Seahawks

The NFL fined Washington offensive lineman Trent Williams $7,875 for striking an opponent in the face, a league spokesman confirmed.

The incident occurred on the field after the game when Williams sought out Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman, who had taken off his helmet and was congratulating opposing players. Williams — who still had his helmet on — walked up to Sherman, initiating a confrontation.

“What you going to do, boy,” Sherman responded.

“I’m going to hit you in your (expletive) face,” Williams said, and then he did just that, hitting Sherman with an open-handed swipe.

Sherman confirmed earlier this week that Williams subsequently sent a text message apologizing, and Sherman said the incident was in the past.

The fine does make the pecking order of NFL transgressions a little clearer, though:

$21,000 for Golden Tate’s block of Dallas linebacker Sean Lee — a play in which Tate tried to hit Lee squarely in his chest.

$7,875 — Fine for hitting a helmet-less opponent in the face after a game on the field.

Priceless — Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez going #Beastmode in a Marshawn Lynch jersey and helmet. Seriously. It’s him. Which is kind of awesome.

Darrel Young says Seahawks tried to stomp on Alfred Morris
By Jim Corbett | USA Today, Jan. 7, 2013

Washington’s Pierre Garcon disses Seahawks cornerback
By Jim Corbett | USA Today, Jan. 5, 2013

Richard Sherman confident against Washington receivers
By David Moore | USA Today, Jan. 3, 2013

If you didn’t know any better, you might think that the USA Today went out of its way to accentuate every tawdry piece of conrontation surrounding Sunday’s game between Seattle and Washington in a shameless effort to attract attention.

Washington receiver Pierre Garcon claimed not to know Brandon Browner’s first name, Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman motioned toward the Washington sideline that the team must be crazy to throw his way and then there was the “right smash” that Washington offensive tackle Trent Williams threw at Sherman after the game.

That last part is just wrong. But also, the exhaustive chronicling of every perceived slight leaves out the fact that Washington opted to receive the opening kickoff, an obvious dis to Seattle’s defense, and the two teams spent the next three hours hitting each other. Really hard.

I mean, seriously?

That playoff game on Sunday paired two rookie quarterbacks against each other, matched a well-regarded offensive coach like Mike Shanahan against a defensive guru like Pete Carroll and featured one team that hasn’t won a playoff game on the road in 29 years playing at a team that hasn’t hosted in 12, and the resulting accounts are shoolyard name calling?

I can tell you this without any doubt or hesitancy: If you ask enough players in the locker room after any game in the NFL if the opponent was playing dirty, taking cheap shots or just generally taking liberties, eventually you’re going to get someone who says, “Yes, those no good so-and-sos were dirty.” You know why? Because that happens. Every game. Guys do things to each other that make the other guy really mad. Every game.

And while there are times that rises to the relevance that it was a storyline, Sunday was not one of those games. Oh, it was feisty. No doubt about that. Garcon and Browner spent the better part of the afternoon tussling, DeAngelo Hall and Golden Tate went at it consistently and there were plenty of other confrontations.

You know why? It’s playoff football. The Seahawks are a chippy team and Washington very specifically tried to get a rise out of certain players it thought might rise to the bait. But we would better off in general doing as the officials did in Sunday’s game: Just ignore it.

But here’s your assignment: Given USA Today’s dogged effort to plumb the depths of the back-and-forth, what’s an appropriate nickname for the paper. I came up with USA Tawdry, but I think we can do better. Please help.

Corrected version

Washington’s Kedric Gholston calls Richard Sherman ‘a cheater’
By Jim Corbett | USA Today

Washington defensive lineman Kedric Golston wasn’t asked about Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.

Let’s make that clear. He interjected his opinion, according to reporter Jim Corbett’s account of an interview with Washington’s Lorenzo Alexander.

“He’s a cheater,” Gholston said, according to Corbett, before walking away.

Well, then.

Consider it the first in what might be many instances of opponents being asked about the fairness of Sherman’s availability.

After all, who doesn’t love a little name calling?

Obviously not the USA Today — which once employed a reporter who referred to it as “the paper” — and that publication went out of its way to try and get some back-and-forth barbs going to the detriment of anyone with a double-digit IQ.

It started in Seattle where David Moore had a dispatch, which the USA Today provocatively labeled as a ‘dis’ of the Washington wide receivers. Oooh. That sounds interesting. So what was that insult?

“Which Washington Redskins wide receivers worry brash, young Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman?

” ‘None of them,’ Sherman told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.”

What? He’s not worried? What an insult? No that’s not right. What an outrage? No. Not really.

