It’s About More than Me
Feels great to be back on the biggest stage—more established, a little more grown up—with my Legion of Boom brothers. Above all, these past 12 months have shown me that we have the power, and the duty, to shape our own destinies
This story appears in the February 2 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Last season, while I was posing for magazine covers and calling out wide receivers in unconventional ways, I was also negotiating for an extension on my rookie contract. Seahawks general manager John Schneider asked me an important question: “Who are you going to be when you get paid?” As a fan, you’ve seen the scenario play out dozens of times—Player X gets a megadeal and never lives up to the paycheck; he stops playing hard and starts making business decisions with his body. I told John that I’m not playing football for the money, that I want to be the best to ever play. I said, “I’ll be the guy who has $50 million in the bank and plays like he has $5.”
My coach, Pete Carroll, says I’ve grown up since that breakout year, and to an extent, I agree. You see the world a little bit differently at 26 versus 25. Little slights don’t affect me as much as they did a year ago, and I don’t get overjoyed like I used to. It takes a little bit more to move the needle—winning a Super Bowl will do that. When you join a group of men and accomplish something so difficult and so rare, you no longer feel as though you have to prove things to people who haven’t proven anything to you. In most cases I have a better résumé than my detractors.
Before I had that, I was lucky to be drafted by Pete and John, who assembled around me one of the most talented and diverse defensive backfields in football. More than I want individual success, I want to be remembered as part of the Legion of Boom, which is why all of us are on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine this week. In football, unlike various other sports, it takes a total team effort to be successful.
I can’t perform at this level without Earl Thomas—The Example—who can show you how to do the right thing better than he can explain it. When everybody else is joking, he’s locked in, a reminder of what we’re here for.
I can’t perform at this level without Byron Maxwell, our chill guy, oblivious to the pressure. I remember him joking around with Carroll in our rookie camp, saying that if he was allowed to play nickel he’d choke out the slot receiver. Carroll relented and Maxwell delivered, only to get injured in camp. Now he’s the corner on the other side, and his consistently high level of play makes QBs’ decisions very difficult.
I can’t perform at this level without Jeremy Lane, the scrappy guy from Tyler, Texas. Competition brings out the dog in him; just look at what he’s done to the Packers’ Randall Cobb.
Carroll requires certain things of all of us—we have to tackle with the best—but he’s allowed each of us to be ourselves. This organization let me develop a public persona through trial and error, and it let me be nonchalant in my technique, something I wasn’t allowed to do at Stanford. I don’t imagine that’s an option in New England.
When you grow up in this defense, it becomes difficult to judge receivers across the league by watching them on tape. Most cornerbacks don’t push receivers to their limits with effective press technique; only a handful of cornerbacks outside Seattle are capable of it—guys like the Patriots’ Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner. Those are the players who give us the best indication of which receivers will be a challenge for our team.
With us, what you see is what you get: Press man and Cover Three—though the league continues to undermine our style of play, making things easier for the offense. Pass interference is a spot foul when called on the defense, but it’s a 10-yard penalty when called on the offense? We had the Packers facing third-and-13 in the NFC championship game, and the referees called hands to the face on one of our D-linemen who had no impact on the play. Five-yard penalty, first down. Those are the moments when you wonder, How can we win as a defense? People ask me how I’d compare this defense with the 1985 Bears, and I never have the answer they’re looking for. But I know this: In this era, with the rules we play by, we’re as dominant as any team can be.
Where I came from, in Compton, kids were brainwashed into thinking that if they weren’t athletes or rappers or drug dealers they were nothing.
But those are small issues. On a bigger level, I look at the NFL today and I’m as disappointed as ever in its management. Commissioner Roger Goodell operates at a high level, but he’s doing what 32 owners tell him to do. I once believed that having more retired players in the league office could remedy this, but the former player in the highest position, executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, continues to disappoint. When he told Adrian Peterson he’d receive a two-game suspension and the league failed to deliver, he became just another suit.
