Richard Sherman Says Donald Trump Sets a Bad Example for Kids

Richard Sherman, who is writing a piece for 'The Players' Tribune' every Thursday this year, criticized president-elect Donald Trump in today's piece.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Richard Sherman, who is writing a piece for The Players' Tribune every Thursday this year, criticized president-elect Donald Trump and called for everyone to be better in today's article.

In a column titled "We All Need to Do Better," Sherman praised his parents, called for his fellow parents of America to raise their children to have respect for other people, and challenged people to be less about talk and more about action.

Sherman wrote of the moment in which he realized how impactful Trump's presidency would be on the next generation, and how concerned that made him.

"Just recently, my fiancée’s niece and nephew came over to our house, and they were telling us about a couple of their friends, fellow elementary school students," Sherman wrote. "One of their friends is Native American and the other is Muslim. This was around last week’s election, when Donald Trump became president-elect, and these kids were worried about being deported."

He says that's when he realized how vital parenting would be.

"It’s unfortunate that we live in a time when our president-elect is the opposite of an example for our children," Sherman wrote. "He will be one of those external factors that parents will have to combat—an example of somebody we don’t want our kids to talk like or emulate."

Sherman said children could hear "dangerous or ignorant" things on television. He also addressed Trump's words about Muslim and Hispanic people, and said, "that’s not how you talk about people."

The overall gist of Sherman's piece was that everyone needs to be better. We need to be kinder to each other, to help out in our communities, and to do it not for attention but because it's the right thing to do and because others need us—like Sherman once needed his parents.

"If we do that, the future will be pretty bright," Sherman writes.

It's not that saying "we all need to help out in our communities and be good examples for kids" is super original or anything—it's not—but credit to Sherman for not being totally doom and gloom when at first it seemed the piece would go that direction. He stated his perspective and bemoaned the state of the country, but he also suggested practical action.

Latest in Sports