It was tough to tell who was more excited about talking to whom Tuesday at Super Bowl XLVIII Media Day — Richard Sherman or the dozens of reporters and photographers assembled around him.
By the time it was finally over an hour later, there was no doubt.
“I could do this all day!” the Seahawks’ loquacious All-Pro cornerback exclaimed as he somewhat reluctantly walked away from his podium at Newark’s Prudential Center while still fielding questions.
The annual festival of silly costumes and even sillier inquiries from the thousands of media members on hand (this year’s Media Day attracted a more than 2,000 credentialed reporters) is considered something to be endured by most players. Or barely endured at all, if your name is Marshawn Lynch.
But Sherman isn’t like most players, as the current cultural lightning rod showed while he gamely entertained questions about everything from Peyton Manning to what women can do to avoid becoming strippers to whether he thought he would make a better Batman than Ben Affleck.
Not only did Sherman give thoughtful and respectful answers to all of that, but he declared his love for the event so often that you got the impression the Stanford product grew up dreaming as much about Media Day as playing in a Super Bowl.
“I see the fun in the Super Bowl,” Sherman said. “I see everybody’s attention and how much the NFL has grown as a franchise, as a world brand, and I see that the Super Bowl is a huge event for the world. There are a lot of cameras, a lot of different languages, a lot of countries, a lot of diversity — I love it.”
To prove it, Sherman even did his best to a request from a Mexican TV network to express his love for “all his fans in Mexico” by telling them exactly that in Spanish.
But anyone expecting Sherman to do something as foolish as call out Manning or any other Broncos player in advance of Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium came away disappointed.
Sherman might have drawn international attention and scorn for his loud upbraiding of 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree in a TV interview moments after the NFC Championship Game, but Sherman only had good things to say Tuesday about Denver’s legendary quarterback and his teammates.
“Peyton Manning’s numbers speak for themselves,” Sherman said. “I think he’s one of the best in the history of the game, and I think he’s broken multiple records to prove that. He’s a living legend right now. He’s been a living legend for years.”
Sherman was even willing to talk about the Seahawks’ strategy to slow down Manning and the Broncos’ record-setting offense, saying Seattle intends to use the same physical press coverage it has all season.
Sherman also said he will stay on the left side and won’t move around to match up with a particular receiver, which means he could draw Demaryius Thomas or any of the other Denver receivers as his assignment on any given play.
But for this day, at least, football strategy questions took a definite backseat to all things Sherman and Sherman’s opinion on pretty much all things. His questioners included Deion Sanders (representing the NFL Network) and Randy Moss (on behalf of FOX Sports).
A sampling:
- On the game being played in New Jersey: “New Jersey has been great, man. It’s been a nice city. It hasn’t snowed as much as they said. Thank you New Jersey for being awesome. You guys are amazing.”
- On whether athletes going to strip clubs encourages young women to become strippers and how those women can avoid that fate: “Well, I’ve never gone into a strip club and thrown money, so I couldn’t tell you. I guess trying to understand that there are other avenues, there are other ways you can make money, that women can do anything they want in this world.”
- On whether he would make a better Batman than Affleck, who is set to play that character in the upcoming “Batman vs. Superman”: “No, I don’t think I could be a better Batman than Ben Affleck. He does a great job. He’s the Dark Knight.”
Sherman gave an audible groan when the announcement came over the PA system that the Seahawks’ session was up, although he was heartened to know the players also have to do 45-minute media periods Wednesday and Thursday.
Asked what the fans can expect Sunday, Sherman said: “A great show!”