Richard Sherman faced a football-throwing robot and lost

Richard Sherman was put up against a robotic quarterback developed by the robotics club at Compton High School.

Read about the latest sports tech news, innovations, ideas and products that impact players, fans and the sports industry at SportTechie.com.

If you ask the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman who the best cornerback in the NFL is, he would most certainly name himself, first and foremost—and, perhaps, for good reason. His ability in press coverage and his consistency at disrupting timing between the quarterback and receiver resulted in one of his best seasons in 2016, when he gave up only two touchdowns and an overall passer rating of 64.0, good for his fourth straight Pro Bowl nod.

But, when Sherman was put up against a robotic quarterback developed by the robotics club at Compton High School, Sherman couldn’t break up every pass that came his direction.

Sherman’s assignment was to block passes aimed towards three targets hoisted directly beneath the goal posts at Compton High School. Sherman was unable to deflect or catch a number of balls. He did not ultimately win the challenge.

“The goal was to beat Richard Sherman, which we did,” Robotics Club member Mario Gonzalez told The Press-Telegram. “The difficulty with building the robot was in the middle because we had about a week to build it.”

“The face [on the robot] distracts you,” Richard Sherman told NBC4 LA. “Nobody throws footballs through their mouth.”

“You guys came out here and beat me at my own sport,” added Sherman, a Compton native who came home to support the schoolchildren.

The event, marketed as “The Jerky Challenge,” was put on in a partnership between Compton High School and Oberto Beef Jerky.

After the challenge, a trophy was awarded to the Robotics Club for its victory, and Sherman gave some parting advice to the students and club members in attendance.

“There is so much more to aspire to outside the city, I promise you,” Sherman said. “There are so many great things, and I wish nothing but the best for all of you guys.”

“Nobody ever sees the hard work and dedication, they just think it’s easy,” Sherman added, according to NBC4 LA. “No, I had a lot of days where I didn’t know if I was going to make it, didn’t know what I was going to do, didn’t know if I was good enough — a lot of self-doubt, a lot of other people doubted me.

“I can’t wait to see you guys successful.”

The Compton High School students seem to have taken his words to heart.

“It’s inspiring to know that people like [Sherman] know that there is more potential for us, there is more potential for Compton, and not just in sports, but in technology as well,” Robotics Club member Angelica Hernandez told NBC4 LA.