49ers vs. Seahawks means something once again

I hated Richard Sherman.

How dare he knock away that pass — albeit an underthrown one — from Colin Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree late in the 2013 NFC championship game, denying the 49ers a return trip to the Super Bowl?

And then, in a post-game TV interview moments later, Seattle’s brash cornerback had the audacity to bad-mouth Crabtree, incensed that San Francisco thought its star wide receiver could win that matchup against the Seahawks’ star defensive back.

Such arrogance! Where’s the humility in victory? Respect for the opponent?

(He was right, but that’s not the point.)

Of course, six years later, I LOVE Richard Sherman.

Now he’s on the 49ers’ side, lending his leadership, his experience and his talents — in that order — to a San Francisco squad that has pretty much been in the crapper since that game.

On Monday night, Sherman’s old team and his new squad collide in Santa Clara, Calif., in a game that finally means something to both teams again.

NO ONE would have pegged the 49ers to be 8-0 at this point of the season — heck, many thought 8-8 would be a nice improvement in Year 3 under ShanaLynch.

San Francisco finally decided to start rushing the passer this year, which has made things easier for the back end of its defense. And the quarterback has remained healthy — knock on grass.

But the Niners’ remaining schedule is much tougher than its first half schedule. And they can’t really afford too many more injuries to front-line players.

Seattle, meanwhile, has two home losses, and nearly a third. Apparently its vaunted field goal defense was enough to push the Rams’ game-winning kick just wide right a few weeks ago, and by that margin, the Seahawks (7-2) are ahead of the Rams (6-3) in the NFC West standings.

Aside from a little bit of Arizona here and the Rams there, Seattle has been pretty much been The Team in the NFC West over the past decade, centered around its defense — a potential dynastic run reduced to one dominating Super Bowl victory, followed by One Stupid Play, followed by four straight years falling short of even a conference title game.

The Seattle supporters have pushed The Great Russell Wilson so hard for MVP this year that the Seahawks should just eliminate the suspense and award him with the trophy in a ceremony prior to Seattle’s next home game.

The Seahawks’ defense is not what it once was, as the Legion of Boom has been largely disassembled by management — Pete and John, as the locals refer to them — but that just leaves more of a stage for TGRW to make play after play ... after play ... after play.

And as much as foes hope that eventually he’ll get splattered, like so many other scrambling quarterbacks do, TGRW has a way of avoiding direct contact, spinning away from defenders and making them look silly, then chucking the ball way downfield to not-so-pedestrian receivers who suddenly become wide open.

“Pete and John” have done a nice job keeping the Seahawks relevant in the transtion from LOB to TGRW.

OF COURSE, until this year, the 49ers would have killed to maintain what the Seahawks had. S.F. is on its third coach since Sherman offered to shake hands with Crabtree, then chatted up Erin Andrews.

You’d have to ask Seahawks fans if they were satisfied with the last 4-5 years, considering what might have been. Maybe so, considering the first three decades of Seahawks football, where one of the franchise’s biggest plays was the holder throwing a touchdown pass to the field goal kicker on Monday Night Football.

49ers fans have suffered through those stretches — throughout most of the 1970s, then for about a decade starting in the early 2000s, until Jim Harbaugh showed up.

I remember during the 49ers’ run of five Super Bowl titles in 14 seasons (1981-94), it wasn’t enough just to make the playoffs. The Giants knocked Joe Montana out in one playoff game, then essentially ended his 49ers career by nearly breaking him in half in an NFC title game.

One year, S.F. had a terrific regular season, earned a first-round bye — then was done in by Cris Carter and some quarterback named Wade Wilson at home in the divisional playoffs.

That one hurt for a while, in a different way than Montana was hurt. Of course, the 49ers eased the pain by winning the next two Super Bowls, including that 55-10 thrashing of Denver.

Coaches and players say they often remember the losses more than the wins. Maybe fans do too.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.