Richard Sherman can't resist weighing in on Cam Newton's benching
The biggest controversy to come out of Week 13 was Cam Newton’s one-play (likely one-series) suspension for not wearing a tie on the team bus. Ron Rivera, a no-nonsense coach with seemingly strict rules, sat Newton to start the game and made Derek Anderson the starter.
The Carolina Panthers quarterback acknowledged that he has to abide by the rules like everyone else, and one of his critics agrees. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman – who said Newton’s bad season is due to “karma” – was confused to start the game, thinking Newton was injured before later realizing what the deal was.
Needless to say, he agrees with Rivera’s stance.
“You’ve got accountability,” Sherman said, via the Seattle Times. “You’ve got to hold everybody accountable the same. When you start treating guys different it’s a slippery slope.”
Rivera was doing just that. He was treating everyone the same, even if Newton is the best and highest-paid player on the team. How would his teammates have reacted if Newton was able to play despite breaking the team rules? Probably not well, to say the least.
When it comes to the Seahawks, there are rules. However, according to Sherman, “there’s not a ton of them.”
Pete Carroll, one of the most laid-back coaches in the league, doesn’t seem to have the strict guidelines Rivera does for his players.
“For one-day trips, it’s more formal,” he said. “You wear polo shirts or jeans or something nicer. Very ambiguous but nicer. But put your shoes on — he doesn’t like me wearing my Uggs. For two-day trips, it’s more casual because it’s obviously going to be a time change and a longer flight, so he allows us to wear kind of whatever you put on.”
The Seahawks have never had an incident like Newton’s, with Sherman saying Carroll “doesn’t go back there and check.”
“If you are asking have we ever run into anything like that? We haven’t,” Sherman said. “Pete is a pretty cool guy. Don’t be disrespectful, and most guys respect the things he says and are pretty good about that.”
