ESPN poll: Patrick Peterson a better all-around football player than Richard Sherman
May 23, 2014, 7:00 PM | Updated: 7:17 pm
According to an ESPN.com SportsNation poll, 52 percent of people think that Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson is a better all-around football player than Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.
As of Friday afternoon, 47 of 50 states, along with international respondents, agreed with that sentiment.
The poll comes on the heels of a spat between the two cornerbacks, which started when Peterson said Sherman was not a “shutdown corner” as a guest Thursday on Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7.
Sherman responded by saying Peterson gives up too many touchdowns. The dispute continued on Twitter Thursday night.
Predictably, Washington and Oregon think Sherman is the better player, according to the poll, but said Peterson is “close” to his counterpart.
Peterson played college football at LSU and naturally his strongest backers are from Louisiana (79 percent). In Arizona, Peterson has 69 percent support, which is second-highest.
The poll doesn’t say that Peterson is a better cornerback than Sherman, just a more complete football player.
Peterson has returned four punts for touchdowns in his career — all in his rookie season. Peterson has also made 10 catches for 64 yards and has seven carries for 34 yards.
Sherman has only returned one punt in his NFL career — for -6 yards, but in 2009 at Stanford, Sherman took back 15 punts for 154 yards and scored a touchdown.
Results from another ESPN poll say that 48 percent of people think Peterson is the best shutdown corner compared to 41 percent for Sherman.
Undoubtedly, the trash talk between the two cornerbacks will continue into the regular season. The next meeting between the Cardinals and Seahawks is Week 12 in Seattle.