HandshakeGate: Richard Sherman Lied and Baker Mayfield Actually Did Shake His Hand

In case you’re completely out of touch with reality and missed the biggest heel turn since Hulk Hogan joined NWO, Baker Mayfield became America’s most hated figure last night when it was reported that he Big Timed our beloved national treasure Richard Sherman with the old Air Handshake:

The source of the report was a first hand account by none other than … Richard Sherman. Without independent verification by any of the 80,000 or so eyewitnesses. And the above video, as well as these, would seem to contradict Sherman:

That’s right. The video doesn’t lie. But before you rush to judgment and take Mayfield’s side, Sherman is saying [sarcastic Jules Winnfield voice], “Well, please allow me to retort!”

Aha! What we have now is a full blown 5-alarm controversy on our hands. Worth of hashtag prefix and -Gate suffix. It’s #HandshakeGate. And it’s pretty clear that Richard Sherman not only impugned Baker Mayfield’s integrity, he lied about it, lied to cover up the lie, changed his story and now wants to change the subject.

And really, this is the best NFL handshake related scandal since Bill Belichick walked off the field after the Super Bowl That Shall Not Be Named I without congratulating Tom Coughlin or this recent classic, that almost started a war:

But the important takeaway is that Mayfield – as objectively terrible as he was in the game, did NOT fail to shake Sherman’s hand. That was a lie told to motivate the 49ers and it worked. But it did harm to the reputation of a man who showed proper coin flip etiquette, and the record needs to be corrected on that. Baker Mayfield may be the statistically worst quarterback in the game. But he doesn’t NOT shake opponent’s hands. Both Sherman and the court of public opinion owe him an apology.