Richard Sherman’s MMQB column that explained his crazed post-game rant set a traffic record for Sports Illustrated on Monday.
The piece reportedly generated over 4.3 million unique visitors as of Tuesday morning, breaking Sports Illustrated’s previous high of 3.7 uniques.
In his column, Sherman, a Stanford University graduate, explained why he smacked down 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree after Sherman preserved Seattle’s 23-17 win over the 49ers on Sunday with a tremendous an All-World deflection. He also said that he was not a villain. Conservative icon and talk radio host Rush Limbaugh did not condone Sherman’s rant that “shocked” him but mentioned that Sherman came out of the “infested slum” that is Compton, California and is a smart person whom people would like if they got to know him. On Twitter, reaction to Sherman’s rant was even, with twice as many positive as negative reactions that mentioned Sherman’s Twitter handle.
Sherman apologized to his teammates on Monday for inadvertently taking attention away from their accomplishments.