Did Baker Mayfield shake Richard Sherman’s hand before Monday Night Football between the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers? That’s the big question because Sherman said after the game that Mayfield didn’t shake hands at the beginning of the game. Now there’s footage that seems to show Mayfield shaking Sherman’s hand before the coin toss and then running off after the coin toss without the post-coin toss handshake. Maybe that’s what has Richard was talking about.
Or maybe Richard forgot that Baker shook his hand at the beginning of the coin toss. Or maybe Richard just wanted to create his own narrative to make Baker Mayfield seem like he doesn’t respect the game.
“What’s amazing, and annoying, was him not shaking hands at the beginning,” Sherman said (via NFL.com). “That’s some college s—. It’s ridiculous.
“We’re all trying to get psyched up, but shaking hands with your opponent — that’s NFL etiquette. And when you pull bush-league stuff, that’s disrespectful to the game. And believe me, that’s gonna get us fired up.
“Respect the game. You can have rivals, but pay your respect in that moment — especially when you’re young.
“He hasn’t earned anything in this league. How many games has he won? He’s acting like he was the MVP last year. If [Patrick] Mahomes did that, it would be one thing. But he would never do that, because he has too much respect for the game.
Update: Richard is mad about not getting a handshake AFTER the coin toss.
Asked @R_Sherman25 about the video out there.
He said it was Baker Mayfield darting away after the toss that angered the Niners: "That’s it. They are making way too big of a story of a blowout. He pissed us off. We put a foot in his ass. End of story."
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 8, 2019
Now let’s go to the Baker Mayfield-Richard Sherman handshake videos:
WHAT IS SHERM TALKING ABOUT HE LITERALLY SHOOK BAKER'S HAND
BAKER SHOOK EVERYONE'S HAND pic.twitter.com/Vl5AjYt5Jv
— Jimi HIMdrix (@FlammyMarciano) October 8, 2019
And an even better angle where Baker Mayfield shakes Richard Sherman’s hand, but it sure looks like Richard doesn’t even look Baker in the eyes. Maybe he didn’t realize it was Baker:
So Richard Sherman claims Baker Mayfield refused to shake his hand at the coin toss. This video seems to indicate otherwise: pic.twitter.com/4CgOsLKLPL
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) October 8, 2019
And now after the coin toss when Baker runs off. I’m not sure there’s etiquette on shaking after the toss, but then again I’m not an expert on such things:
More Zapruder film from Handshakegate courtesy of ESPN. Baker Mayfield and Richard Sherman do a quick handshake before the coin toss, then Baker runs off after the coin toss and you can see Sherman wave bye to him. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/UQPPdGYYBT
— Clayton Holloway (@HollowClay) October 8, 2019
