Erin Andrews knew her interview with Richard Sherman was going to be a memorable moment in her career as it was playing out, but she often wishes it wasn’t a regrettable one.
The Seattle Seahawks dominated the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs last weekend. And when NFL fans think about the Seahawks and 49ers in the playoffs, it’s hard not to remember Andrews interviewing Sherman on the field after Seattle’s emotional win over San Francisco in the 2013 NFC Championship game.
It’s been more than a decade since the famous interview, and Andrews has repeatedly shared the regret she has over the way it was conducted. And on the latest episode of Calm Down with Erin and Charissa, a listener asked Andrews what she would have liked to do differently.
“I would do the whole thing over, if possible,” Andrews answered without hesitation. “First question I would say is, ‘Take me through that, what did you see on that play?’ He starts going off…I would be a lot more composed because I knew he was talking about [Michael Crabtree], but I did want to clarify he wasn’t talking about me, so I would say, ‘Who was talking about you, who are you talking about?’
“And then I would say the line I always wanted to say to him, but threw it back to Joe Buck, which was, ‘Richard, when we spoke to you two days ago, you told us, I’m not even gonna allow myself to think about the Super Bowl, well now you can. You’ve said a lot, what are you thinking about?”
“That’s all I wanted to do, should have done it. it’s over. You can’t tell I’ve thought about that over and over and over,” Andrews added sarcastically.
The viral interview occurred after Sherman secured Seattle’s trip to Super Bowl XLVIII by swatting away Colin Kaepernick’s intended pass to Michael Crabtree. Almost immediately after the play, Sherman was asked to go on national TV where he declared himself the best cornerback in the NFL and bashed Crabtree for comments that were made earlier in the week.
Erin Andrews might look back on her interview with Richard Sherman and wish she could have conducted it differently. But the questions were enough to elicit a raw response from Sherman, which is exactly what NFL fans wanted to see in that moment. Andrews gave Sherman the space to talk, and that’s ultimately why this remains such a memorable moment in NFL history.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com