Richard Sherman: “It’s definitely my bad, I never want anyone to have to deal with some sh*t for stuff that they didn’t do. The questions that he’s going to get, and the annoying nonsense questions about some stuff that happened in the game that’s already been done, sure, he’ll get an apology for that. I’ll probably reach out to him via text or social media to actually get a hold of him and talk to him over the phone. It sucked but ‘Dapgate’ was a great name y’all came up with. He definitely deserves an apology.”
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman appeared via phone interview on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday morning discussing the controversy that was comically deemed ‘DapGate’ that swept through the NFL news cycles on Tuesday morning.
In an NFL.com article that went viral on Tuesday, Sherman alleged that Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield refused to shake Sherman’s hands during the captains coin toss at midfield.
The article included quotes from Sherman ripping Mayfield for the stunt, including “What’s amazing and annoying was him [Baker Mayfield] not shaking hands at the beginning. That’s some college s***. It’s ridiculous. We’re all trying to get psyched up, but shaking hands with your opponent –– that’s NFL etiquette. And when you pull bush league stuff, that’s disrespect to the game. And believe me, that’s gonna get us fired up.”
Additional video released Tuesday, however, most notably shared by former the NFL punter and now popular radio host Pat McAfee, painted a much different picture than the one Sherman depicted, as new angles showed Mayfield indeed acknowledged Sherman at midfield during the coin toss, and the two legitimately shook hands.
After originally going on a Twitter rant with Browns fans who questioned Sherman’s claims of never shaking hands with Mayfield, including one where Sherman outright said ‘He never shook my hand’, Sherman would delete the tweets when video started making the rounds on social media that was clearly conflicting what Sherman alleged.
Michael Silver, the writer who wrote the article, would later include an editor’s note at the top of his article acknowledging the mistruths in Sherman’s allegations.
Sherman told McAfee on Wednesday that Mayfield ‘definitely deserves an apology’ and that it was ‘definitely my bad’.
Questions of Mayfield’s characters had the second-year Browns starter once again being dragged through the mud, as the catchy story offered a convenient buffer to bash the 24-year-old who currently leads the NFL in interceptions.
Sherman says he plans on reaching out to Mayfield via phone call, saying 'I never want anyone to have to deal with some sh*t for stuff that they didn’t do.'