Richard Sherman apologizes for rant, taking spotlight away from teammates

Less than a day after becoming the focal point of the Seattle Seahawks’ 23-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday because of his rants and taunting, Richard Sherman apologized for his behavior.

“I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates … That was not my intent,” Sherman said Monday in a text message to ESPN’s Ed Werder.

Sherman also told ESPN Radio’s “SVP and Russillo” show that he could have worded things differently, but it’s too late now.

“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.”

Though the Seahawks star CB didn’t explicitly apologize until now, he did express regret in a column he wrote for SI’s Monday Morning Quarterback.

“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,” Sherman wrote.

Sherman’s apology is probably too late to change most peoples’ perception of him. They probably had an instant reaction to his taunting of Michael Crabtree and postgame interview and either hate or love what he did. But I do believe his apology and thoughts expressed in the SI column reflect what he wrote: the interview is only a small part of who he is. I don’t believe he is a villain; I just think he’s a guy who gets psyched up for football and got caught up in the moment. Oh yeah, he also loves to trash talk and is probably the biggest talker in the game. We definitely can’t leave that out.