(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey via O.Canada.com)

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey via O.Canada.com)

 

The game ended and the interview began: http://youtu.be/7PH35C7Fhq0

I watched the Seahawks and 49ers game with my 10 year old son and his best friend, both football players and Seahawks fans. What a game and what an amazing finish! But as a coach, it was Richard Sherman’s post-game celebration that impacted me: the taunting of Michael Crabtree, the choke sign to the 49ers, and the emotionally charged interview. What an interview: the raw emotion, the competitiveness, the anger, the passion and the truth of what he was thinking. It all spilled out at once, and Richard Sherman created a place for himself in Seattle sport history. And the boys, they want to be just like Richard Sherman.

Richard Sherman is a pretty nice guy from all accounts and he is no dummy; don’t believe those that tell you he is. He is a graduate from Stanford University with a communications degree. In an age when most college football players don’t graduate at all, he managed to complete a degree from arguably the toughest academic school on the west coast.

Where am I going with this? Kids and adults see things much differently. Richard Sherman knows exactly what he is doing every time he is in front of a camera. In this situation the stakes were much higher, his adrenaline must have been through the roof, and I completely understand that. But, I believe he has a message he is trying to get across and it is always about Richard Sherman and the Legion of Boom. His focus is to build the brand of Richard Sherman. The bigger the brand – the bigger the paycheck. It is working. In NFL Jersey sales across North America he is the only defensive player to make it into the top 10. Adults can recognise that pro sports are about business, but kids, they see those actions as what competitive athletes are supposed to do.

Richard Sherman is a great football player, on arguably the top defense in the NFL. If you ask him, he is the best cornerback in the NFL. He led the league in interceptions this year and only appears to be getting better. But the reality is, the career of a pro athlete can be very short and end in an instant. Richard knows that and perhaps he is already auditioning for his next career as a sports celebrity broadcaster following in the shoes of another great defensive back – “Neon Deon Sanders”.

But while he is playing he wants to be the best on the field and the lead story everyone is talking about. Do I like watching him play football? Yes. Do I like all his antics? No. Do I get what he is doing? Yes. Is he entertaining? Absolutely! He is must watch TV.

Coaches – teach your athletes

There is a huge difference between what we find entertaining in pro sports and the lessons we need to teach our student athletes. Is it great viewing to watch Richard Sherman rant about his greatness, sure it is. What about the trash talking, the taunting, the choke signs? Do you want to see your athletes behaving that way after your Friday night game in your town? I hope not. As coaches it is our responsibility to teach our kids respect, humility, and the behaviours that are acceptable on our teams – win or lose. Don’t expect your athletes to know how to behave appropriately, teach them how to behave in all situations. In practices it is difficult to create the type of emotional situation players’ face at key points in a season. So, when these situations arise at a young age, and the kids make the poor decisions that hurt the team, and they will, use that as a great teachable moment for the entire team. Hopefully the lessons you teach them on your team will stick with them as they progress to their next team and throughout their entire life. 

Coaching emotional athletes

As coaches we all want athletes that play with passion and emotion; those are the kids that make coaching fun. As a coach you have the power to reach kids in a way that many other adults never will. As Spiderman says “with great power comes great responsibility” it is also our job to teach the tough life lessons like emotional control. Those raw emotion kids can also be the most challenging athletes you will ever teach. But, if you can change them into controlled response athletes, you will have given them a gift of a lifetime and your team will be much better because of it.

What lessons can our athletes learn from Richard?

That will be up to you as parents and coaches. This story is everywhere now and the kids are talking about it so jump in on the conversation and use it to teach your kids and athletes about the positives and negatives of this story. The kids watch the pros and they want to be just like them. Richard Sherman has a lot of fun on the football field and that is one of the things I love about watching him play. Let’s keep football fun for our kids and let’s teach our athletes how to celebrate respectfully. Sports don’t always teach life lessons – Good coaches intentionally teach life lessons through sports.

Jon Bey

 

For more information please check out our Booklets on Life Lessons for Athletes:

 

http://www.proactivecoaching.info/proactive/index.php/booklets/life-lessons-for-athletes-detail

 

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