Darrelle Revis didn’t back down from Richard Sherman.
Credit: Getty Images
In an online version of handbags at 10 paces, Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman had a Twitter war on Wednesday afternoon, with both players claiming to take umbrage and dishing out insults. No one emerged looking like a victor. But Sherman didn’t back away from his words one day later when he appeared Thursday morning on the NFL Network’s “NFL AM” show.
Revis took exception to Sherman recently leaving his name off a list of top cornerbacks, as the general consensus is that Revis is the top cornerback in the league and perhaps the most dominant defensive player in the game. This exclusion by Sherman led Revis to tweet on Wednesday, “I never seen a man before run his mouth so much like girl. This dude just steady putting my name in his mouth to get notoriety @rsherman_25.”
In actual words, and not tweets, Sherman defended his Twitter spat.
“He came off disrespectful, so words need to be said. Apparently, he is going to disrespect my game,” Sherman told “NFL AM.” “I don’t know what he has done — stats wise — to earn the right to talk down to people. He has never had more than six [interceptions] in a season so let’s quiet down.”
The numbers don’t tell the full story because quarterbacks rarely throw in Revis’s direction due to his shutdown ability. That hasn’t stopped him from being named to the Pro Bowl four times and being selected as an All-Pro three times. In addition, Revis was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.
Sherman, however, showed no respect for the man nicknamed “Revis Island” due to the way he maroons wide receivers. Then again, Revis showed little respect on Twitter for Sherman, who looks to be an emerging star in Seattle.
“Because I am not going to let no dude talk like a little girl and just walk freely. I am going to quiet him down the best way I know how,” Sherman said. “It is about respect. You are not going to let a guy run his mouth, I am not that kind of person [to] let a guy say bold statements and let them ride. It is not who I am and who I am not going to be.”
Last season, Sherman was named an All-Pro and an alternate to the Pro Bowl.
On Twitter and on “NFL AM,” Sherman cited what he said were his superior stats over Revis. He also had no qualms about putting the feud out there for the whole world to see in 140 characters or less.
“That is where he put it. Wherever the forum was that he was going to play this little game, I was going to step into it,” Sherman said. “The play on the field does speak for itself but when there is a situation that is conflict then the forum is going to be what it is. It just happened to be Twitter this time.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
