Seattle Seahawks Win Big With Successful Richard Sherman Appeal

In the snow. Awesome.

It isn't too often that the league actually admits to a mistake (the whole bounty fiasco is proof of that) or that a player gets exonerated of an alleged offense. That seems to be the case this time.

Richard Sherman, star second year cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, was accused of taking a performance enhancing substance and suspended the required four games. However, on appeal it was discovered that the chain of custody was broken. That little tidbit resulted in the suspension being overturned.

That means that the Seahawks will not be without their dynamic duo at cornerback in the postseason since Brandon Browner opted not to appeal so that the team would not have to do without both should the worst case scenario come to fruition.

So now the hottest team in the NFL will not have to go into the playoffs at less than 100 percent.

Hmmm...anyone else see that as a little too convenient? Not that I'm a conspiracy theorists or something...

What I do find interesting in this is that the sample itself was likely still the same very sample that he gave. According to reports, the cup that Sherman used was leaking so his sample had to be placed into another cup. Supposedly the seal was not intact on the second cup theoretically making it possible for his sample to be contaminated by any Adderall (or other substance) that happened to be floating around the air near his sample.

I'm glad that the process worked in this case, but I would prefer that it not be won on a technicality much like Ryan Braun won his appeal this past summer. The process is in place for a reason and these kinds of technicalities do make it possible for improper things to happen. However, it doesn't address the real possibility that an illegal substance was used.

So in this case the fans won since they will get to see the complete Seahawks squad in the playoffs, but the integrity of the league lost a little since innocence wasn't proven. A cup just so happened to be broken.

Convenient.