Was Richard Sherman’s behavior that abnormal for a pro football player?

Liz Heidhues 7.16.2021

Richard Sherman is disgraced.

But was Sherman’s behavior that abnormal for a professional football player?

The rate of domestic violence among NFL players is higher than expected for their income level, which could suggest that these athletes are indeed more prone to domestic violence.

A survey of 252 nationally reported criminal cases in one year that involved athletes found that about 14% of the athletes involved were professional football players. This compared with 7% professional baseball players and 6% of professional basketball and ice hockey players.

“They’re (elite football players) trained to be aggressive and somewhat violent on the field, that’s the nature of the game and that’s how they became important players. And sometimes it is difficult for athletes to turn that off when they go back to their regular lives,” said Stanley Teitelbaum, a Ph.D Clinical Psychologist and author of “Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols and Illusions and Disillusions”.

Former Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers NFL football star Richard Sherman needs to deal with the consequences of his belligerent rampage early last Tuesday morning in Redmond, Washington. He is charged with five misdemeanors, punishable by up to 90 days in jail, or gross misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year.

After driving his SUV in a drunken rage through a construction zone and crashing his vehicle, Sherman ended up at his in-laws’ house in a suburb in Washington.

As Sherman tried to break down the front door of his in-laws, his father-in-law had to spray his face with pepper spray through the partially broken-opened door.

When the police arrived, they could not subdue Sherman because of his massive size, brute strength, and belligerence.

The police officers could not use a Taser because of their concerns about igniting whatever chemical Sherman’s father-in-law had sprayed him with.

The officers ended up on relying on man’s best friend to subdue raging Richard Sherman. They released a police dog, who bit Sherman on the ankle, and the officers were then able to wrestle Richard Sherman to the ground and take him into custody.

Photo above: Richard Sherman accompanied by his wife Ashley Moss enters King County courtroom for arraignment 7.16.2021