Richard Sherman

Vorlage:Infobox NFL player Richard Sherman (born March 30, 1988), is an American football cornerback with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He was selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round (154th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. Sherman played college football at Stanford as a wide receiver and cornerback for the Cardinal. He credited longtime mentor John Matthews with his career year. Vorlage:Citation needed

High school career

Sherman attended Dominguez High School in Compton, California, where he starred in football and track and field. As a senior in 2006 he accounted for 1,030 all-purpose yards, including 870 yards on 28 catches and three punt returns for touchdowns. He also recorded 45 tackles, eight pass breakups and one interception as a defensive back, and helped Dominguez to a CIF Southern Section Division III title with a 41-14 victory over Notre Dame High School in the championship game. He earned All-American honors in the triple jump and was the 7th ranked triple jumper in California in 2005.

College career

Sherman began his career at Stanford as a wide receiver and led the Cardinal in receiving as a freshman in 2005 while being named a Freshman All-American. He caught 47 passes over the next two years before suffering a season-ending knee injury after playing in the first four games in 2008. He switched to cornerback after his injury due to team need and made 112 tackles over his final two years, which also included 6 interceptions. He was part of the 2010 Stanford Cardinal football team which finished 12-1, a school record. Sherman is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.

Sherman graduated in 2010 from Stanford with a degree in Communication and returned for his final year of eligibility in order to begin a Masters degree.

Track and field

Sherman was also a track star at Stanford University, where he specialized in long Jump and triple jump, and also ran the 110 meter hurdles, posting a personal best of 13.99 seconds. He was also named a USA Today All-American in track and field after winning the California state title in the triple jump, with a mark of 15.44 meters.

Personal bests

Event	Time (seconds)	Venue	Date
60 meters	7.06	Nampa, Idaho	January 20, 2007
100 meters	10.77	Palo Alto, California	March 4, 2007
110 meter hurdles	13.99	Palo Alto, California	March 4, 2007

Event	Mark (meters)	Venue	Date
Long Jump	7.10	Seattle, Washington	January 27, 2007
Triple jump	15.44	Norwalk, Connecticut	June 3, 2006

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

2011

Sherman was selected in the 5th round by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2011 NFL Draft. Sherman remembers watching the draft with his family at home and being "livid" about players who he perceived as inferior getting drafted before him.

Despite starting only 10 games in his rookie season, Sherman was selected to the 2011 PFW All-Rookie Team, shattering all expectations heading into the season. He also led all rookies with 21 passes defended and 4 interceptions in addition to 55 tackles.

2012

Richard Sherman during 2013 Seattle Seahawks training camp.

On October 14, 2012, following a victory over the New England Patriots in which he had an interception, Sherman taunted the Patriots' quarterback, Tom Brady.

Prior to week 8 vs 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. (Optimus Prime and Megatron are opposing characters in the Transformers franchise.) Johnson was held to 3 catches for 46 yards against Sherman and the Seahawks,

On December 9, during Week 14 in a game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sherman recorded 2 interceptions of John Skelton's passes, one of which he returned 19 yards for a touchdown; Sherman also had 2 tackles and 1 assist and a fumble recovery, as the Seahawks took down the Cardinals 58-0 in the biggest shutout win in Seahawks history.

On December 23, in a Week 16 game against the San Francisco 49ers, Richard Sherman had 5 tackles and recorded 1 interception against Colin Kaepernick, and made a huge play on special teams when he recovered a blocked 49ers field goal and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown, which was blocked by Red Bryant.

Heading into Week 17 of the 2012 season, Sherman posted 61 tackles, seven interceptions and three forced fumbles. Due to his play and the fact that he was not selected to the 2013 Pro Bowl, Sherman was considered of one of the biggest 2013 Pro Bowl snubs. Sherman told Associated Press that "It don't mean nothing," prior to the announcement of the Pro Bowl rosters. He was subsequently named Associated Press NFL All-Pro First Team.

In December 2012, Sherman won his appeal of a four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. It was likely that Sherman would sue the NFL if he was suspended. Prior to the wildcard matchup between the Seahawks and the Redskins, Kedric Golston, a Redskins linebacker called out Sherman by saying "He's a cheater," referring to Sherman's successful suspension appeal.

Controversies

Sherman has been involved in several controversies during his short NFL career. One of these controversies is his Optimus Prime nickname, referring to Calvin Johnson, who is nicknamed Megatron. Sherman repeatedly taunted Tom Brady and the Patriots during an October 2012 game. After the game, Sherman posted to his Twitter account a photo of himself yelling at Brady with "U mad bro?" superimposed on it. He later removed the post. Sherman also stirred controversy with his response to not being selected to the 2013 Pro Bowl. In March 2013, Sherman went on to ESPN First Take, where he argued with Skip Bayless. Sherman told Bayless "I'm intelligent enough and capable enough to understand that you are an ignorant, pompous, egotistical cretin. I am going to crush you on here because I am tired of hearing about it." He also claimed that he was "better at life" than the First Take analyst, which sparked a response from fellow ESPN analyst Bill Simmons that blasted the First Take program. Sherman was also involved in a Twitter feud with fellow NFL cornerback, Darrelle Revis, to the point that Joe Haden also involved himself into the conversation, claiming that he was the No. 2 cornerback in the league, behind Revis and ahead of Sherman. Sherman has also been involved in controversies with Trent Williams and Roddy White.

Stats

The following stats were retrieved from NFL.com.

Year	Team	G	GS	Tackles					Interceptions						Fumbles
				Comb	Total	Ast	Sack	Safeties	PDef	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	TDs	FF
2011	Seattle	16	10	55	47	8	0.0	0	17	4	45	11.2	33	0	1
2012	Seattle	16	16	64	53	11	1.0	0	24	8	57	7.1	29	1	3
2013	Seattle	15	15	47	37	10	0.0	0	15	8	125	15.6	58T	1	0
Total		47	41	166	137	29	1.0	0	56	20	227	--	58T	2	4

External links

• Richard Sherman Official Website
• Vorlage:Twitter
• Seattle Seahawks bio