VIDEO What Did Richard Sherman Say To Michael Crabtree? Seahawks Corner More Positive Than Viewers Think

The Seattle Seahawks reached their second Super Bowl in franchise history after beating the San Francisco 49ers in last Sunday’s NFC Championship game, but rather than talk about the team’s return to the top of the conference, cornerback Richard Sherman has stolen the headlines.

Sherman took lots of flak from NFL fans and media around the country for his postgame interview with FOX sideline reporter Erin Andrews after Seattle beat San Francisco to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII.

The now infamous clip shows the 25-year-old shouting in Andrews’s microphone about how 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree disrespected him.

Sherman had stopped San Francisco’s final play of the game by draping Crabtree and tipping the last ditch pass in the end zone, and in the video below from FOX Seattle affiliate Q13, the cornerback’s first words to Crabtree were very sportsmanlike.

Only after Crabtree pushes Sherman away by the helmet does the Seahawk then get incensed before he talks to the media.

Sherman’s since come out against cries that he is a “thug”, and wrote a column for Sports Illustrated that detailed his take on the events and his history with Crabtree:

“Erin Andrews interviewed me after the game and I yelled what was obvious: If you put a subpar player across from a great one, most of the time you’re going to get one result. As far as Crabtree being a top-20 NFL receiver, you’d have a hard time making that argument to me. There are a lot of receivers playing good ball out there, and Josh Gordon needed 14 games to produce almost double what Crabtree can do in a full season. And Gordon had Brandon Weeden, Brian Hoyer and Jason Campbell playing quarterback.

"But that’s not why I don’t like the man. It goes back to something he said to me this offseason in Arizona, but you’d have to ask him about that. A lot of what I said to Andrews was adrenaline talking, and some of that was Crabtree. I just don’t like him.”

What doesn’t help Sherman’s case, and actually adds to fans negative perception of him, is the interview he conducted on ESPN’s First Take last year in which he argues with commentator Skip Bayless.

There is no doubting Sherman is among the best players at his position, tallying 16 interceptions and 40 passes defended in the last two seasons.

The matchup that should dominate Super Bowl headlines next week during media should be Sherman against Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and his two 1,000-yard receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker.

Manning led the Broncos with a record 55 passing touchdowns and the team notched an all-time best of 606 points in the regular season.

Sherman can silence all of his critics with an excellent performance against the Broncos and a victory.