Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, opinionated omnipresent on TV networks’ Sunday talk shows, feels Seattle Seahawks’ cornerback Richard Sherman is a “loudmouth” and that Coach Pete Carroll is “one step ahead of the sheriff.”

“You know everybody is such a (Peyton) Manning fan and that loudmouth from Seattle sort of epitomizes the Seattle team to me,” McCain said of Sherman. “But I’m sure I’m going to get in trouble for that one, too,” McCain told radio KFYI in Phoenix.

Asked who’s going to win, McCain added: “I think Denver.”

As to Carroll, McCain opined: “He gets one step ahead of the sheriff. He gets out of town.”

The remark was in apparent reference to Carroll’s departure from USC for the Seahawks. USC was later hit by sanctions. (McCain has been known to refer to USC, alma mater of his wife Cindy, as “the University of Spoiled Children.”)

There’s been a wave of Manning hagiography from the East Coast media, from ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday, to Sally Jenkins’ column in the Washington Post, to NBC’s Washington, D.C., bureau chief Chuck Todd on Wednesday’s “Daily Rundown.”

The wave has been pushed by Sherman’s postgame outburst after deflecting a pass Sunday, and saving the Seahawks’ win over the 49ers.

McCain is a Washington, D.C., institution but is speaking from a different perspective than capital colleagues. He is an Arizona Cardinals’ fan.

“There’s no doubt the Seahawks are a great team, but the last team to beat them was the Arizona Cardinals in Seattle,” he told KFYI. “That was a great game. That’s why I have high hopes for next year.”