Richard Kevin Sherman (born March 30, 1988) is an American former professional football cornerback who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal, beginning his career as a wide receiver before moving to cornerback as a junior. Sherman was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He was selected to the Pro Bowl five times and voted All-Pro five times, including three first-team selections. In 2013, Sherman led the NFL in interceptions. He is considered to be one of the greatest cornerbacks of all time.
During his time as a member of the Seahawks, Sherman was part of the "Legion of Boom" defense, the secondary that led the NFL in pass defense in 2013 and 2014. This unit helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII; their 43–8 victory over the Denver Broncos matched the third-largest margin of victory in the history of the Super Bowl. The Seahawks made it to Super Bowl XLIX the following season, losing in a close game against the New England Patriots. During Sherman's time with the Seahawks, they led the league in scoring defense for four straight years between 2012 and 2015, making them the first team to do so since the 1950s Cleveland Browns. After playing with the Seahawks, Sherman played for the San Francisco 49ers for three seasons, where he made his third Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl LIV, and then spent his final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Education Sherman attended Dominguez High School in Compton, California, starring in football and track and field. As a senior in 2005, he accounted for 1,030 all-purpose yards, including 870 yards on 28 catches and three punt returns for touchdowns. Sherman also recorded 45 tackles, eight pass breakups and an interception as a cornerback, and helped Dominguez to a CIF Southern Section Division III title with a 41–14 victory over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High School in the championship game.
As a member of the school's track team, Sherman was named a USA Today All-American after winning the California state title in the triple jump, with a mark of 15.44 meters, and was the seventh ranked triple jumper in California in 2005. He made it to the finals of the state meet in the 110-meter hurdles, placing third with a time of 13.99 seconds, and also finished sixth in the long jump, with a mark of 7.25 meters. Sherman was also timed at 10.77 seconds in the 100 meters.
Sherman graduated in 2006, when his classmates voted him the "Male student most likely to succeed". A scholar-athlete, Sherman was salutatorian (ranked second) in his high school class, graduating with a 4.2 GPA.
Sherman is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and graduated from Stanford University in 2010 with an undergraduate degree in communications. He began work towards his master's degree when he returned for a fifth year during his final year of eligibility.
Recruiting
College career After originally committing to UCLA, Sherman received an athletic scholarship to attend Stanford University, where he played for the Stanford Cardinal football team from 2006 to 2010 under head coaches Walt Harris and Jim Harbaugh. Sherman began his career at Stanford as a wide receiver and led the Cardinal in receiving as a freshman in 2006 while being named an honorable mention to the Freshman All-American Team by Sporting News. In the 2006 season, he had 34 receptions for 581 yards and three touchdowns. Sherman caught 47 passes over the next two years before suffering a season-ending knee injury after playing in the first four games in 2008, which became a redshirt year. He was granted his request to switch to cornerback after his injury and made 112 tackles over his final two years, with six interceptions. Sherman was part of the 2010 Stanford Cardinal team that finished 12–1, a school record.
Professional career Pre-draft On January 29, 2011, Sherman played in the 2011 Senior Bowl and deflected two passes as part of Marvin Lewis' North team that lost 24–10 to the South. Sherman was added as a late replacement after Curtis Marsh Jr. sustained a hamstring injury on the first day of practice. His Senior Bowl performance was well received and was expected to raise his draft stock. Sherman attended the NFL Scouting Combine and completed all of the combine and positional drills.
On March 17, 2011, Sherman participated at Stanford's pro day and attempted to improve on his combine performance. He performed the 40-yard dash (4.53), 20-yard dash (2.56s), 10-yard dash (1.58s), vertical jump (37"), broad jump (11'0"), short shuttle (4.29s), and three-cone drill (6.72s). At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Sherman was projected to be selected anywhere from the fourth to sixth rounds by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. The Sporting News projected him to be a second round pick and Fox Sports' Peter Schrager projected Sherman to be a fifth round pick. Sherman was ranked as the fourth best cornerback in the draft by The Sporting News, the 22nd best cornerback by USA Today, the 24th cornerback prospect by DraftScout.com, and the 30th best cornerback by Pro Football Weekly.
Seattle Seahawks 2011 season The Seattle Seahawks selected Sherman in the fifth round (154th overall) of the 2011 NFL draft. He was the 25th cornerback drafted in 2011. While watching the draft with his family at home, Sherman was "livid" about players he perceived as inferior getting drafted before him.
