Pete Carroll or Richard Sherman, Who Would You Follow Into War?

So, Richard Sherman has decided not to attend the first of a few optional off-season training activities giving us all something to write about. Given the fact that he has opted to go to these OTAs in the past and now all-of-a-sudden he’s opting not to go, means something.

Short of a life-threatening reason or the birth of a baby, I would say, Sherman is letting the organization know (including the guys in the locker room) that ‘you had me in the past, and now that there are things on the table to be discussed, it’s time that I take a step backwards.’

Richard Sherman skips Phase One

In the saga between the Seattle Seahawks and Richard Sherman, it got me thinking about who would I follow into war. Since the Seahawks organization as a whole is way too big to take on, I decided to choose the leader of the warriors on the field vs. the mastermind behind it off the field. Pete Carroll, the Seahawks head coach since 2010, has amassed over 100 wins as an NFL head coach. He and off-the-field mastermind General Manager John Schneider have won over 70% of Pete’s total wins in the NFL.

Richard Sherman is a spunky, outspoken and Pro Bowl cornerback in his prime, playing for the only NFL team he’s ever suited up for, the Seattle Seahawks.

How each of the two men got into the league were very similar: both were overachievers, both didn’t have a ton of support by their peers (outside of their teams and pundits (writers like me)) and both exuded enough passion and confidence to fill all 32 NFL stadiums.

If the issue between the two men comes down to respect or lack of respect, in this case, and the two men cannot come to an agreement to move forward, how do two grown men, both of which love winning (maybe more than anything); how do they avoid what all want them to avoid, which is a separation?

Who would you follow, the Chief or the Dog Soldier?

If there was World War III going on, say with North Korea and its allies, who would you follow, the Chief (Pete Carroll) or the Dog Soldier (Richard Sherman)? It’s leadership, that determines direction in life, whether we’re talking about a business, a team, a community or our own households.

Sherman has only been a true leader of his team for a short amount of time (compared to Coach Carroll) and so how does experience play into leadership? Carroll has been in a position of leadership long before Sherman was a glimmer in his lovely mom’s eye.

For all of Carroll’s experience, does the time that he has accrued over the ump-teenth year of leadership make us want to follow him over a younger man in Sherman, who may have a better pulse of today’s NFL player?

I’ve proven in a different post I published for a different website that Pete Carroll (and GM John Schneider) deserve the 12s’ respect because of all that they have won and done for this team. So, if a proven person like Carroll who has led a group of players to the promised land and won it all, why am I questioning his abilities? Worse off, why am I pitting one of his players against him?

Trade or not, love or not, respect or not, what this issue between player and management has shaken out to become is our values, our beliefs in the kind of human being that either man is and not many people have taken a ‘well, I’m a Sherman and a Pete guy’ stance. You are either for the man that is disgruntled and wants out or you are with the company and tow the company line.

So, who would you follow into war?

For my take, I value experience vs. the pulse of today’s NFL player. I believe that in all of Carroll’s wins, there were a ton of losses included in that. Where Carroll failed has only helped him become a better leader.

Sherman is a genuine man, I know that because I have had a few conversations with him and his beautiful wife. In the small, yes ‘passer by’ conversations I have had with him, he seems very smart and very authentic.

I have yet to meet Coach Carroll and yet, my perception of him is that he knows what is best for his team. He knows what’s best for him and it is that genuine knowing, ‘OB-1 Kenobi’ or ‘Yoda-like’ Zen that makes me want to follow him to war.

All of the information that I am placing into this piece is more about where I stand in the entire saga. I want so much to follow Sherman into the fire of hell, but call me old-fashioned; there is something about the white hair, the spry energy that exudes out of a man who in many communities would be called an elder.

Pete Carroll is a man I trust and whether we trade Sherman or not, I firmly believe that the Seattle Seahawks are a team of destiny because of Pete Carroll. Time will tell, whether or not this ‘riff’ between player and organization will spiral the team into mediocrity or lunge them forward into the un-promised, Promised Land; we’ll see.