Richard Sherman Says Fans Only Care About Injuries Because of Fantasy Football

Week 4 provided a painful reminder that NFL players put their bodies on the line every game. 

A slate that started with a stomach-churning hit to Davante Adams also saw Ty Montgomery, Marcus Mariota, Derek Carr, Dalvin Cook, Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Kurt Coleman and Josh Norman leave their games with injuries. On Sunday night, Seattle Seahawks running Chris Carson was carted off the field after suffering a leg injury.

Per ESPN.com's Brady Henderson, Seattle placed the rookie on injured reserve with a broken leg. This means the seventh-round pick must sit on the sidelines after earning an expanded role. His teammates must come to grips with the fact that the same thing could happen to them.

Speaking to reporters after the game, per Henderson, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said fans see NFL players less as people and more as assets for their fantasy football teams. 

"You're not thinking, 'Hey man, this guy got hurt—he's really physically hurt and he's going to take time to recover and it's probably going to affect his mental state and his physical state and now he has a long, rigorous rehab.' You're thinking, 'Oh, man, he's messing up my fantasy team.'"

Many players, including Montgomery and Martellus Bennett, have told fans on Twitter that they are not interested in anyone's fantasy squad. Sherman explained the cause of their anger.

"I think that's why you see the frustration from a lot of players saying they don't care about your fantasy team," he said. "They don't care about how it affects your fantasy team because these are real players, this is real life. This is real life and this is their real job and that's affecting their well-being.

So don't be the jerk who yells at an athlete on social media because their injury or poor performance—or worse, an efficient, but tame stat line in a victory—caused you a fantasy loss.