Richard Sherman had something of a hot take after Sunday’s loss to Chicago.
The San Francisco 49ers cornerback was one of three players who got ejected for a fourth-quarter brawl that was sparked by teammate Marcell Harris’ hit on Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky. As he scrambled for a first down, Trubisky was in the process of sliding when Harris came in late and laid him out. The play happened in front of the Chicago sideline, leading to Harris getting swarmed and Sherman rushing in to defend him.
Richard Sherman wants that smoke pic.twitter.com/uDEfki8UsW
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) December 23, 2018
After the game, Sherman suggested that the Bears were to blame for the hit.
Richard Sherman describes the events that led up to the #49ers and #Bears’ melee and his own ejection, following Marcell Harris’ hot on Mitchell Trubisky. #CHIvsSF #49wz pic.twitter.com/4VxDTZEDs2
— Peter Panacy (@PeterPanacy) December 24, 2018
“Marcell was going to try to avoid the kid. In this league, they’re gonna call anything you do on the quarterback,” said Sherman. “At the end of the day, if you don’t want your quarterback getting touched, don’t run the quarterback. I don’t really care about the rest of it.
“If the quarterback runs, you got a chance,” the former All-Pro went on. “They’re trying to protect him as much as they can. But you wanna protect him the most? Don’t run.”
True, you can’t fault Sherman for jumping into action to defend his teammate. Heck, there might even be an argument that it was Harris’ momentum that carried him into Trubisky rather than any sense of malice or headhunting. But it’s a bad look for Sherman to rationalize any late hit on a defenseless quarterback, especially one already in the process of giving himself up.
Granted, Sherman has been plenty vocal about his belief that the league overprioritizes the safety of quarterbacks, so at least his message is consistent.
