do lament the fact that at times sportsmanship is no longer an important trait in our society."  Jonas Landau
 
 
Ignore rant.  He was just fired up & had to yell because the sound in the stadium was deafening.  If he had just finished a round of golf & he was yelling like that I would say he should try anger management, but he's a football player.  He will need that confident tude on Superbowl Sunday.  If the Broncos win, I hope whoever gets interviewed screams ‘don't you ever talk about me.'  Blanche Mitchell
 
 
"People  complaining about what he is saying should just not watch football, it's not for them." ColtoSillas
 
 
"Was this really that big of a deal?  I'm not a football fan defending this ... But really, what's the big deal?  He was pumped up about the game and whatever this Crabtree guy said, he didn't curse or threaten to kill the guy ... What he did say was pretty tame, heck for all anyone here knows the dispute was set up for the show (this was TV after all)."  MasochistMouse
 
 
"At first I thought he was being an egotistical thug.  But watch his latest interview on CNN. He talks about being asked questions while he is pumped up and "in the zone," and he apologizes for some remarks. He makes a lot of sense and I agree with him. Athletes have to get into their zone to perform. I got new respect for him, even if he does talk a little too openly sometimes. He's no thug."  G Monayz
 
 
"I can't picture a big white football player getting this much attention for doing the same thing.  People would dismiss it as passion for the game.  Fox News would probably hype it up." Sk8bow
 
 
"For all the ignorant trolls who comment solely on face value, get your facts straightened out ... there is more to Richard Sherman than meets the eye."  Niru N
 
 
"Ali talked just as much if not more trash than Sherman.  If the NFL played with kind and gentle hearts there would be no NFL!  The NFL is the most intense and emotional game of all sports.  it's all a mental game but not like Wimbledon tennis.. lol."  M00nchildblues
 
 
"It seems as if people expect Black Athletes and Black people in general for that matter to act like robots. If they don't comply with behaving like a robot they are labeled ‘thug' or ‘ignorant' or what have you. Let the guy be a human being,?" OaklandRaider1983
 
 
"Sherman is probably smarter than most football players.  He was a Stanford graduate because of football, but he did do well in H.S. classes. His cockiness has nothing to do with that though. It's not even intelligent creative cockiness like Ali or Hector Camacho. It's simple, brute arrogance and so it seems mean spirited. If I were him I would worry I'm gonna get shown up for it."  David L
 
 
"I'm a Niners fan but Sherman's response was pretty damn funny. Can't let peeps get to you like that regardless if it's on the street or during a game. Crabtree must have really [hit] a soft spot...lol." ThePricelessLegacy
 
 
"Love IT!! Intensity, passion, confidence, amped up after a HUGE win...the way the game should be played. Check out the writings of Richard Sherman ... there is a history between Sherman and Crabtree and two almost got into a fight at an event put on by Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald last year, and that is why there is bad blood between them."  Joel Bennecke
 
 
"This is why I don't watch football. No class." Dustin Gomez
 
 
"In reality, what Richard Sherman did was teach us about ourselves. He taught us that we're still a country that isn't ready for lower-class Americans from neighborhoods like Compton to succeed. We're still a country that can't decipher a person's character. But most of all, he taught us that no matter what you overcome in your life, we're still a country that can't accept someone if they're a little louder, a little prouder, or a little different from the people we surround ourselves with." Freshviews