A dis? Here’s a dis: That is one example of a reporter trying to bait an athlete into saying something inflammatory so he can make a headline out of it and when the athlete doesn’t play along, doing the best to make it inflammatory anyway in what can only be described as a shameless appeal for Internet traffic.

And then a reporter in Washington went asking about Sherman’s suspension only to be met with logical, level-headed responses that the whole question of whether Sherman should or should not have been suspended following a positive test result for a banned substance.

“It is what it is,” Alexander told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t know what his total case and background of it is.”

Hmmm. That’s not very interesting. Well, how about Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall who’s never been known for a reluctance to speak nonsense.

“We’re not going to wish someone a positive drug test and a four-game suspension just to win a game,” Hall said.

Wow. That sounds eminently reasonable.

All that was left was Gholston’s driveby declaration. And guess what got the headline?

And after all that, I’m left to ask how many more times I’m going to have to summarize name-calling.

Information in this post, originally published Jan. 5, 2013, was corrected that same day. A previous version of this post incorrectly spelled Kedric Golston’s name.

Cornerback Richard Sherman has been informed that he won his appeal, contesting a positive test for a banned substance.

As a result, Seattle’s starting left cornerback is not expected to be suspended, and will be available for the regular-season finale and into the playoffs.

Sherman, a second-year cornerback, has intercepted seven passes this season, tied for second-most in the league.

Sherman and fellow starting cornerback Brandon Browner both tested positive for a banned substance, according to the league. Sherman appealed his result. He had a hearing last week, arguing that a second cup — with a broken seal — was used during Sherman’s urine test.

Browner will return from suspension for the playoffs, meaning Seattle will have both of its starting cornerbacks available when it begins the postseason.

Sherman used his Twitter account to indicate he won. In a subsequent text message, he responded to a question whether he would be suspended. “Not at all,” he wrote.

The NFL does not disclose results of a failed test until the suspension is imposed. As a result, the NFL has no statement currently on the case. But Albert Breer — who works for NFL.com — indicated that flaws in the testing procedure invalidated the result. Washington Post reporter Mark Maske spoke to someone familiar with the case, who called Sherman’s argument “a slam-dunk winner.”

Update, 11 a.m.: Here is a statement from Maurice Suh, who is a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, who represented Sherman: “We are very pleased that the hearing officer recognized that the egregious errors that occurred with Mr. Sherman’s collection required overturning the NFL’s discipline. Mr. Sherman provided honest testimony about a severely flawed process, and the hearing officer found him to be a credible man. We couldn’t be happier for Richard, and we were thrilled to help him and the union present a very strong case.”

Update, 1:52 p.m.: Bob Wallace, former NFL executive, was the hearing officer for Sherman’s appeal. His decision outlined the facts on the case. Sherman was tested on Monday, Sept. 17, the day after Seattle’s victory over Dallas. He was notified of his positive test result on Nov. 12, the day after Seattle’s victory over Minnesota. Both Sherman and the tester — identified in Wallace’s decision as Mark Cook — acknolwedged the cup initially used to hold Sherman’s urine sample leaked, and another cup was then used. That deviation from procedure was not acknowledged in Cook’s initial report of the collection process. That fact ultimately led Wallace to uphold the appeal: “I do not believe the burden has been met that the departures, especially in the actual collection of the sample, did not materially affect the validity of the positive test.”

Cornerback Richard Sherman doesn’t know when the league will rule on his appeal of a positive test for a banned substance.

But he did talk about the argument presented at his appeal hearing on Friday, which involves a question over the procedure the league followed.

“I think it went well,” Sherman said. “We pleaded our case. We proved that they made procedural errors. That they violated the chain of custody. That the tester grabbed the cup, an unsealed cup, and poured my urine into it. That’s a violation, but the league says they can do that and get away with it.

“I may still lose because it is up to the league. It’s not a neutral court.”

Sherman said that’s because the person who presides over hearing the appeal works for the league.

“It’s definitely not fair,” he said. “If it was in a neutral court, I’d be very confident that I would win. But it’s not a neutral court so you have to deal with what you have to deal with.”

Sherman argues test contaminated
By Adam Schefter | ESPN.com

Cornerback Richard Sherman will play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, but his availability afterward may depend — at least in part — on the outcome of his appeal hearing, which took place Friday.

Sherman’s argument at the appeal hearing, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, is that the plastic cup used to take a urine sample was leaking, requiring the use of a second cup.

RENTON — Seattle had two cornerbacks return to practice Friday.

Neither one was named Richard Sherman, however.

The Seahawks starting left cornerbak was absent for the second consecutive practice, which was not injury related. It’s believed Sherman was out of town for an appeal hearing related to a positive test result for performance-enhancing drugs.