Under Goodell the league continues to put players like Marshawn Lynch in a position to be mocked by the media, which seems to get a kick out of seeing people struggle on camera. As teammates we’re angry because we know what certain people do well and we know what they struggle with. Marshawn’s talking to the press is the equivalent of putting a reporter on a football field and telling him to tackle Adrian Peterson.
Some of the same people slamming Marshawn for not talking are just as likely to condemn the Browns’ Andrew Hawkins and Johnson Bademosi for protesting police brutality with T-shirts. They want to hear us speak, but only if we’re saying something they want to hear. As athletes who spend most of our waking hours at the team facility, we learned about the events in Ferguson and the death of Eric Garner through a kind of osmosis—you see a video clip or read a story, but you never get the full picture. We understand, though, what it is to grow up as a black man in America. As a community, the best way for us to avoid becoming victims is for people to understand that we can avoid a great majority of these situations. Too often we look at a Ferguson and we say, That’s what’s wrong with my life, that’s why I’m in the situation I’m in.
I thought long and hard about joining in with players across the league and making a visual statement—a T-shirt or a hands-up gesture—but ultimately I decided against it. I asked myself, What message am I sending out? Am I going to end police violence? Racism? No, of course not. So how can I evoke change?
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I got some news nine months ago that helped me reach a conclusion. My girlfriend, Ashley, and I are expecting our first child, a boy, any day now. I’ve realized in the last year that I can evoke change by being a great role model: a man who respects women and police officers, who graduated from college and does everything in his power to be successful within the rules.
Circumstances dictate where you start—a single mother raised Kam Chancellor to become the man he is today—but each individual determines his course. Where I came from, in Compton, kids were brainwashed into thinking that if they weren’t athletes or rappers or drug dealers they were nothing. My son will understand that he’s in control of his own destiny and that education, work ethic and discipline will guide him to an even better life than I’ve enjoyed. He’ll be the man who makes this world a better place through positive actions and influence.
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Check this out. It's funny I promise.
http://thecollegetailgate.com/2015/01/27/nerfgate-what-the-nfl-hasnt-told-you/
Agree or not agree with him, I just love this guy. So smart, articulate, passionate, and I actually do believe him that he plays like he makes $5/hour with $50 MILLION in the bank. Sherman for President!!! :-D
Love this guy !
Dang. I'm speechless. More prouder than ever to sport my #25 jersey.
In addition to kudos for the sentiments expressed here, I would give Richard one recommendation: marry Ashley, and start cutting into the number of "single mothers" (or substitute another term if you care).
The Seahawks truly are a reality TV cast. The League should be thankful they take their helmets off every now and then...
http://thecollegetailgate.com/2014/11/29/marshawn-media/
Richard Sherman is once again 100% correct
I don't believe he is practicing respectability politics. He gave props to the players that wished to protest. What I think he was saying that he could best serve through other means. I wish there were more celebrities who thought that way. Some of them are so poor at moving that needle, I wish they wouldn't try. Since Sherman is such a lightning rod, I also feel any attempt at stirring that pot would be counter productive. He is stating that he is most confident doing what he already does and being that for his son. That is more than many do.
Richard, I am a big fan and will continue to be - but don't fall into the swamp of respectibility politics. You are obviously a very high achiever but even a homeless man with children he doesn't take care of, should not expect to be shot if he has not put a police officer in a life threatening position. There is a middle ground in which the police respect citizens and citizens respect police -because we are all people. You are wrong on this one, but I'm still a big fan.
It's good to hear an NFL player touch on larger issues. His logic regarding Marshawn Lynch is debatable, but I believe that he Lynch a tinge of Social Anxiety Disorder which should mitigate the expectations placed on him regarding the media. Grabbing himself after TD's shows he is capable of expressing himself, without having to man up and schmooze the media. But some people are more interesting bucking the system than playing along.
Sherman seems like a guy who wants it all, and can play many roles to get what he wants. So in this world, and in this day, he is a winner. But leave the jokes to Key and Peele (when he used the card board cut-out to express his feelings about fines and Lynch) and don't diss others to prop up your ego and exposure.
He is thoughtful, and I bet he will be a great Dad and family man. Good luck to him, and please keep up the communication with the NFL fans via SI. It has been enlightening. GO SUPERBOWL 49.
