BY MIA PATTERSON/COPY DESK CHIEF

Anyone who is anyone in Ellensburg can easily say that football season has provided weekend shrines for people to worship. Shoot, the Super Bowl to some is probably a bigger deal than Independence Day, Thanksgiving and New Year’s all rolled into one!

For all of you football enthusiasts who were (or were not for whatever reason) watching the Sunday night rivalry game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers a couple of weeks ago, you will have obviously heard about the Richard Sherman “scandal.” The press released statement after statement about Sherman’s outburst: Fans and people called him a “thug,” referring to him as a monkey or an ape all over Twitter (incessantly dropping the N-word), attempting to belittle him because he was overly excited and pumped up after he made the game-winning tip to send the ‘Hawks to the Super Bowl.

To be completely honest, I probably would have done the same thing if I had made one of the best plays in my career! Immediately after the ‘Hawks won, not only did the reporters flood the field to snatch up the players as fast as possible but also Richard Sherman GAVE THE REPORTER A HUG immediately before going off into his “rant” about Crabtree.

I mean, even Kaepernick told Wilson, “Hey, good luck to you. Go get yourself a ring, baby.”

All of these actions are completely normal in the professional sports world! You get players who show their excitement and passion and pure love of the game, and you get players who are humbled by a loss and are respectful. That is classy football, my friends.

This whole “Sherman is a thug” campaign is neither professional nor classy. It is a downright disgrace, and anyone who was called out on Twitter for their use of profanity and racial slurs should feel incredibly embarrassed and ashamed.

Were these perpetrators not aware that they were being disrespectful and that they took the euphoria and pure joy out of the ‘Hawks winning the game? Not to mention that they were pulling out all of the racist and derogatory slang on the weekend that was supposed to be celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. for standing up for the civil rights of not only African Americans, but all Americans.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday has been observed by schools and businesses nationwide. And all of these “fans” who were ranting and raving about how “apelike” Sherman was acting, on the day that America was celebrating a great man who did more for America than most, have displayed that America obviously still has a long way to go for equality.
Seahawks v. 49ers: C’mon man

The entire weeks’ worth of press that Richard Sherman has had to deal with because of the racial remarks all over Twitter and the general population, stating how “ghetto” he was in that one moment, c’mon man…Sherman graduated from Stanford with a GPA that everyone could only DREAM of obtaining. He was also one of the only students in his high school’s history to receive a football scholarship.

Sherman is constantly working with his foundation to bring school supplies to children in communities that cannot afford them, and he does just as much community service as the next professional athlete.

Does this sound like a “thug” to you? And let’s not even BEGIN to discuss the whole “Justin Beiber” arrest; the Beibs is a PERFECT example of just how unethical this entire Sherman situation is. You have an incredibly educated black man who is enthusiastic about his GAME WINNING PLAY that sent him-and his team-to the Super Bowl, and Sherman is automatically labeled as a “thug” or an “ape.” You have a white celebrity who is caught drunk driving in a drag race and he is labeled as a “troubled teen.” C’mon man!

There are so many disgusting antics that have become blatantly apparent in football, the sport that I, that Americans, love. For example, all of these memes that keep popping up on Facebook putting Kaepernick and the 49ers down an entire week prior to the game. C’mon man that ain’t right.

This isn’t just for the 49ers versus the ‘Hawks either; I saw them for the Saints and ‘Hawks game and the Broncos and the Patriots game. These memes are getting out of control. They are nasty and sometimes just plain offensive. Notice, however, that there are no negative memes going around about the Broncos versus the Seahawks, perhaps a level of respect for the “Young Gun” versus the “Seasoned Veteran” game that we will be witnessing at Super Bowl XLVIII?

Now, I don’t generally have an absolute favorite NFL team, by any means. I like certain players from each team, and there are some teams that I cannot, and will not, cheer for because I find them to be overrated (cough, cough the Patriots). However, based on the entire Sherman debacle, I will say that I am a proud supporter of ANY player who is not scared to show their passion and their personality. You can bet that, come Super Bowl Sunday, I will be cheering for the Seahawks to bring home that championship ring, just don’t tell my mom, because she is a HUGE Peyton Manning fan.