Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks looks on before the 2015 NFC Championship game at CenturyLink Field on January 18, 2015 in Seattle, Washington.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images North America

It was hardly a “U mad bro?” type of moment for Richard Sherman when Tom Brady’s name came up after the Seattle Seahawks finished off a camp practice this week.

It was more a matter of Sherman feeling Brady’s pain.

The spirited all-pro cornerback sympathizes for the New England Patriots quarterback who beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, contending that Brady has unfairly taken the brunt of the still-unresolved punishment flowing from the Deflategate saga.

“You’re fining players more than you’re fining organizations?” Sherman told USA TODAY Sports, comparing the team discipline to the roughly $2 million in lost salary Brady currently faces due to a four-game suspension.

“That should bring up some red flags. But nobody’s talking about that.”

With Brady’s case in the midst of settlement talks ordered by federal judge Richard Berman, it’s possible that he and the NFL could agree to reduce the suspension.

Yet Sherman, like many, is perplexed that it has come to this, and that the case of deflated footballs dominated the NFL’s offseason.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to have minimal impact on the season, minimal impact on the rules,” Sherman contended. “So it’s just a minor annoyance, really.”

I’ll disagree with Sherman’s assessment on how the case can impact the season. If Brady misses four games and his Patriots are forced to start young, untested Jimmy Garoppolo, it might be a swing factor to weigh on whether New England can claim the home-field advantage they used on the path to the crown last season.

But Sherman — who wears passion on his sleeves, as exhibited when he got in Brady’s face and asked if the quarterback was mad following a victory in 2012 — was on a roll. No need to stop him.

“Last year, Jim Irsay got fined what, 500 grand?” Sherman said, referring to the Indianapolis Colts owner, who was suspended for six games and fined $500,000 as discipline for his misdemeanor DUI case.

“Owners can only be fined so much. There’s a cap. And Brady gets fined (roughly $2 million). Whether the crimes are the same or not, a suspension is a suspension, a fine is a fine. Game checks.”

Sherman’s point was that Irsay should have faced a stiffer monetary penalty. He maintains that owners benefit from a double standard when it comes to discipline for off-the-field issues.

Then there was the punishment that Patriots owner Robert Kraft accepted for Deflategate, a $1 million fine and loss of two draft picks, including a first-rounder in 2016. It ranks among the stiffest team discipline in NFL history.

Sherman’s not impressed.

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SOURCE: USA Today
Jarrett Bell