Richard Sherman says Baker Mayfield gave him ‘petty shake,’ downplays feud

Richard Sherman was angry enough about Baker Mayfield supposedly snubbing him during the pregame coin toss on Monday night that he brought the topic up to a reporter, but the San Francisco 49ers cornerback now seems to think his comments have been blown out of proportion.

Following the 49ers’ convincing win over the Cleveland Browns, Sherman told NFL.com’s Michael Silver that Mayfield angered him and some teammates by not shaking hands when the two teams met at midfield for the coin toss. Silver initially wrote that Sherman accused Mayfield of not shaking his hand before the toss, but the reporter later noted that he was unsure of the exact moment that angered Sherman.

As it turns out, Mayfield did shake Sherman’s hand before the toss. Rather than shake hands again after the toss like some other players, Mayfield turned and jogged off the field. Some videos surfaced on Tuesday that proved Mayfield and Sherman did shake hands before the toss, which prompted Sherman to delete a tweet he sent of a screenshot he claimed was proof Mayfield snubbed him. When former NFL punter and radio host Pat McAfee called Sherman out about deleting the tweet, the All-Pro cornerback admitted Mayfield gave him a “petty shake” and said the situation is “not that big of a deal.”

So you don’t see any difference in the way I shake everyone else’s hand and the guy who stands back with the petty shake. Was Bs and I took offense to it then turns and runs off. It’s not that big of a deal.

— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) October 8, 2019

Here’s what it seems like happened: Players typically shake hands both before and after the toss, but Mayfield only fulfilled the first half of that unwritten agreement. He also may have been a bit too reluctant while shaking Sherman’s hand, hence why Sherman called the shake “petty.” Then, rather than shaking hands again after, Mayfield bailed. That obviously irritated Sherman.

However, the screenshot Sherman originally tweeted was misleading, as he claimed it proved Mayfield didn’t shake his hand but actually showed a moment before his brief handshake with the quarterback. Whatever the case, the 49ers obviously used the pregame exchange as motivation, and one of them openly mocked Mayfield during the game. Sherman probably should have been more specific when discussing it with Silver, as it seemed like he was trying to make Mayfield look more classless than he actually acted. His decision to delete the tweet and remark that it was “not that big of a deal” is likely an acknowledgement of that.