Greg Esposito
If you’re above the age of 13 the WWE probably doesn’t have much appeal to you. If you’re going to watch something scripted you probably prefer it comes from Hollywood and with popcorn and a soda.
While you may not like speedos and baby oil involved in your entertainment — although, no judgement if that’s your sort of thing — you can’t deny Vince McMahon’s band of merry misfits gets one thing right. They sure know how to create and hype the drama of rivalry better than any one else.
That is, until this NFL offseason.
Enter Patrick Peterson and Richard Sherman.
The two NFC West foes found a way to get NFL fans even more excited about a sport than nerdy misunderstood suburban teenage girls waiting in line to see Lady Gaga. They decided to start a 140 character battle for the right to be named the best cornerback in the NFL.
The actual statistics and answer to the debate don’t matter. Facts and logic just get in the way. It’s the showmanship and carnival barkering that have now made the two times the Cardinals and Seahawks square off the most must see TV since NBC aired Friends.
It all came to a head Monday night when Peterson became the highest paid corner in the history of the game and rushed to Twitter to share the details faster than a high schooler rushing to gossip about the latest drama.
Happy to announce my 5 year extension with @AZCardinals! $70M and $48M Guaranteed!! #AZCardinals #P2Nation #YearOfTheCardinal
— Patrick Peterson (@RealPeterson21) July 30, 2014
Sherman didn’t waste time taking a backhanded jab at Peterson via a retweet.
Richard Sherman and Patrick Peterson combined to allow 8 touchdown passes in 2013. Peterson gave up seven of those.
— Cody Swartz (@cbswartz5) July 30, 2014
And you guessed it, Peterson had a retort.
Yu mad bro!!!! LMAO
— Patrick Peterson (@RealPeterson21) July 30, 2014
Much like on the field, Sherman delivered a knockout blow.
Can't ever be too mad lmao… pic.twitter.com/ZHA28B9Tji
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) July 30, 2014
It was childish. It was goofy. Some would argue it was even petty. And you know what, it was great at the same time.
Along the road to big contracts, bigger television deals and sports transforming into one of the country’s big corporations, we forgot what sports is about, fun and entertainment. It’s nice to see Peterson and Sherman knock away the PR spin like they do opponents passes and just enjoy themselves.
The best part, Peterson is in on the joke.
“I don’t how he feels about it, but I think it’s fun, healthy competition,” Peterson said at his press conference on Wednesday. “I’m having fun with it, sometimes it seems like he’s a little salty with it. I don’t have any problems with Richard. I don’t have any beef with him. I am having fun. I don’t know if he’s having fun. We have had our exchanges over the last month or so and obviously he is still exchanging words this morning, but it is what it is. I have no ill feelings toward Richard. I wish him the best of luck throughout his career and season and I guess it’ll be must-watch TV when we play Seattle.”
That is the same kind of drama that the team of writers behind the WWE manufacture on a weekly basis. The best part? For Pererson and Sherman it comes naturally.
That makes us, the fans, the real winners regardless of what the debate is about.
