Richard Sherman took to NFL AM this morning to say that he was misquoted in the Vancouver Sun’s column in which Sherman said that half the NFL is using Adderall.
The Vancouver Sun was having none of Sherman’s back tracking, and in an email to Pro Football Talk, stuck to their guns, and stood by their version of what Sherman said in regards to Adderall.
Sun reporter Mike Beamish sent transcripts of that interview to Pro Football Talk.
Mike Beamish, Vancouver Sun: “Let me ask you about the suspension you were handed, and you appealed it. Have you left that behind? Do people ask you about that? Do you have to explain it a lot?”
Sherman: “Not really. It was what it was. I think the league made a mistake. Obviously, they cleaned up their mistake by repealing . . . repealing? . . . taking it away. That’s what it was to me. Obviously, I didn’t do anything. But you have to go through the process to prove you didn’t do anything. Once the process played itself out, it ended up being true.”
Beamish: “There are players who actually have to take Adderall, because people have ADD and ADHD.”
Sherman: “There’s about half the league that takes it, and the league has to allow it.”
Beamish: “It’s like you have a prescription, if you’re a diabetic.”
Sherman: “Exactly.”
Beamish: “So, are you on any medication that way?”
Sherman: “I’m not. But there are players that took it. We all got tested on the same day. There was kind of a little mix-up with that.”
Beamish: “So, it’s not like you’re flying around all the time and you have to take it in the morning. Did it embarrass you? You seem like a
guy who’s good with people. You’re very good with public relations. Even though you were absolved of it, it still kind of hangs with you. Does it bother you that way?”Sherman: “Not at all. In the NFL, you always have people who don’t like you for any given reason. If you do anything well . . . If you’re the president, if you’re anybody of importance or with any kind of fame or notoriety, there are going to be a lot of people who don’t like what you do, who don’t support you. And you have to embrace it. You have to almost accept that there’s going to be naysayers for everything. If everybody says ‘I love you’ you’re probably not doing much.”
I guess it’s all in how you perceive the interview and the way it’s been played out. Sherman did say half the league that takes it, but I think his problem is that he was made to sound like he’s saying half the NFL’s players are abusing the medication.