I gotta admit I at first thought Richard Sherman was just a wild loud mouth but over the past year, I've become one of his biggest fans. Dude tells it like it is, doesn't sugarcoat or try to be all PC, and is hella intelligent. Figure from where he came from to where he is, he's owned his life. I wish you the best of luck, RS. GO HAWKS.
"I’ve realized in the last year that I can evoke change by being a great role model: a man who respects women and police officers"
What about respecting your opponents? Are there no lessons to be taught about exhibiting true sportsmanship?
What about respecting your employer? What does biting the hand that feeds you teach?
I absolutely love this article! Being a parent is the hardest job you will ever have in life but at the same time the most gratifying! You try and guide your children on the right path, but ultimately it is up to them to make that finally push and be the best at there dreams! I have a son who is a junior in college who wanted nothing more than to play football after high school! He knew he's chances were very slim for a scholarship due to his size. But he found a D1 school that he could walk on to the team. He put ever ounce of motivation and determination in to it! Worked his but off, giving up his summers to be at practice ect. He is still on the team as a Jr. Playing special teams, but without the drive and determination and guidance making him believe he can be whatever he wants to be I don't know if he would of stuck with it! It's a shame that some children are guided to be failures! I know that this not what this article is mainly about but it's nice to see others out there with motivation, passion and dreams!
A solid piece and it shows that when Sherman wants to, he can be a very intelligent and logical sounding guy, far more than the majority of players. It's a shame that he often likes to be the brash trash talking guy on the field and make people think he is an idiot when he clearly is not. I guess in his defense he really doesn't care if people stereotype him that way and ignore things like this which he says off the field.
Its not "about me" but then states that he couldnt play for New England because they wouldnt let him develop his public persona. Yea no kidding, they stomp out egos and make people play as a team. Thats why tgey have bern succesful for 15 years and you are just a member of the current day '85 Bears who will peak for year or two and never live up to your teams potential. Because eventually, egos will take over. It almost happened this year.
Richard is an interesting young man. Both he and his team certainly push the envelope of the status quo through their words and they are exhilarating to watch play. The only downside to Mr. Sherman's engaging the beast of content is that it is easier getting on this train than getting off. Donald Trump and LeBron example well how free publicity can turn into both definition of character and intellectual limitations over time. These are bright men but not educated ones. Sherman may be highly educated for the NFL but compared to the actually educated he will (over time) run out of prescient things to say. His critique of the NFL examples this well. Certainly the NFL is run by wealthy fascists but the players have enabled this patriarchy by too often ceding the high ground of public opinion through juvenile delinquency. The players ARE the game. They could (and should) win every strike or lawsuit were they to ever (as a group) grow up. This is the elephant in the room. Because Richard Sherman chooses to drop into the real world of discourse to enjoy the fruits of self-promotion but has less need to genuinely change the system he professes to abhor; his impact is heat but less light. Players and fans need fierce and educated advocates. If only Richard Sherman could broaden his intellectual and his spiritual game to lift more than just his yacht the greater good might get served?
Just play and shut up. You are an embarrassment to the league.
Top Three Suggested Names For The Sherman Baby:
3. Herman Sherman
2. Sherman Sherman
1. Peabody Sherman
Sherman is making excuses for kids growing up in the inner city. Their chance of success is FAR greater than the poorest of white children growing up in rural areas of the Appalachians. These kids literally reside in places where they have NO HEAT or running water. They have to kill their prey just to eat. SPORTS? They have LITTLE or no chance of even playing organized sports. The media has NO clue whatsoever TRUE POVERTY is. All these youth sports programs are designed for the children in the major cities. It's not PC to try and help country kids.
@jafco99 although Richard and Ashley are not married, she will be nothing close to a "single mother" - labels don't apply in this case.
@ZacharyDammel It's a team of rock stars, what do you expect?
@wricev I stand by my view, but you make some good points. #agreetodisagree #gohawks!
