1 Yard From Brilliance - A Prospective on Lynch
The score is 28 – 24, Patriots lead. With less than 1 minute left, the Seahawks have possession and find themselves what seems like literally one step away from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy above their heads. 22 men on the field, over 50 people on the sidelines, over 60,000 men, women & children screaming in the stands & upwards of 70,000,000 people focused on their television screens, and with no shortage of superstar personalities in that arena, EVERYONE’s focus & thoughts are on one man, Marshawn Lynch. A 5 time Pro-Bowler, 27th All Time leader in Rushing Touchdowns, Super Bowl Champion, future Hall of Famer and, as a respect for the teenage Marshawn, a San Francisco Bay Area Player of the Year.
1 yard. The smell of Superbowl victory strong, teasing the nostrils. 1 yard. The goal line so attainable. 1 yard. “The African” or as others call him, Beastmode, unstoppable with 71 previous rushing touchdowns in his professional career, a team player, so although he wasn’t demanding that ball, he knew & the 70 million knew, once he had that cow hide football in his hands, with 1 yard away from victory, no force in natural existence could prevent the inevitable. Then…
THE SNAP…
…But before we examine what inevitably happened after that snap, we need to travel in time to almost exactly one year prior to, what isn’t the beginning, but is one of the milestones on this journey. And that milestone actually didn’t directly involve Marshawn Lynch. It involved another larger-than-life personality, a king by the name Richard Sherman.
Richard Sherman, aka “the best corner in the league,” in a blip is a Black man, who happens to be from Compton, who happens to have had 4.2 GPA in High School (Compton Domingues), who happened to have graduated from Stanford University & who happens to be a top level talent in the NFL. In essence, like any other person with those accolades, he’s a success.
The date that changed the public perspective of these two men, who happen to be professional athletes, was January 19th 2014. A star quarterback throws a game defining pass at an extremely efficient wide receiver on Richard Sherman’s side of the field, 3 major forces, in their own mini-universe, in the most important game before the Superbowl, each salivating at this opportunity to stake an eternal claim in the history books of the highest level of professional sports, every second passing from the snap to the ultimate end of the play being etched in historical stone in real time. With Richard Sherman’s legacy essentially battling that of the collective effort of two other men, he extended his arm & gloriously deflected their future, sealing the trajectory of he & his team going on to play & ultimately win the Super Bowl on February 2nd 2014.
Immediately after the commencement of that January 19th 2014 NFC Championship game however, a reporter set in motion a reexamining of the power & presence of the media & those citizens who consume it like an essential elixir of knowledge. As she gave Richard Sherman an opportunity to express himself after his talent shined, Richard Sherman, filled with adrenaline, filled with a feeling of accomplishment & canceling the doubt of skeptics, made a public no-no for any public figure, especially a Black man, he made the choice to speak his mind:
Andrews:“Richard, let me ask you about the final play. Take me through it.”
Sherman:“Well, I’m the best corner in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you’re going to get. Don’t you ever talk about me.”
Andrews:“Who was talking about you?”
Sherman:“Crabtree. Don’t you open your mouth about the best. Or I’m ma shut it for you real quick. L.O.B (Legion of boom, the nickname of the Seahawks secondary).”
Andrews:“Alright, before … Well, Joe, back over to you.”
To say that Richard Sherman opened the proverbial flood gates to what the underbelly of society truly felt about “Rowdy” Black men would be a serious misunderstanding of what really happened. What happened was a top level football athlete responding to the expected trash talk of another top level opponent. Richard Sherman didn’t help open any flood gates, water had already been
And the word that’s embedded in this Country’s psyche that easily characterizes the majority of Black men who don’t adhere to a particular status quo? ******. But this isn’t the 60’s. So the sting of that word prevents its publicly accepted use. The word now…
Is Thug.
Almost immediately after Richard Sherman’s excited answer to the reporter’s questions, twitter & facebook blew up with a plethora of average joes calling Richard Sherman everything from an animal to ****** to thug. The Media, being the true culprit, opened the flood gates by feeding into its insatiable appetite to fan the flames of the public’s one dimensional critique of Richard Sherman, a modern display that is the embodiment of the Condemnation of Blackness that author Khalil Gabrin Muhammad brilliantly codified.
The word thug uttered over 625 times on the news the following day.
That Condemnation of Blackness, that compelled members of our society to spout the underlying poison behind the rhetoric with respect to Richard Sherman. That Condemnation of Blackness, that compelled Richard Sherman to both write & speak on the negative response of the media & members of society. That Condemnation of Blackness that compelled other top level Black athletes to begin a more strategic handling with respect to the way they control their public image.
That same Condemnation of Blackness that compelled Marshawn Lynch to really begin playing chess vs society’s perspective of himself & other black men.
[Continued next post)]
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That's that sleep deprivation breh. 
