Richard Sherman may feel that the information in the bombshell ESPN story that was written about him this week was “nonsense,” but don’t expect his Seattle Seahawks teammates to go out of their way to defend him.
ESPN’s Seth Wickersham cited numerous current and former Seahawks players, coaches and staffers in his piece about Sherman. The general consensus was that Sherman holds resentment toward Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll and that he never got over the loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. While Wickersham’s sources were anonymous, they were also numerous.
On Friday, Wickersham told PFT Live that he understands why Michael Bennett came to the defense of Wilson on Twitter, as the story also painted Wilson as someone who is not well-liked. However, Wickersham added that he has been contacted by several players and other members of the Seahawks organization who told him he “nailed it” with the piece.
“I don’t blame (Bennett) for having that reaction,” Wickersham said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I mean, he knows what’s going on. I got so many texts from players and people in the Seahawks building yesterday telling me how I nailed it.”
Wickersham also defended his research and said the tension is Seattle is not exactly a secret.
“I was not being some sort of expert detective here,” he added. “I mean, this stuff is an open secret in the NFL, and I just spent a couple weeks trying to show it as best I could and talk to as many people as I could in the building; I took two trips out to Seattle.”
And if you need more non-biased proof that the story was rooted in truth, Gee Scott of 710 ESPN in Seattle said he has spoken with multiple Seahawks players and none of them refuted the Sherman story.
.@TheGeeScott tells @ClaytonESPN that Seahawks players have read the ESPN Sherman story and not one has refuted it to him.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) May 26, 2017
There’s a reason Sherman’s name came up in trade talks this offseason. He obviously isn’t happy in Seattle, and some of the details from Wickersham’s piece (read more here) help illustrate how things progressed to the point they’re currently at. Sherman can say whatever he wants publicly, but it’s obvious his relationship with his teammates could be stronger.
