If you ask any fan, the biggest matchup to watch in the last Super Bowl would have been that between the two quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson, the veteran who already had a title and the sophomore who was taking the league by storm. However, as the final seconds ticked away in the NFC Championship game, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman gave a post game rant on live television about the player he guarded during the game, Michael Crabtree, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver. It completely changed who everyone would focus on two weeks later in the upcoming Super Bowl.

“I’m the best corner in the game,” Sherman yelled into the microphone. “When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree that’s the result you’re going to get!”

As the video went viral around the world, Sherman’s popularity, so high before the NFC championship, plummetedwith just two sentences on live television. Sherman began receiving hate tweets. On sports forums and sites everywhere, such as ESPN.com and CBSSports.com, comment sections exploded with degrading and hateful comments directed towards him. Sherman even remarked that he had received racist responses to his  increasingly famous postgame interview.

Sherman’s reputation had taken hits before. His words to Crabtree were not the first time that he had trash-talked. Several times over the course of his two-year career in the NFL, Sherman has had memorable instances of loudmouthing. He trash-talked to the point that his Head Coach Pete Carroll had to have a meeting with Sherman to ask why he was disrespecting so many other players.

Trash talking is nothing new. In all levels of sports, athletes trash-talk to give themselves a confidence edge over opponents. I play tennis, so I understand that the high levels of excitement can cause people to do so. Even in a sport emphasizing manners and discipline like tennis, trash talk is still found everywhere. It is a great way to get in the head of an opponent before even the beginning of a game or match.

However, such benefits certainly come at a price. Athletes who trash-talk are derided by fans in a sports world that is now increasingly emphasizing the importance of sportsmanship.

Sportsmanship is as important as anything when competing. If athletes do not have any respect for their opponents, they do not show any respect for their sport, their team or themselves. So, Carroll once again had to have a talk with Sherman, according to Yahoo! Sports, and told him that his words overshadowed his team’s accomplishments of getting to the Super Bowl. Carroll was right. Instead of focusing on the arduous, multi-year journey that Seattle had to take to build such a strong team, fans and sportswriters alike were simply unable to stop discussing perhaps one of the most memorable postgame interview in all of sports history.

Simply saying, trash talking is not worth it. The backlash that comes from viewers, not just personally, but to one’s team, utterly counterbalances any positive effects from trash talking. Thus, Richard Sherman’s popularity will continue to free fall after his rant even after the Super Bowl. He will forever be remembered as a trash talker instead of the extremely talented world champion that he has become.

So enjoy the Super Bowl ring now, Richard Sherman. No matter how well you play, no matter how many Super Bowls you win, no matter if you finally start respecting your opponents, to me, you are done.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Rushi Patel at [email protected].