RICHARD SHERMAN

Native graduate of Stanford University, proud, proud husband and father, and led the Seattle Seahawks in this part of a legion of boom. Welcome to the cut to a podcast. Richard used to get on my nerves corner Sherman. Of course we gotta jump straight in there while you get on your nerves right right right, because it was good, Okay, Like I studied so much film on Sherman. I just couldn't get him. He wasn't necessarily fast. Um, he wasn't

slow either. He knew his technique. Um, it was just difficult. That sounds pesky as hell. That is a great word. And and this pet bowl doesn't take kindly to pet so it didn't go well. Sometimes just boom right right, right right. It was it was like a fleet and sometimes he would just you know, after play real quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've seen it. I've seen it right right right right after the game fits. It was like, why are you let him do it like that? He's like, what you

mean many but I have had a chance. I think it was when we were in Baltimore and you were hurt, and I saw y'all meet up right on the sidelines and there was nothing but love. So I think that was really really dope to where both of y'all are amazing competitors, but there was nothing but love between y'all two even between the lines. I know it's it's it's harsh,

but I know off of it like mutual respects. So that was really dope to see when I saw y'all embrace in Baltimore, when when you were hurting and y'all were coming in from Seattle. Man. One of the things though I always respected, love about Sherman's you know, Sherman went, Sherman doesn't know we're right down the street from each other, right, Because I grew up on a hundred and six and avalon.

Yeah at exactly see a lot like a lot of the lot of the A lot of guys don't know how you know, just you know where I grew up, especially you know some of other players like yourself. But then even some of the young Bucks, like the young Bucks is from Calabasas and Sherman Oaks and yeah, we's goes here, Man, I'm from l A. And then I tell them I'm from l A too, because I've been in Charlotte so long, right, And then then when I tell them, they go, oh, and then they have that

face like they connect the dots. They're like, oh, now I get it. It all makes sense. So let's we we let's get into that um later. But man, we're gonna start off with some little ice breakers. These are random questions that I thought up and thought up for each each guest because I I want to poking proud and also just kind of seeing this one. I particularly picked out for you because I know, uh, you're a thinker, but I also know you get lazy sometimes like myself.

That competent comes out right. So if you were a time traveler, would you go in the past or would you go forward? I think having the knowledge I have now, it's always go back, you know, I don't know what's the future or so so unknown. Um, and I feel like I have more like I'm more excited to see the surprise than I am. You know, I want to go up there and make sure stuff is whatever. You know, i'd have impacted out. Now I'm going back and I can do something. I'm just going back to see it again.

And this is your time trouble, Okay, that's why I asked. I knew he was gonna go down this rapping right right? How can I mean, you don't know what to say time, And if you go back and do something and change something, isn't gonna change something from when you catch up. See my mom will go down that rep. Oh yeah, Butterfly, I think we're gonna we're gonna be We're gonna be

here six days. So so if I could go back and change something, you know, I you know, I guess you know, it makes me feel limited because it would always have to do with sports and always have to do with that. Because for the rest, for the most part, you know, I accept the good bad and indifferent from everything else. You know, I felt like that kind of made me and built me into who I am. Um. But in sports, you know, it's always a play here

and play there that you wish you could have back. Hey, man, I wish I would have did this. I wish I would have Man, I wish I wouldn't have guessed on that that double move. I wish I would have wished I would have made that tackle or you know, and so you second guess yourself all all day. So I think I go back into the past and and and play a few of these games over and do a few different things different. I go forward, Man, that the past bumped bumped the past, I go forward. I really would.

I think, you know, the past is what it is, good batter or indifferent. But I'm I'm intrigued of what's coming up, what's coming forward? You have all of the things, um, more than anything for me. While I would go forward, I won't see my I wouldn't see my kids, what what has happened and the things that I've talked tom right like at like at like forty five years old, Peyton, my oldest at thirty seven, my daughter, you know, my youngest is seven. What what is you know, what is

he doing? Right before graduation? Right where am I? Right before graduation? Did I make it? I would go. I would go forward completely and just and just be a fly on the wall. Like I'm getting emotional just thinking about it, just because that's why I wouldn't go in the future. But see, but I want to because if we just jump right into it, man, you know this is the first. Like you know, I always ask where you from? What your own town? Man? You you're from me from the same hotel in l A. And we're

not supposed to be here. We're not supposed to I'm not supposed to be forty three years old, right, I got a podcast, just got just got off a flight, right and seeing the world in a in a way, in a place I wasn't supposed to make it past one. That's that's that's that's a people always ask why we say that. It's because that's what you see. You're not your reality every day. Like the guys I the guys I grew up with on Womanton and Komp m hm

m hmm. It's about three of us left, kah and when I was my one of them is my cousin dion Um, who's a police officer in Memphis. Like one of the other dudes, Mark Mark got Mark got caught before we're sixty years old. Yeah, that's it. That It's just it's just heartbreaking because you know, like there's very few people that make it out that ever go back and not be successful. You know what I mean that that that ever go back, because usually when you make

it out, you go blossom somewhere else. You know. We we end up having eleven dudes go be one from my high school, and majority of them stay where they're at. You know, they stay in Utah, went to Utah, University of Utah there in Utah, they went to Oregon. It's still in order. They and and they graduated. They did everything they were supposed to do. But on the other side of the coin, a lot of the dudes that stayed it's like a weekly text of like bang such

and such got hit. My best friend my freshman year in college, Um got hit on some random bs in the neighborhood. He stayed in his holding probably half of his life, and walking across the street there had been a shooting in the neighborhood. They actud me warriors from me. Wasn't he wasn't from nowhere. I don't bang. I'm walking to the gas station. Just get some some chats, snacks and chips and stuff. Bro, I don't want no problems.

