By Carten Cordell and Robby Osborne
Sometimes the Internet is not your friend.
With 30 seconds to go in Sunday night’s NFC Championship game — and down 23-17 to the Seattle Seahawks on the road — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was trying to connect with receiver Michael Crabtree on what would be a game-winning touchdown pass.
There is just one problem, Richard Sherman. The Seahawks cornerback slapped the ball down, which landed in the hands of teammate Malcolm Smith. It was the pivotal play of the game and clinched a berth to the Super Bowl.
Sherman, still excited from his game-winning play forgot that reporter Erin Andrews is not Crabtree, and yells at her about his physical prowess, that’s when the Internet exploded.
Sherman’s raised the eyebrows of countless commentators and drew the wrath of legions of fans and armchair quarterbacks at home.
The criticism has been so withering that Sherman wrote a column on si.com Monday explaining his actions, albeit with more potshots taken at Crabtree.
This interview got us reminiscing about some of our favorite sports meltdowns of the ages. Here’s our list of some of the best, and you can decide where Sherman’s rant ranks:
Playoffs?
Following a humiliating 40-21 loss to the 49ers, in which his team committed five turnovers, Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora, Sr., took a moment to admonish his offense and quarterback Peyton Manning. When asked about the Colts chances for the postseason, Mora delivered soundbite gold.
Bear Down?
The 1-5 Arizona Cardinals had a chance to beat the then-undefeated Chicago Bears on Oct. 16, 2006, down 24-23 and with kicker Neil Rackers lined up for a 40-yard field goal. But Rackers’ kick was partially deflected and no good. Cardinals coach Dennis Green decided to use his words in the postgame press conference and some of them even made it on the air. Take a listen.
This is 40
Oklahoma State had just defeated Texas Tech 49-45 when Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy strode into his postgame press conference. Instead of elated, Gundy was itching for a fight. Upset over a newspaper article that was critical of back-up quarterback Bobby Reid, Gundy went on to chastise the reporter who authored the article, delivered a speech on parenting children who are bullied and then delivered the numerical clarion call that will forever define manhood and party themes for the big 4-0.
This post was not big enough to contain the full history of Bobby Knight soundbites, but we will let you decide where Sherman’s comments should fall in the category of sports tirades.