I have heard praise plenty of players. Andrew luck, Larry Fitzgerald. He praised revis and browner in this story
@wayside Richard's said it on his twitter feed himself. He has a ton of respect for his employer, Paul Allen. He's also been quoted many times in the press praising opponents that have earned his respect. And being a guy who obviously expects a lot out of himself and his teammates, you'll have to forgive him for having high standards in order to earn his respect.
@wayside Your opponents can't throw you in jail or shoot you dead.
@joe smoe1 Trash talk is part of the game. Brady is one of the biggest offenders but nobody slams him for it. I guess if his skin were a different color and he had dreads it might be different.
@Macker1283 'Its not "about me" but then states that he couldnt play for New England because they wouldnt let him develop his public persona'
No, he didn't. He said that New England wouldn't "let me be nonchalant in my technique". Nice spin though.
@Macker1283 He didn't say, "he couldn't play for New England"...he said, "I don’t imagine that’s an option in New England." And what are you talking about "they stomp out egos"????
Macker1283, meet Tom Brady...
@tillzen Spoken like a wannabe anarcho-syndicalist. It's not like you're out there overthrowing the system of your oppressors either. Maybe you've run out of prescient things to say. Ever consider that maybe Sherman doesn't share your vision for him to overthrow the NFL?
Totally fair points, but perhaps they are premature and expect too much out of one man. The call for collective work towards a higher ground is certainly on point, though. Though the other side of the coin is that present critiques of the NFL don't have any hope of success due to the engrained power of corporate ownership, sponsors and media conglomerates, so the only viable strategy is to speak your piece, get paid, and then seek to change things after you've locked in a fortune on which your family can live.
@JinSteves Exactly how is he an embarassment to the league? Oh, right, he's black and has an opinion.
GFY bigot.
You are an embarrassment to humanity and rational thought, hoss.
@JinSteves Is that how your daddy spoke to you?
@PeytonEatsCrappaJohns How about ,,,,Tank Sherman or General Sherman or maybe Unsure Sherman.
@mabelvalejrhigh BS. How many drive-bys in Appalachia?
@mabelvalejrhigh How can you even mention the Appalachians when kids have zero hope for a happy future in many undeveloped areas of Africa? And how dare I bring up Africa when Zebulons are starving and dying in gas swamps on a distant planet? ZEBULONS!? What of those poor creatures on Andrivol? three galaxies over from Zebulon!? Oh don't start with your "those poor Drivolians" crap! They live like kings compared to...
Seriously, Mabel, you can't demand every article cover every problem area in the universe. He was being specific. You were being silly.
@mabelvalejrhigh Well chump, you're the one that keeps voting Republican, and Republicans are the ones who continue to hold down these people by perpetuating the coal industry's stranglehold on the area.
So look in the mirror and tell the person you see what a jerk they are for handicapping those kids.
@mabelvalejrhigh
Your ignorance is downfall! Your racial bias is on display and your lack of ANY understanding of what kind of odds for success kids like Sherman were up against is just plain scary. You and those like you are what keeps our country from being able to get past racial prejudice.
@mabelvalejrhigh Sherman is just talking about what HE had to go through.
If you grew up on the "rural areas of the Appalachians" then you can talk about it. For your information many people living in the inner city also have no heat or running water. No money = No heat, no water.
Why don't YOU start a youth league if it concerns you? I notice you have money for internet and enough time to follow MMQB and b*tch about other people.
@mabelvalejrhigh Did you not read the damn article? He was talking about how education, hard work, and discipline will get you along way.
How is that an excuse that's a FACT!
@CrissieP @jafco99 One label does, CrissieP.
@PhilHenderson @Macker1283 Brady's ego is stomped out. He barely says anything during interviews. You can have the opinion that he has an ego, but you can't argue Brady goes on Twitter or goes on post game interviews and yells, "You send a sorry Cornerback like Richard Sherman against me!!" No, he toes the line. And I wish someone would ask Sherman about his teammate Marshawn Lynch who he would rather play for...the Seahawks, or the Patriots who protect their players from media exposure and availability more than any other franchise in league history. They literally have PR guys in the locker room with stop watches telling the local media when to stop asking questions. Lynch would love that. He wouldn't have to bring his own stop watch to interview sessions.
