Steve Dykes/Getty Images
City Commissioner Steve Novick published an open letter to The Oregonian newspaper called, "Going Richard Sherman on the Oregonian."
In the tongue-in-cheek letter, Novick talks a ton of very real trash. He rips the paper for only publishing four times a week, among other things.
"You want to question our commitment to jobs? Seriously? The paper that specializes in firing people - good people like Ryan White and Scott Learn - wants to talk about jobs?" he writes.
It's pretty harsh. Sherman's taunts are harsh too, of course, but it's less objectionable within the context of professional football than it is in real life.
Here's the full letter:
"The Oregonian has spent the past couple of weeks trash-talking the city council. They've written things like: "you have to wonder sometimes whether the Portland City Council actively pursues mediocrity..." They've had a "live chat" on "Does Portland deserve a better city council?" They've repeatedly crossed the line between criticism and contempt.
"And so far, the members of the City Council have kept a dignified silence. But after watching Richard Sherman's post-NFC championship game explosion the other day, I've decided, the hell with that. Let's have some fun. If the Oregonian wants to trash-talk, let's trash-talk. Let's give the fans something to talk about. Because we can do it better than they can. We can out-trash-talk the Oregonian on the field, off the field, or in an alley.
"You want to talk about mediocre? A paper that only delivers four times a week, now that's mediocre. You want to question our commitment to jobs? Seriously? The paper that specializes in firing people - good people like Ryan White and Scott Learn - wants to talk about jobs?
"We're the best City Council in the league. And we're not going to be bullied by some sorry Orange County right-wing publisher. We'll be here after you're gone, Mr. N. Christian Anderson III - after the Newhouse family wakes up and realizes that it's economic idiocy to try to foist a Fox News paper on a progressive readership.
"And don't think for a minute that anything you write will have any influence on us at all. Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.
"COB!"
The "COB!" is a reference to Sherman yelling "LOB" at the end of his postgame interview with Erin Andrews. It means "Legion of Boom," the nickname of Seattle's secondary.
The lions-sheep thing is a reference to this Sherman tweet:
A lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.
- Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) January 20, 2014
The lesson here is that only Richard Sherman can successfully be Richard Sherman.
A screenshot:
