Last summer, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman implemented a self-imposed media ban after a news outlets — both local and national — published the address of a house he’d recently purchased. The house in Maple Valley, formerly owned by NBA baller Jamal Crawford, sits in an isolated neighborhood about 45 minutes southeast of Seattle — only a minor inconvenience for thirsty autograph seekers. Stories published at the time seemed to indicate it was a few isolated incidents of nutjob fans, but in a piece today on MMQB.com, it appears the problem was much worse, if not flat-out pathetic:
Several media outlets published links to the address, giving fans easy access that would otherwise take some digging to find online. And fans began showing up at his gate, even entire football teams of 12-year-olds filing off school buses in full uniform, pleading for autographs. Sherman stopped talking to local media for months as a result.
Now, we’re not sure how many busloads of 12-year-olds were showing up, and it very well could have only been one incident (although the article seems to imply there were more). Regardless of the number, we know there’s at least one youth football coach (or terrible group of parents) in the greater Seattle area who thought it was a good idea to round up the kids after a game, pile them onto a bus, and drive them to a professional athlete’s house for autographs. Good job, everybody.
[MMQB]
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