On July 22, 2011, the Seahawks signed Sherman to a four-year, $2.22 million contract that included a signing bonus of $182,424. Throughout training camp, he competed to be a starting cornerback against Walter Thurmond, Kelly Jennings, Byron Maxwell, Brandon Browner, and Kennard Cox. Head coach Pete Carroll named Sherman the fourth cornerback on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Marcus Trufant, Brandon Browner, and Walter Thurmond.
Sherman made his professional regular season debut in the season-opening 33–17 loss at the San Francisco 49ers. Three weeks later, Sherman made his first career solo tackle during a 13-yard punt return by wide receiver Eric Weems as the Seahawks narrowly lost 30–28 to the Atlanta Falcons. On October 30, 2011, Sherman earned his first career start after Marcus Trufant and Walter Thurmond were both placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. He finished the 34–12 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals with five combined tackles, a season-high three pass deflections, and made his first career interception. Sherman made his first career interception off a pass by quarterback Andy Dalton, that was originally intended for wide receiver A. J. Green, in the third quarter. In Week 12, Sherman collected a season-high seven combined tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Rex Grossman during a 23–17 loss to the Washington Redskins. On January 1, 2012, Sherman recorded a season-high six solo tackles, a pass deflection, and an interception in the 23–20 loss at the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17. Sherman intercepted a pass by Cardinals' quarterback John Skelton, that was initially intended for wide receiver Andre Roberts and returned it for a 33-yard gain in the fourth quarter.
Sherman finished his rookie year with 55 combined tackles (47 solo), 14 pass deflections, four interceptions, and a forced fumble in 16 games and 10 starts. Sherman was selected to the 2011 PFW All-Rookie Team and led all rookies with 17 pass deflections and four interceptions. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 85.2, which ranked 16th among all qualifying cornerbacks in 2011.
2012 season Sherman entered training camp slated as the starting cornerback, but saw minor competition from Marcus Trufant. Head coach Pete Carroll named Sherman and Brandon Browner the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season.
Sherman started in the season opener at the Arizona Cardinals and made four solo tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by John Skelton in their 20–16 loss. On October 14, 2012, Sherman made three solo tackles, three pass deflections, and an interception during a 24–23 win against the New England Patriots. After the game, Sherman taunted quarterback Tom Brady and posted a photo of himself yelling at Brady with "U mad bro?" superimposed on it on his Twitter account. He later removed the post. Prior to Week 8 against Detroit, Sherman nicknamed himself Optimus Prime, an action intended to send out the message that he would shut down Detroit's wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, known by his nickname Megatron. He collected a season-high eight combined tackles and held Calvin Johnson to three catches for 46-yards as the Seahawks lost 28–24 at the Detroit Lions.
On November 11, 2012, Sherman recorded three combined tackles, three pass deflections, an interception, and made his first career sack during a 28–7 victory over the New York Jets. Sherman sacked quarterback Mark Sanchez and forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Jason Jones in the fourth quarter. Sherman earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Jets. Two weeks later, it was reported that Sherman and teammate Brandon Browner were both facing four-game suspensions after they were accused of taking Adderall which violated the league's policy against performance-enhancing substances. On December 9, 2012, Sherman recorded two combined tackles, deflected three passes, recovered a fumble, made two interceptions, and returned an interception for his first NFL touchdown during the Seahawks' 58–0 victory against the Arizona Cardinals. Sherman intercepted a pass by quarterback John Skelton, that was originally intended for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and returned it for a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter. In Week 16, Sherman made five combined tackles, a season-high four pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by quarterback Colin Kaepernick during a 42–13 victory against the San Francisco 49ers. During the second quarter, Sherman recovered a blocked field goal and returned it for a 90-yard touchdown after teammate Red Bryant blocked a 21-yard field goal attempt by 49ers' kicker David Akers. On December 27, 2012, it was announced that Sherman won his appeal of a four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. Sherman had intentions to sue the league if the suspension was upheld. He started all 16 games and made 64 combined tackles (53 solo), a career-high 24 pass deflections, eight interceptions, a touchdown, and a sack. He received an overall grade of 94.3 from Pro Football Focus in 2012. Sherman earned First Team All-Pro honors.
The Seattle Seahawks finished second in the NFC West with an 11–5 record and earned a playoff berth. On January 6, 2013, Sherman started in his first career playoff game as the Seahawks defeated the Washington Redskins 24–14 in the NFC Wild Card Round. The following week, he made three pass deflections as the Seahawks were eliminated from the playoffs following a 30–28 loss at the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Divisional Round.
2013 season