@JinSteves embarrassment
@Mech @PeytonEatsCrappaJohns I like General Sherman... but because he's such a lightening rod for haters, he should name his son Richard Sherman Jr. That way he'll be sure to tick people off for the next 60 years.
@damnedgentlemen @mabelvalejrhigh Republicans? Who even brought up Republicans? Oh yeah, you did...
Why do you have to throw that grenade in the room? Maybe you and your mirror should have some personal time together because your assumption of someone's political affiliation based on their idiotic post is somewhat offensive.
Maybe it's people jumping to conclusions so quickly that make it hard to have a civil conversation.
I happen to disagree with what @mabelvalejrhigh posted...but I disagree with you even more!
@David Bargelt @mabelvalejrhigh And people like you that race bait are worse. Honestly, because he doesn't like a player that continuously creates controversy just for the sake of controversy, that shows no respect for the game or his opponents, that has never exhibited class as a professional athlete (or as a person, really), that makes him a racist? I didn't see anything in that post that constitutes racism.
Or are you a racist just because you dislike Sherman?
Enough race baiting. I am not racially prejudiced, but you would say I am because I don't like Sherman. Nice logic, clown.
@EdKing @mabelvalejrhigh He could be using internet at a school or library. Calm down.
@BenAronhalt @mabelvalejrhigh Mabel Vale Junior High appears to represent the worst of educational standards today. Most people possess basic reading comprehension skills by the time they get to junior high. Really makes Arkansas look far behind the curve in public education.
@jafco99 @CrissieP The word you're thinking of synonymous with your quoted "single mothers" is totally not appropriate in this instance because Sherman's child will be well loved and cared for by both parents regardless of whether they remain together longterm.
Go back to the last time the pats won a superbowl they mocked TO every few minutes.
@Macker1283 @PhilHenderson FYI: The Seahawks have totally protected Lynch from media exposure every step of the way. They don't require him to do any media in Seattle, and local reporters know better than to ask that of him. But you're kidding yourself if you think the Patriots would have somehow been more successful protecting Lynch from the press on Super Bowl media day. The Seahawks brass had been actively negotiating with the NFL on his behalf as the league was threatening a failure to participate would result in a $500,000 fine. They eventually settled on what you saw yesterday when he was allowed to get away with repeating 29 times that he was only there so he wouldn't be fined. Lynch has said before that he saw his trade to Seattle liberating. There's no way he would like playing for the old school Belichick because he would never enjoy the latitude that Pete Carroll gives him.
@Macker1283 @PhilHenderson Are you really a Patriots fan completely unaware of how much trash Brady talks on the field. Just the other day Jey Feely was on first take, as a former teammate of Brady's saying that Brady will TOTALLY talk trash constantly when playing him on the field whether in football or golf or basketball or whatever. Amazing that you wouldn't know that about him.
@Macker1283
I think he likes it just fine where he's at...
@Ciscos @Mech @PeytonEatsCrappaJohns Richard Sherman Jr. so we would have to call Richard Sherman Sr. Senior before he was 29.
@PhilHenderson I guarantee you @marblevalejrhigh votes a straight GOP ticket. And yeah, maybe I should've let it go, but the clear implication from this (person) is "Who'll think of the WHITE kids?", while he summarily rejects the issues facing inner city kids.
It's white supremacist code talk, and I'm not going to let it pass.
@Alex Cuomo @Ciscos @Mech @PeytonEatsCrappaJohns My oldest son was born when I was 25. He's a junior. Thus, I was a senior at 25. He's now 18.
@damnedgentlemen @PhilHenderson If you had a brain, rather than being an "emotist" you would too. Stupid liberal drone. Shut up. This is about football and one man's role in it.
@damnedgentlemen @PhilHenderson In YOUR RACIST OPINION it is. Sounds to me like you need to incorporate more tolerance in your life, racist.
@damnedgentlemen Thank God that you're here to interrupt what people really mean and what political party they are affiliated with!
