Despite being know as one of the league’s best trash talkers (not to mention cornerbacks), Richard Sherman has always said he can’t talk smack with Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. One reason is that Fitzgerald doesn’t give him any material because A. he never talks during games, and B. he’s really good, so Sherman doesn’t get to use any of his favorite lines such as, “I’ve seen better hands on a snake.”
“There’s not really opportunities, and it’s just one of those games where you’re too locked in to do it,” Sherman said. “There’s nothing really to talk about.”
The two also have formed a friendship, which extended to playing in each other’s charity softball game.
“It’s definitely mutual respect,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s a great player, he’s been a great player for a while, he’s been incredibly consistent over the years, consistent through multiple quarterbacks, multiple systems. Should have won a Super Bowl, he played great (in that game). You’ve got to respect a guy like that.”
“He’s a great guy, he asked me to come out to his softball game, and I did, it was a fun event, we had a great time. Then I asked him to come back and reciprocate the favor. We just had a good time. He’s a good player and a good guy.”
Sherman was also asked about Carson Palmer, who has thrown 11 interceptions, the second most in the league behind Eli Manning. Asked if that makes Seattle’s secondary feel like there are good chances for turnovers, Sherman said they’ll treat Palmer with as much respect as any QB.
“Any given day if you start looking at stuff like that, then he hits four touchdowns and no picks, and then you’re like ‘what happened to the 11 picks?’” Sherman said. “He’s a good quarterback who trusts his arm. He has a big arm, he’s accurate, and he’ll get the ball down there. He’s due for a big game, so we’ll give him all the respect in the world and we’ll play the receivers as tight as we can and do what we can do.”
Thursday’s game will also feature two of the league’s best corners in Sherman and Arizona’s Patrick Peterson. Asked how they are similar, Sherman gave an interesting answer, noting he’s not the same caliber of athlete as Peterson.
“I think he’s a much better athlete than I am,” he said. “Shoot, he is. He moves better, he’s faster. He’s just different, because he has so much speed, so it allows him to play a little different than I play. I’ve got to play straight technical football, and I think he gets to play a little looser because he can recover in a flash and get back into play. I think that’s what makes him an elite corner. He has elite speed and jumping ability. So I think we’re similar in the way we play the ball and our ball skills and things like that. We both go up for it pretty good, and yeah he’s a good player.”
And finally, Sherman was asked about that, um, interesting outfit that fellow corner Walter Thurmond was sporting after Sunday’s game. After laughing hysterically for a few seconds, Sherman said:
“That was swagger. It takes a lot of swagger to do what Walt did the other night. He did look like the Monopoly man, but it was smooth. I thought he was going to pull a monocle out. Did you see the pocket watch? That was incredible.”
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