If Richard Sherman Misses Super Bowl For Birth Of Child, Pete Carroll Supports Him
PHOENIX (CBS) -- For a professional football player, reaching and participating in the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of any career. To get to that game but not play would take the most extreme of circumstances.
One player facing a potential dilemma is Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, whose girlfriend Ashley is due to give birth on Feb. 12, according to reports. Obviously, that due date does not preclude her from potentially going into labor on Super Sunday, thereby possibly leaving Sherman with a decision to make: Be present for the birth of his child, or play in the Super Bowl.
Whatever Sherman decides, he has the support of his head coach.
"Well that's up to Richard. He knows that he has an opportunity to face a big decision. Whenever our players have a personal or family issue that comes up, it's always about family first and they have to decide what's best for them," Pete Carroll said Friday morning at a joint press conference with Bill Belichick. "And I support that."
Sherman, 26, talked about his impending fatherhood on Tuesday at Media Day, though he wouldn't reveal the name that he and his girlfriend had chosen. On Friday, Carroll shared some optimism that he might serve as an inspiration.
"Can't wait to see little Petey," Carroll said.
"However he goes about it if he's faced with that decision, we'll support him and see how that goes," Carroll added.
Though Sherman is a Super Bowl champion, he did not get to play the entirety of the game last year. In the weeks leading up to last year's Super Bowl, Sherman was the major national talking point, thanks to his postgame rant to Erin Andrews. But in that game, a 43-8 Seahawks victory, Sherman twice suffered an injury, eventually leaving the field on a cart in the fourth quarter.
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