Richard Sherman isn't the first NFL player to say it, and he certainly won't be the last, but he's the latest to declare that the league just "isn't fun anymore."
The Seattle Seahawks corner questioned the league's officiating and attributed the decline in ratings to his belief that the league is no longer fun.
Per CBS:
“Because the league isn't fun anymore. Every other league you see players have a good time,” Sherman said. “It’s a game. This isn’t politics. This isn’t justice. This is entertainment and they’re no longer allowing the players to entertain. They’re no longer allowing the players to show any personality. Any kind of uniqueness, any kind of individuality because they want to control the product. They want to control the messaging.”
“That’s their biggest ploy is that you don’t want to be a bad influence to kids. You don’t want to be a bad role model. And I can agree with that,” Sherman said. “But in the same breath you can’t say Budweiser is the official sponsor of the NFL and we’re trying to influence kids. There is a ton of hypocrisy but it doesn’t matter because we don’t control it.”
“You have a bunch of rocket scientists writing rules for a simple game. Like I said before, they say they ask coaches and players about rules and rule changes but they really don’t take what they say into account because the game is entirely too difficult to officiate.”
“We probably lead the league in NFL apologies the next day.”
Sherman's comments came on Thursday, a few days after his Seahawks were flagged for 11 penalties (as opposed to just two against New Orleans) in their 25-20 loss to the Saints.
Sherman also had this to say of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is arguably the most despised man in the country outside of Donald Trump.
"More just players understanding that it's the truth and applauding me and saying they wouldn't have said it, but they respect that I said it," Sherman said. "... It's the truth. He hasn't done a great job, and it's obvious. For us to say he hasn't done a great job is beating a dead horse honestly."
