Did they learn that at Stanford?

Coach Pete Carroll with two Stanford alumni (Photo Credit: Juneau Empire).

Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman--both 2011 Stanford alumni--form cornerstones of the Seattle offense and defense. Most of the time, they provide inspirational leadership for the team and our city.

Both feel perpetually disrespected and underestimated. A dauntless determination to defeat disrespectful detractors fuels the phenomenal performance of both athletes.

Unable to make the cut as a wideout at Stanford, Sherman shifted to defense. A mere fifth-round pick, he emerged in the NFL as a perennial All-Pro and Pro Bowl cornerback. Some continued to discount him because we always lined him up on the left, enabling opposing offenses to avoid him rather easily. However, Kris Richard adjusted our scheme this season, allowing Sherman to shadow each team's #1 receiver most of the time.

Baldwin went undrafted and toiled in anonymity, blocking selflessly and making the best of the paucity of receiving opportunities in our run-first offense. That finally paid off this year in the form of his first 1,000-yard season, the team touchdown receiving record and recognition as a Pro Bowl alternate.

Both possess fiery temperaments that make them polarizing figures, mostly loathed by Hawks haters.

Sherman became probably the most hated player in the game for awhile after his unhinged rant against Michael Crabtree in 2014. To his credit, he then turned over a new leaf and skilfully rebuilt his reputation as a thoughtful sportsman.

Baldwin remained generally ignored until his novel touchdown celebration during Super Bowl XLIX, wherein he mimed pulling down his pants, squatted over the football and pretended to drop a deuce.

Baldwin's poopdown (Photo Credit: Twitter)

This is not how you want to get famous.

NBC cut away fast from Baldwin's defecation celebration, but not fast enough.

Angry Doug was frustrated because Darrelle Revis had shut him down to that point and talked a lot of smack along the way. But that's no excuse.

Appropriately, the officials flagged him for unsportsmanlike contact.

To his credit, Baldwin later apologized and showed up this season with a constructive new attitude. Inspired by his Filipino mother, Baldwin has apparently replaced the sizable chip on his shoulder with the wings of an angel.

Living in the Bay Area, the epicenter of Hawk hate, I feed off the loathing I regularly receive from the many Niner fans I encounter. (I have nothing but pity left for the Raider faithful, because so few remain.)

As long as their antipathy constitutes pure jealousy for Seattle's success, it merely amuses and energizes me.

However, I squirm when our players disgrace our great franchise and offer ready fodder to our unworthy detractors. I hate having to apologize for the behavior of Seattle players.

The soul of the Seahawk franchise has always been built upon a foundation of decency, high character and good sportsmanship: Steve Largent, Jim Zorn, Dave Brown, Curt Warner, Cortez Kennedy, Walter Jones, Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, Marcus Trufant, Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas III.

This is widely misunderstood, in part because has Seattle become best known in recent years for Sherman's mouth, Baldwin's squatting and Beast Mode's Skittles, crotch grabs and reluctance to talk to the media.

Those antics tend to distract our detractors from the real foundations of our team's success: Coach Carroll's philosophy of selfless competition, the righteousness of Russell Wilson and the badassitude of the Legion of Boom

Last week, it happened again. In the midst of our triumphant domination of the Cardinals, Sherman revived Baldwin's dookie taunt: the same mimed pants drop and deuce drop (sans ball), followed by pointing at the Arizona bench just in case anyone missed the message.

Once again, the officials threw a richly-deserved flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Did Baldwin and Sherman learn this $#!+ at Stanford? Like many overpriced private schools, the Farm cultivates a haughty intellectual reputation. Is it part of the curriculum to inculcate a fecal fixation of nigh-Teutonic proportions?

Seattle team leaders need to mount an intervention to ensure that Baldwin and Sherman can maintain their personal dignity and that of the team and the city going forward.

As they consider their conduct during games, I wish all NFL players would remember that millions of us are watching with small children. I should be able to cite the behavior of my favorite Seahawks as models of sportsmanship for my son to follow, not as counterexamples or cautionary tales to avoid.