National Football League

Cromartie: Richard Sherman is a product of Seahawks system

Published Jun. 3, 2015 10:10 a.m. ET

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By Steve DelVecchio

Any argument over who the best cornerback in the NFL is usually includes Darrelle Revis and Richard Sherman. If you ask Antonio Cromartie, only one of the aforementioned names belongs in the conversation.

In an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio earlier this week, Cromartie echoed what many Sherman critics before him have said — the Seattle Seahawks All-Pro benefits from a great system.

“Go play in a defense where you don’t have two All-Pro safeties,” Cromartie said, via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “That’s what I would tell him. Go follow the No. 1 receiver. Follow him around for a whole entire game and let’s see what you can do. Darrelle Revis has done that his whole career. I’ve done that. Patrick Peterson has done it. Joe Haden has done it. [Sherman] is the only defensive back that hasn’t.”

Sherman has heard that argument many times in the past, most frequently from Patrick Peterson. It’s also not the first time Cromartie has tried to knock him down a peg.

“If you want to label yourself as the No. 1 corner, the best corner in the NFL, follow the best guy on every single team,” Cromartie added. “His [response] will be, ‘We don’t have to do that, I have my trust in the other corner on the other side.’ That’s not the point. If you’re going to consider yourself the best, do what the best do. They follow around the best.”

While it would be interesting to see how Sherman would do if he had to shadow an opposing team’s best receiver, he can’t do something that the system doesn’t allow for. He simply plays the scheme that his coaches have in place, and it works out very well.

That said, people only bash Sherman because he has a big mouth, which he proved once again in the Super Bowl. If he was a quiet player who went about his business, opposing players would be more complimentary of him.

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