Childhood & Early Life
Sherman was born on March 30, 1988, in Compton, California, to Kevin and Beverly Sherman. He is the second of the three children with elder brother, Branton, and younger sister, Krystina. His father worked for the city sanitation department.
He studied at ‘Dominguez High School,’ where he played football as a wide receiver, cornerback and punt/kick returner. Besides football, he also participated in athletics.
During his senior year, he helped his school win a ‘CIF Southern Section Division III’ title. In athletics, he won the ‘California State title’ in the triple jump and was named ‘USA Today – All-American.’ At his graduation in 2006, he was voted the ‘Male Student Most Likely to Succeed’ and also, a ‘Salutatorian’ in his class. He graduated with 4.2 GPA and joined the ‘Stanford University’ where he became the first student in 20 years to qualify on both academic and athletics merits.
At the university, he played for the ‘Stanford Cardinals’ from 2006 to 2010. For the first 3 years he played as wide receiver and was named, ‘Freshman All-American.’ Due to a knee injury he could play only 4 games during his junior year and was allowed a medical redshirt.
Later, he switched to defense and began playing as cornerback. In 2010, the ‘Stanford Cardinal Team’ achieved a school record by finishing 12-1 in the NCAA Division I FBS Football season.
Sherman received an undergraduate degree in communication from the ‘Stanford University’ in 2010. He is a member of ‘Phi Beta Sigma’ fraternity. During his final year of eligibility he registered for a master’s degree.
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Career
He played in the ‘2011 Senior Bowl’ in January 2011 and later attended the ‘NFL Scouting Combine.’ Sherman was considered by ‘Sporting News’ as the fourth best cornerback in ‘2011 NFL Draft.’ In the draft, he was selected in the 5th round, 154th overall, by the ‘Seattle Seahawks.’ In July 2011, he signed a 4 year, $2.22 million contract that included $182,424 as signing bonus.
In his rookie season with the ‘Seattle Seahawks,’ he recorded a total of 55 combined tackles (47 solo), 14 pass deflections, 4 interceptions, and a forced fumble. This earned him a place in the ‘2011 PFW All-Rookie’ team and he led with 17 pass deflections and 4 interceptions. In 2011, his rank was 16th among all the (qualifying) cornerbacks.
During the 2012 season, Sherman and fellow-player Brandon Browner faced suspension for 4 games, allegedly for taking ‘Adderall’ (combination drug, known CNS-stimulant), as taking performance-enhancing drugs was against the League’s policy. On December 27, 2012, he won his appeal of 4-game suspension against the League. He played all the 16 games of the season and scored 64 combined tackles (58 solo), 24 pass deflections (a career-high), 8 interceptions, and a touchdown.
In 2013, the ‘Seattle Seahawks’ earned a place in the playoffs and Sherman played his first career playoff in January, 2013. But the team was eliminated in the divisional round.
In December 2013, he was selected to the ‘2014 Pro Bowl’ (his first Pro-Bowl). He was selected to the ‘Associated Press NFL All-Pro First Team’ for the second consecutive season.
’The Legion of Boom’ (defense of the ‘Seattle Seahawks’) of which Sherman was an important part, was ranked topmost defense in 2013. He played an important role in his team’s victory over the ‘San Francisco 49ers’ in the ‘NFC Championship Game’ on January 19, 2014. After the game Sherman was fined $7875 for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ because of his mocking gesture towards an opposite team player. He was the NFL interceptions leader in 2013.
The ‘Seattle Seahawks’ won the ‘Super Bowl XLVIII’ on February 2, 2014, by defeating the ‘Denver Broncos’ 43-8. Sherman made 3 combined tackles and a pass deflection.
In May 2014, he signed a 4-year, $56 million contract extension with the ‘Seattle Seahawks.’ He became the highest paid cornerback in the NFL history.
Sherman was awarded the ‘NFC Defensive Player of the Week,’ for the ‘Thanksgiving Day Game’ on November 27, 2014. For the 2014 season, he recorded 57 combined tackles (45 solo), 8 pass deflections and 4 interceptions.
In 2015 February, he played for his team in the ‘Super Bowl XLIX,’ but the ‘Seahawks’ lost to the ‘New England Patriots.’ After this game, Sherman underwent Tommy John surgery for a torn ligament in the left elbow.
After the 2014 season, he was awarded the ‘PFWA (Pro-Football Writers Association) Good Guy Award’ and he was the second consecutive ‘Seahawk’ to earn the honor. He also received the ‘NFC Defensive Player of the Year’ from the ‘Kansas City Committee.’
In December 2015, Sherman was selected to the ‘Pro-Bowl’ for the third consecutive season. In the 2015 season, he started all 16 games and scored 50 combined tackles, 14 pass deflections and 2 interceptions. He was named to the ‘Second Team All-Pro,’ and his fellow players placed him on the 20th rank in the ‘NFL Top 100 of 2016.’
During the 2016 season, he suffered a sprained MLC in right knee, which affected his game in the second half of the season. He was selected for the ‘2017 Pro-Bowl,’ however in 2017 he had trouble due to his Achilles and in the 10th week of the season he had to leave the game midway because of the ruptured Achilles. He couldn’t play for the rest of the season.
On March 9, 2018, he was released from ‘Seattle Seahawks’ and on 10th March he signed a 3-year, $39 million contract with ‘San Francisco 49ers.’
In 2013, Sherman started his charity, ‘Blanket Coverage – The Richard Sherman Family Foundation,’ which provides school supplies to the students from low-income communities all across America.