@PhilHenderson As I said Phil, the dude is dropping white supremacist code and I'm not going to let him get away with it. If he made good points, that would be one thing, but he's just another bigot who wants to marginalize an intelligent black man. It does the children of Appalachia no good to minimize the challenges facing inner city kids, but this rube just ignorantly dismisses their problems and whines about Sherman's apparent lack of empathy for the poor white kids in the hills. It's an utterly ridiculous line of attack, and it serves no purpose other than to "throw a grenade" on Sherman's legitimate concerns for the challenges faced by inner city kids.
When Jerry Lewis is doing a telethon for kids with MS, do people cry about how Jerry doesn't care about kids with ADHD? No, they don't. MVJH clearly dislikes Sherm, as is his right. But accusing him of "making excuses" for poor black kids and disingenuously suggesting that they have a wealth of opportunity goes over the line, and MVJH's wording and verbiage makes it clear that he is a bigot, which anyone with time spent reading FOX News comment sections can readily attest to. I am not about to let another Rightwing nutter try to make prejudice socially acceptable, as they are trying to do not only in the comment sections of blogs, but in the laws they try to pass and the constant perversion of free speech laws they regularly misinterpret.
I'll stop stop calling out bigots when they crawl back under their rocks and stay out of civilized society.
On a totally unrelated note, I will enjoy watching the Seahawks crush Tom Terrific's bid for another SB ring even more now that I know MVJH is a Pat's fan.
@damnedgentlemen @PhilHenderson Just because YOU read racism in benign (admittedly misguided) comments doesn't mean it's true.
Sounds to me like you're the one with the race axe to grind...
Between your posts and his, yours is by FAR the more racially charged one.
There's enough stupid racism in the world without you inventing it, clown. Make something that isn't about race ALL ABOUT race.
@damnedgentlemen First, one thing that we are in agreement about is that we will both enjoy watching the Seahawks crush Tom...
But I guess what I am trying to get at is that your assumptions make a lot of people jump to assumptions about you...just like you did about the original poster. You love to throw out terms like "white supremacist code," "Republicans," "GOP," "Fox News" etc and you don't realize that you end up sounding just like the other guy because you are using your "code" to put down others you don't agree with.
I honestly don't want to make this a political post because it's about Richard Sherman and the NFL, but I would encourage you to look at history a little closer before jumping to such stereotypical assumptions about which party is racist and which party is not. You may want to brush up on which party was pro-slavery, which party was pro-segregation, which party filibustered the civil rights act, and which party kept electing a known KKK member who didn't want to join the military because he didn't want to server alongside "race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds".
So as you sit there throwing stones, just be sure you aiming them all in the right direction...
@PhilHenderson @damnedgentlemen You're being very selective, too, though. You must know by now that the Republicans, furious about the civil rights legislation, changed sides long ago, when Harry Truman basically told all racists to get out of the Democratic Party. There is no correlation between the Republicans you speak of and the Republicans of today. You speak of the KKK connection, but no mention of Strom Thurmond, one of the most horrible racists of all time, who ran for president in 1948 on the promise of continued segregation, and who, as governor of South Carolina, allowed the execution of 21 inmates, all of them black. Every single one. This is one example. The current day GOP is loaded with racists, most of whom seem a bit slow-witted. I'm not saying that's all there is in the GOP, but the ratio of racists to non in the GOP is much, much higher than it is in the Democratic party. It's rampant, in fact. It was a simple test, you know? All you had to do is ask yourself which party tries to suppress minority voting and which party fights for minority rights. Yet you still somehow came up with Republicans as the non-racist party. That's mind-blowing.
@D.j.Johnson
That's my whole point...Of course you can find people on both sides that have issues... but you guys like to ignore problems on your side and put all of them on the other. With blanket statements like "the ratio of racists to non in the GOP is much, much higher than in the Democratic party." ...based on what? Based on your claim they suppress minority voting? How? Voter ID? How does that suppress anyone's right to vote?
What is mind blowing is how you and others equate NAACP, welfare, and voter ID with minority rights. Your way will never make anyone equal as long as the thumb of the government is pushing down on them.
Quit pointing at only one side when the problem has nothing to do with political party affiliation, but rather a lot of other things people on your side of the fence don't want to admit.