Richard Sherman ‘Regrets’ Rant, But Says Response ‘Mind-Boggling’

'That was immature and I probably shouldn't have done that'

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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman apologized for his “immature” rant after his defensive play sealed his team’s trip to the Super Bowl, but said he was “sad” at racist reactions to his outburst.

“I don’t mean to attack him. And that was immature and I probably shouldn’t have done that. I regret doing that,” Sherman, referring to San Francisco 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree, told CNN in an interview that began airing Monday. “I probably shouldn’t have attacked another person.”

But he also said that his outburst was an extension of his game-time competitiveness, not his real thoughts. “If you catch me in the moment on the field when I am still in that zone, when I’m still as competitive as I can be and I’m trying to be in the place where I have to be to do everything I can to be successful… and help my team win, then it’s not going to come out as articulate, as smart, as charismatic—because on the field I’m not all those things,” he said.

Sherman lashed out at Crabtree on live TV on Sunday night after he tipped a late-game pass intended for Crabtree and forced an interception to end the game. “I’m the best cornerback in the game!” he shouted.

He said reactions to his post-game rant were shockingly racist. “It was really mind-boggling the way the world reacted,” he said. “I can’t say the world, I don’t want to generalize people like that because there are a lot of great people who didn’t react that way. But for the people who did react that way and throw the racial slurs and things like that out there, it was really sad. Especially that close to Martin Luther King Day.”

“I learned we haven’t come as far as I thought we had,” he said.

[CNN]