San Francisco 49ers veteran cornerback Richard Sherman spoke at an event on Monday for Body Armor sports drink. Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee had a chance to catch up with him after the event and asked about his new teammate, rookie defensive end Nick Bosa. More specifically, Biderman asked about the former Buckeye's past actions on social media, which were criticized heading into the draft.
If anyone is willing to offer his honest and unfiltered opinion on a topic, it's Sherman. He doesn't see the "insensitive" and "offensive" activity as a problem for the 49ers locker room. Sherman believes the rookie will be judged more by his play on the field and contributions to the team rather than what he posts on Twitter or likes on Instagram.
"One thing about football is that nobody really cares what you say if you can play," Sherman told Biderman.
Bosa has already apologized for the questionable social media activity, which included criticism of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after he started kneeling during the national anthem in protest of social injustice. As Biderman states within his article, Sherman has long been a public supporter of Kaepernick.
"It's not like I'm saying his stance and what he was doing, that's not what I was talking about at all," Bosa told reporters during his introductory press conference. "It's just a specific thing that happened, and me as a young kid, a thought popping into my head, and boom, I decided to tweet it out. Bad decision.
"I respect what he's done. If it empowers anybody, then he's doing a good thing. I apologize for that."
Sherman looks forward to learning what kind of player and teammate Bosa will turn out to be, regardless of his beliefs. That is what will matter.
"I think, at the end of the day, your beliefs are your beliefs … but when you're in the building, and you're a football player, and you're a teammate, you handle yourself accordingly," Sherman said. "And I think he understands that."
Bosa sounded eager to show his new teammates who he is as a person and hopes living in the Bay Area will help him grow. He understands he made some bad choices in the past and hopes for a fresh start with the 49ers.
"I definitely made some insensitive decisions throughout my life," Bosa said. "I'm just excited to be here with a clean slate. I'm sorry if I hurt anybody. I definitely didn't intend for that to be the case, but I think me being here is even better for me as a person because I don't think there's any city that will help you grow as much as this one will."
General manager John Lynch was proud of how Bosa handled himself in front of a tough room of local and national reporters.
"I was real proud of him," Lynch said the day after drafting Bosa No. 2 overall. "I thought he handled it very well. I think he faced what he knew would be a tough room, and I thought he was very genuine, honest. Took accountability for some of the things maybe he wasn't the most proud of, and did so by being himself. And that's what we thought he'd do. We were proud of him for that."
Bosa has vowed to be more careful and respectful with his social media activity moving forward. As long as he steers clear of controversy, only his play on the football field will matter to teammates like Sherman.
"If he can play, he can play," Sherman added. "If he can't play, he won't be here. But at the end of the day, that's all that matters in football. Is he getting sacks on Sunday? Is he helping our team? Is he being a good teammate? Those are things that matter."
Click here to read Biderman's entire feature for the Sacramento Bee.
