Richard Sherman knows the sport he played and talks about well. So does James Boyd, the Indianapolis Colts reporter for The Athletic. The issue is that Sherman sees football from the inside, having played it extremely well for the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, while Boyd is more of an observer.
The two will likely differ on which questions should be asked of a player and when. Sherman prefers those related directly to football. Boyd has a different job to do and needs to ask about everything surrounding a team or player.
This all comes into play from some recent behavior by Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua. Nacua is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, but a few off-field issues have arisen lately. One is his calling out the referees and saying they are the "worst" and sometimes make bad calls because they know it will get them on game broadcasts.
Colts reporter and Richard Sherman bicker over Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua
The other is a connection he has with Adin Ross and Mikyle Rafiq, otherwise known as the internet personalities N3on. The Rams receiver made the comment about the officials on a recent livestream with Ross and Rafiq, and he also said if he caught a touchdown pass, he would celebrate with a gesture known to Ross and Rafiq, but one that is also seen as antisemitic.
Nacua has recently apologized for saying he would do the gesture, claiming he was unaware of its antisemitic nature.
This all comes into play as James Boyd and Richard Sherman had a bit of an online argument in which Sherman's stance was that reporters should have stuck to football-only questions after the Rams suffered a loss to the Seahawks in Week 16, and any non-football queries could wait. Boyd had the opposite stance.
Boyd also took a bit of a shot at Sherman after the former cornerback gave his opinion on what should be asked of Nacua.
The Colts reporter said, "Man, Richard Sherman is out of his mind thinking those questions were out of line. Puka Nacua jumped on a livestream and was about to do a TD celebration with antisemitic tropes, so sorry, that is the story *first.* You can’t just ignore that like it’s normal behavior."
Sherman responded with, "It’s not ignore but it’s at a football game ask football questions. You have all week to ask about that."
To which Boyd responded, "We can disagree. I think when the football league you work for puts out a statement condemning antisemitism and other hate because of something *you* — the football player — did, then it is absolutely a football question to ask about it. And it should be done immediately."
The truth is that both Richard Sherman and James Boyd have valid points. Boyd could have avoided saying Sherman was "out of his mind" because that brings up a whole set of other issues. Ultimately, the fault in the situation is Puke Nacua.
NFL players have to be more aware of how their actions will be viewed, and how they can have a negative effect on a group of people. Nacua needs to be asked about his questionable behavior, whether it is the same day or a week later.