Seattle Seahawks CB Richard Sherman once again proved that he's anything but boring as he attended an NFL press conference dressed as Harry Potter.
At the request of his son, the 2014 NFC Defensive Player of the Year attended the week's presser in Halloween dress, donning a Gryffindor robe and accompanying wand.
Richard Sherman goes full Harry Potter in pre-Halloween press conference. #Seahawks @thenewstribune pic.twitter.com/az0chsAJrZ
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) October 26, 2016
It would appear he's picked up an unlikely fan along the way, with the author of the book series J.K. Rowling declaring her support. To be fair, she's never off Twitter and probably searches #HPotts everyday, but still.
Did I ever mention that I'm a #Seahawks fan? Well, I am.
(Don't ask me who plays for them apart from R Sherman.)https://t.co/2zoJ8RRKZY
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 27, 2016
The light-hearted tone of the conference was in stark contrast to the article Sherman wrote for The Players' Tribune this week.
Speaking openly about the hypocrisy present in the NFL, he criticised the commission and their opinions on the celebrations and actions of certain players recently.
"Antonio Brown can’t twerk after a touchdown because it’s sexually suggestive", he wrote. “But every Sunday, on most sidelines, there are rows of cheerleaders doing the same types of moves to entertain the crowd. The NFL doesn’t want players to do anything that might set a bad example for the kids in its audience – such as showboat, or celebrate excessively – yet it features beer ads in all of its stadiums and in almost every commercial break. Josh Norman can’t shoot an imaginary bow and arrow after a big pick because the NFL says that it depicts a violent act. Meanwhile, the name of the team he plays for depicts Native Americans in a way that many people consider offensive.”
The Stanford graduate went on to discuss the domestic violence case involving Josh Brown, the New York Giants kicker. Brown received a one-game ban for assaulting his then wife, despite the league claiming they would enforce a six-game ban for such incidents after reviewing the Ray Rice case in 2014.
“The league says that there is no place for domestic violence in the NFL. Its actions in the most recent cases, however, simply haven’t reflected that. This is just another reason why players don’t have a lot of trust in the league. The league says one thing — like how seriously it takes domestic violence — but when it comes time to act, it does another.”
Not stopping there, Sherman took aim at commissioner Roger Goodell, claiming that he has too much power and blamed the poor TV ratings on the commissions attempts to turn the players into "robots".
“TV ratings are down, and I think we can point to the NFL legislating the emotion out of the game as a contributing factor. The NFL is enforcing a policy against celebration.
“Part of the problem is that players are being told to ‘act like they’ve been there’ by a group of people who have never been there themselves – Roger Goodell chief among them. I also think one of the things that needs to happen is for Roger Goodell to give up some of his power. He’s not an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful being. He’s human, and I think he needs help dealing with the issues facing the league – from unsportsmanlike conduct to domestic violence.
“The real problem with the NFL is the lack of a system of checks and balances. The commissioner simply has too much power.”
He doesn't make it easy for himself does he? Never change, Rich, never change.
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