Coach Pete Carroll did not comment on the reason for the absence, but did say he anticipates Sherman will be available for the game.

Seattle might have another couple of cornerbacks available, too. Marcus Trufant and Walter Thurmond each returned to practice Friday, coming back from hamstring injuries. Trufant has been out the past three games while Thurmond missed last week’s game.

“We’ll go all the way to game time with those guys,” Carroll said. “There will be a few of those guys, they have to show us we can play.”

That includes receiver Sidney Rice, who has not practiced this week because of a sore knee. Carroll said Rice did work out on Friday, but the team has to make sure that he’s up to speed on game day.

“He feels pretty good right now,” Carroll said of Rice. “But we’ve got to get to game day and run him and see how he can tolerate it. He thinks he’s playing. He feels like he’s going to.”

Defensive tackle Alan Branch practiced for a second consecutive game, and is expected to play. His status was a concern after he left Sunday’s game in Toronto because of an ankle injury.

Note

• DT Jason Jones had suffered torn cartilage in his knee, the injury which predicated putting him on injured reserve.

	Seahawks injury report
Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
OUT	OUT	OUT
Did not practice	Did not practice	DOUBTFUL
WR Sidney Rice (Knee)	WR Sidney Rice (Knee)
DT Alan Branch (Ankle)	CB Walter Thurmond (Hamstring)
DT Jason Jones (Knee)	CB Richard Sherman (Not injury related)
CB Walter Thurmond (Hamstring)
CB Marcus Trufant (Hamstring)	CB Marcus Trufant (Hamstring)
RB Leon Washington (Illness)
Limited in practice	Limited in practice	QUESTIONABLE
RB Marshawn Lynch (Back)	S Jeron Johnson (Groin)	CB Marcus Trufant (Hamstring)
	RB Robert Turbin (Illness)	CB Walter Thurmond (Hamstring)
&nbp;		WR Sidney Rice (Knee)
		S Jeron Johnson (Groin)
Full participation	Full participation	PROBABLE
	DT Alan Branch (Ankle)	DT Alan Branch (Ankle)
	RB Marshawn Lynch (Back)	RB Marshawn Lynch (Back)
	RB Leon Washington (Illness)	RB Leon Washington (Illness)
		RB Robert Turbin (Illness)
		CB Richard Sherman (Not Injury Related)
	49ers injury report
Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Out	Out	OUT
Did not practice	Did not practice	DOUBTFUL
LB Clark Haggans (Shoulder)	LB Clark Haggans (Shoulder)
DT Justin Smith (Elbow)	DT Justin Smith (Elbow)
Limited in practice	Limited in practice	QUESTIONABLE
LB Ahmad Brooks (Shoulder)	LB Ahmad Brooks (Shoulder)	LB Clark Haggans (Shoulder)
CB Tarell Brown (Shoulder)	CB Tarell Brown (Shoulder)	DT Justin Smith (Elbow)
LB Tavares Gooden (Ribs)	LB Tavares Gooden (Ribs)	LB Tavares Gooden (Ribs)
WR Mario Manningham (Shoulder)	WR Mario Manningham (Shoulder)	WR Mario Manningham (Shoulder)
RB Bruce Miller (Shoulder)	RB Bruce Miller (Shoulder)	DT Will Tokuafu (Concussion)
LB Aldon Smith (Shoulder)	LB Aldon Smith (Shoulder)
DT Will Tukuafu (Concussion)	DT Will Tukuafu (Concussion)
Full participation	Full participation	PROBABLE
K David Akers (Pelvis)	K David Akers (Pelvis)	K David Akers (Pelvis)
G Alex Boone (Knee)	G Alex Boone (Knee)	G Alex Boone (Knee)
LB Navorro Bowman (Shoulder)	LB Navorro Bowman (Shoulder)	LB Navorro Bowman (Shoulder)
RB Frank Gore (Wrist)	RB Frank Gore (Wrist)	RB Frank Gore (Wrist)
G Mike Iupati (Shoulder)	G Mike Iupati (Shoulder)	G Mike Iupati (Shoulder)
CB Carlos Rogers (Knee)	CB Carlos Rogers (Knee)	CB Carlos Rogers (Knee)
LB Patrick Willis (Shoulder)	LB Patrick Willis (Shoulder)	LB Patrick Willis (Shoulder)
		LB Ahmad Brooks (Shoulder)
		CB Tarell Brown (Shoulder)
		FB Bruce Miller (Shoulder)
		DE Aldon Smith (Shoulder)
		S C.J. Spillman (Illness)