Richard Sherman is one of the greatest cornerbacks of his era, and probably a first-ballot Hall of Famer when the time comes for that decision to be made. Over his career, Sherman allowed just 18 touchdown passes, while grabbing 41 interceptions, and breaking up 73 passes. Opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 54.5 when targeting him, which isn’t much better than just throwing it in the dirt.
That said, time is undefeated, and even greats like Sherman know when it’s time to focus on something else. Sherman knew exactly when that was. In the end, it was Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith who cemented Sherman’s choice to call it a career.
The play happened in Week 6 of the 2021 season, which marked Sherman’s third game with the Buccaneers. He was defending Smith on what became an incomplete Jalen Hurts pass to Jalen Reagor with 7:36 left in the first quarter. Though Sherman wasn’t targeted on the play, he knew he’d had enough.
“DeVonta must’ve run this comeback,” Sherman said in a recent episode of his podcast. “I had him under control, I was like, bam, quick jam, easy, had him under control. He must’ve stopped and I tried to stop and my whole groin said, ‘Snap, snap, snap, snap,’ and I said, ‘Whoa, whoa.’”
Sherman added: “Then you’re trying to guard and chasing him around and you’re like please don’t throw him the ball, please. My coach is looking at me on the sideline like, ‘Hey, you wanna come out, you wanna come out?’
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, but they’re in a hurry-up,’ so I’m like bailing out. At that moment I was like yeah, this is probably my last year. I don’t got it for these young dudes right here.”
Sherman had moved on to a successful career in broadcasting and podcasting, which he put together even before he made that final decision to move on to greener pastures.
