The Seattle Seahawks' Richard Sherman is arguably the best cornerback in football, and he may just be the NFL's No. 1 Harry Potter fan as well. He displayed his love for J.K. Rowling's magical series in a press conference Wednesday, showing up dressed as The Boy Who Lived. The costume wasn't even all of it, though; Sherman had the theme music playing when he stepped up to the podium, and once there, he proved that he knows the Potter books well.
Given his outfit, it wasn't surprising that the press conference strayed from the topic of football at times. The reporters present took his costume in stride and started asking Harry Potter-themed questions. For example, Sherman was asked to compare the challenges of Quidditch to playing five quarters of football (as the Seahawks had to on Sunday when their game against the Arizona Cardinals ended in a rare overtime tie).
The pro athlete gave Quidditch its due in his response, but not surprisingly, he chose his own sport.
“Quidditch — you know, the Beaters, the Chasers, trying to find the Golden Snitch, things like that — that’s tough,” said Sherman. “Five quarters of football, though, in the elements, I’d say that’d take the cake.”
His answer may be up for debate, but the adorableness of his reason for dressing up is not. Sherman revealed that he pulled the stunt because his son wanted him to “wear something.” Yet, there’s another reason for the costume as well: There are wizards on the Seahawks.
“When you’re a wizard, like we are out here, sometimes you have to show it to the Muggles out in the world. We’ve got a lot of wizards — my son’s a wizard, Earl Thomas does some magical things, Michael Bennett is Black Santa but he’s also a wizard — so you know, you just have a good time.”
Suddenly, all of Sherman’s career interceptions make sense. Maybe he’s just out there on the field yelling, “Accio, football!”
Whatever the case, we may not all be able to win a Super Bowl like he has, but we can follow his example and win Halloween.
Watch more of the press conference below.
