This is an old piece (January 2014) but I still think about it sometimes.
» Stanford Man: Richard Sherman and the Thug Athlete Narrative
This phrase has been used in the past few days to describe Richard Sherman, cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks. After making a play that ensured his team would go to the Super Bowl, he gave the choke sign and then exuberantly (and aggressively) conducted postgame interviews berating San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Like many things that involve the equation of black + loud + famous + not smiling (see: Kanye West), the initial response had a negative, disrespectful, and racist element. The word “thug” was used liberally, but it also went much deeper than that, into the realm of “monkey” and “nigger” (see more in Greg Howard’s Deadspin piece on Sherman).
grantland.com