Revisiting 2013 NFC championship game: Inside iconic playoff game featuring Richard Sherman-Michael Crabtree beef

Dan Treacy

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Revisiting 2013 NFC championship game: Inside iconic playoff game featuring Richard Sherman-Michael Crabtree beef image

The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers were first paired in the same division in 2002, but it didn't take long for a rivalry to brew.

While there aren't many good feelings between the two NFC West teams today, it might be hard for the Seahawks and 49ers to top the bad blood that just about boiled over in the 2013 NFC championship game.

The Seahawks punched their ticket to the Super Bowl with a win over the 49ers in the contest, setting the stage for the franchise's first championship, but the game might be better remembered for Richard Sherman's postgame rant than the result itself.

Here's a look back at the heated 2013 NFC title game between the Seahawks and 49ers as the rivalry renews again. 

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Revisiting 2013 NFC Championship

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With their “Legion of Boom” defense and the 12th Man behind them, the Seahawks entered the NFC Championship Game as home favorites against the 49ers. San Francisco, however, was the reigning NFC champion and had 12 wins of its own under coach Jim Harbaugh.

The 49ers jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, aided by a touchdown from fullback Anthony Dixon, while all Seattle’s offense could manage in the first half was a field goal. Momentum appeared to shift early in the third quarter when Marshawn Lynch ignited the crowd with a 40-yard touchdown, but Colin Kaepernick quickly answered with a go-ahead touchdown to Anquan Boldin.

That would be the final time the 49ers scored. The Seahawks’ vaunted defense pitched a shutout over the final 21 minutes, and Seattle took the lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when Russell Wilson connected with Jermaine Kearse for a 35-yard touchdown.

After the Seahawks added a field goal, Kaepernick had 3:43 to engineer a go-ahead drive. The 49ers advanced as far as Seattle’s 18-yard line, but their hopes ended when Richard Sherman, covering Michael Crabtree, deflected a pass from Kaepernick into the hands of Malcolm Smith for a game-ending interception.

Tension had been brewing between Sherman and Crabtree, and it came to a head after the play. Here's a look at Sherman's beef with Crabtree and his iconic postgame rant.

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Richard Sherman-Michael Crabtree beef

Sherman tried to shake Crabtree's hand immediately after the play, but he put up a choking symbol after Crabtree instead shoved his facemask. The gesture earned Sherman a taunting penalty that ultimately didn't impact the game, but he wasn't satisfied with just that moment of gratification.

While being interviewed by Fox Sports' Erin Andrews after the game, Sherman referred to Crabtree as a "sorry receiver" and labeled himself "the best corner in the game.

The full background of the beef between Sherman and Crabtree, aside from one being a No. 1 cornerback and the other being a leading receiver for dueling NFC West teams, wasn't fully clear at the time. In recent years, though, Sherman has shed light on it, claiming some trash talk on the field spilled over into an offseason charity softball game when Crabtree had some drinks and told the Seahawks star, "You're lucky we're at this event, or I'd put hands on you."

By the NFC championship game, the Seahawks and 49ers were seeing each other for the third time in the same season, and tensions boiled over after Sherman ended San Francisco's season.

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Richard Sherman rant on Michael Crabtree

Here's a full video of Sherman's rant:

"Well, I'm the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you gon' get! Don't you ever talk about me!" Sherman shouted. 

When Andrews asked who he was referring to, Sherman said, "Crabtree! Don't you open your mouth about the best! Or, you know I'm gonna shut it for you real quick!"

Sherman's rant has lived on perhaps longer than any other memory from that NFC championship game, but it certainly didn't distract the Seahawks. Seattle went on to win Super Bowl 48 in blowout fashion, defeating the Denver Broncos 43-8 at MetLife Stadium to capture their first championship. 

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