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Seattle Seahawks CB Richard Sherman rips Roger Goodell's proposed ejection rule

By The Sports Xchange
Seattle Seahawks' Richard Sherman leaves the field after the Seahawks-Arizona Cardinals game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale Arizona, January 3, 2016. The Seahawks defeated the Cardinals 36-6. Photo by Art Foxall/UPI
Seattle Seahawks' Richard Sherman leaves the field after the Seahawks-Arizona Cardinals game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale Arizona, January 3, 2016. The Seahawks defeated the Cardinals 36-6. Photo by Art Foxall/UPI | License Photo

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman ripped NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's proposed rule to eject players who get two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in a game.

The NFL's competition committee will be considering the rule proposed by Goodell last month at the annual league meetings that begin Monday in Boca Raton, Fla.

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"I think it's foolish," Sherman said Sunday during a TV interview with ESPN's Jim Trotte. "But it sounds like something somebody who's never played the game would say, something that they would suggest, because he doesn't understand. He's just a face. He's just a suit. He's never stepped foot on the field and understood how you can get a personal foul."

Sherman was recently elected to the NFL Players Association executive committee and has previously served as the Seahawks' union representative.

The competition committee also is likely to discuss the catch rule and the outspoken Sherman was asked why the catch-or-no-catch play generates so much controversy.

"Because you've got a bunch of suits doing it," Sherman said. "Like I said before, you don't have a bunch of guys ... let Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin talk about it for about 20, 30 minutes. Maybe Chris Carter. Randy Moss, let those guys have a roundtable discussion about what a catch should be and come up with a rule.

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"I guarantee you it'd be more effective than the rule they have now because those are the pass-catchers. Those are some of the best pass-catchers we've had. I think it'd be more straightforward and to the point. You've got a bunch of guys who have never played. They've probably touched a football to hold it out or to shake somebody's hand, to take a picture, but they've never played the game."

Goodell said during Super Bowl week that he wanted to take the call out of the hands of game officials.

"I believe the league should pursue a policy where if there are two personal fouls in a game, there's an automatic ejection of a player," Goodell said last month. "I believe that that's consistent with what we believe are the safety issues, but I also believe it's consistent with what we believe are the standards of sportsmanship that we've emphasized."

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