Seahawks Ex Richard Sherman Reveals How Eagles' DeVonta Smith Caused Retirement: 'Whoa!'
Courtesy of our friend Ed Kracz, writer at SI.com's Eagles Today.
Former Seattle Seahawks All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman never shied away from making his confidence and feelings known during his playing career. And that's putting it very lightly.
But the outspoken player-turned-analyst had a humbling experience near the end of his playing career that gave him a rude awakening ... and it came in the form of Philadelphia Eagles talented receiver DeVonta Smith.
Smith made the five-time Pro Bowl cornerback and three-time first-team All-Pro realize his home was no longer in the NFL after 11 seasons spent in the league.
Sherman's realization came in a Thursday night game at Lincoln Financial Field on Oct. 14, 2021, when the Eagles hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Sherman, who spent the first seven years of his career with the Seahawks and then three more with the San Francisco 49ers, had signed that offseason as a free agent with the Bucs, but a calf injury sidelined him for the first three games of the season. The game in Philly was just his third with Tampa.
The likely future Hall of Fame cornerback was on the field that night, but it was also that night, trying to defend Smith, that he realized his splendid career would be over at the end of that season.
“DeVonta must’ve run this comeback (route),” Sherman said during a recent episode of his podcast, which had Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson on as guest. “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 said Smith's Heisman-winning skills made him realize then and there that he could no longer keep up with the league's young talent.
“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.”
It's hard to blame Sherman for coming to this career-ending realization. Smith has proven capable of torching some of the NFL's top cornerbacks, aging or not. Last year, he set the team’s record for most receptions in a year with 95.
There were some mere mortal games thrown in along the way in Smith’s first season. Like that game against Sherman when he had just two catches for 31 yards in the 28-22 loss.
Sherman was 33 at the time. He played only one more game that season and that was in Week 14.
Smith was still just 22 when it could be argued that he ended Sherman’s career on that October night in South Philadelphia.
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