Mediocre- it is a word that will be forever remembered from the 2014 NFC Championship between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. The word will not be remembered because of the game itself, which was high octane and fun to watch. The word, mediocre, will be remembered because of the man who said it and what happened after the game. Richard Sherman believed that the scuffle between him and wide receiver Michael Crabtree wasn’t over and continued to attack the receiver in a live interview and the press conference calling him a mediocre receiver and not worth defending.

Richard Sherman attacked Crabtree and violated the unwritten rule of “leave it on the field.” Once the game is over there is no need to continue with the problems that happened on the field. It’s a professional sport and you should act professionally, no one needs to know what you think about another colleague. Michael Crabtree did not respond to Sherman’s postgame rant, but his quarterback Colin Kaepernick did: “His comments were ridiculous. If you have to tell people how good you are, then how good are you really?” “Did that make you feel better about yourself? Then go ahead. Because I’m not worried about you.”

Sportsmanship and gentlemanliness are expected before and after the game. Everyone shakes hands at the end of the game and says good job. It is a rule athletes learn at a young age and continue to do throughout their career. Throwing up the “you choked” sign and then running on and ranting n on how awful your opponent was, isn’t necessarily sportsmanlike.

What Richard Sherman has to do is stop trash talking and attacking opponents behind their backs. He should focus on being his self-proclaimed title of the best cornerback in the NFL. He also needs to realize that he is not helping his team with the trash talking. He believes it doesn’t affect them, but what organization would want one of its members running around embarrassing their image and angering other organizations? The NFL needs high paced and emotionally involved players, but once the game is over, the emotions should settle and the teams should shake hands and go on their way. Sherman should be focusing on the big game he has coming up, not trash talking with other players in the league.