They catch him on the way back home, a bullets in his chest to in the head, and the dudes are like forty years old, like you know, and it's like bro like like for some people, that's the only lifestyle. So it's like in the box that we were we were raised in. It's a very dangerous place. And some people never leave that box and the things they take serious and value and will lose their lives over seem trivial to everybody else. But inside that box, everything that's

that's the whole box. You know, it's it's it's it's crazy. So you know, man, where are you from in the place you call your home town? Um? Well, should I'm from Compton, Watts. I mean we're either one. You know.

I was born I should. I was born in near king Um at Cincinnella in Inglewood, and we were raised in Watts till I was ten, and then we moved around, got to Compton to go to high school, and then when Stanford went up to Stanford, but my parents lived in Compton all the way until like my third year in the league, and I moved him out to Orange County. And so that's that's been a you know, been a blessing for them, you know, because it's just just peace of mind. You know. People have so much pride in

the city. They're like, man, I don't want to leave, you know, I mean, you don't want to be a sellout. It's like, I feel you. But on the other hand, on the other hand, y'all go back and drive and visit. You know, we're gonna we're gonna put you on, you know,

move you on up to the east side. It is different. Man, Mom, when I first got to probably about third or fourth year in the league, off for the um bring her out in the short ships, like for what you know, and and and Moms is like she said, ain't nobody. Then she goes, ain't nobody in North Carolina. I know. I was like, oh, okay, damn all right, my bad one person. We you know, we had we had two kids at that time, right right here, come to your

grand baby. You know what is so attractive about the high prices, the terrible traffic that you're unwilling unwilling to go somewhere else. This is like this podcast, but just because it's ridiculous. It's like, Bro, look, I'm telling you, for the money I'm within to pay for your house, you could have a castle somewhere else. You are really willing to take this small house versus the castle you

can have somewhere else, minus the traffic, minus the craziness. Oh, my family, the family that gives you all this brahma all the time. Those are the people that you want to stay close to, even though you ain't gonna see that when you're close to him, Why are you talking about my family? You know, it looked the same everywhere.

It looked the same everywhere. And that's the it's the frustrating part, because you know, as soon as you pop that bubble for him, as soon as they find out like what the other side looks like, and they'll love it, but they ain't willing to take that risk to see. And I think we we have taken risks our whole careers. You know, playing sports, being ambitious is a risk in itself. The first time I really left the city was was

a college visit. You know, and as soon as you get out there you're like, bro that the that'st of the world is a real place. I went to. I went to Starkville, Mississippi and watch Mississippi play Old miss which was interesting. It was interesting because my dad wanted me to see every black head coach and Chroom was one of them. And so and I'm there, you know, I'm there with my quarterback and it was it was wild.

It was it was like it was in the fifties, but it was a story for a different day, but it was. It was an eye opening experience because it really just proves me like the rest of the world wasn't like a figment about imagine that It's not just what you see on TV. You know what I mean. It's tangible. I can touch it. And it sounds stupid when I say it now, but in reality, back then, it almost was like the rest of the world was a fairy tale outside of my box. Like cool, I

see it on TV. I know people are out there, but it don't exist to me until I touched That's how my first we played in a Blue Gray game and I was first of all when I went off to the universe of Utah. That was my second plane, right second plane ride ever in life. Okay, got there now the first time, so so so the first time we go play Washington Wazoo, we play them. Uh. I got off the airplane. I threw up because that was like my fourth time. That was like my third or

fourth time being on the airplane. I was not I just I've barfed right after. I mean we got after right and so it just but we played in uh the Blue uh uh Blue Gray All Star Game because we didn't make it. That was a Christmas game. Man Mobile Alabama, who I remember. I got on a continental flight that airlines and just seeing the other part of the world. It was. It was crazy, just seen all the things that I saw. And the crazy part is

I didn't see a whole bunch of craziness. I just saw a different part of the world that I thought I'd never see. Hell. I got drafted by the Carolina Panthers. I had never been that far before in the United States. Before that, the closest places I've ever been from l A. Drove to San Diego, took a Greyhound bust to Vegas. We drove to see my great great grandparents in Arizona. And that was it. That was the furthest and the

extent of my travels ever in my life. Until I was nineteen years old, I went on a trip and it's it's it's mind blowing. It's really mind blowing because because if people don't understand how scary that is, Like people think, oh man, you got drafted, that's your dreams. It's it's the unknown again, Like I don't really know how this is gonna go. I don't know how the heat is, I don't know how anything is. And Carolina is a whole different climate than what you used to

and so yeah, it just changed. It just changes, and you gotta relocate. And then you gotta put on a brave face tact like hey, there's none of this. Don't bother me. I'm good. You know what I mean. It is what it is on me. I'm in Carolina. They got me, they know what they're getting. I'm the man. And it's like in your head, you're like, man, we gotta figure out what this is gonna look like, you know. And and then I was thankful I always stayed on

the West Coast. I was blessed, you know. I went to to you know, from Compton, went up to Stanford. Then went to the Seahawks. You know, in Seattle. I never left the West Coast, so it was always I'm pretty much staying in my comfort zone. This year in Tampa was the weirdest for me in my career because I had to leave m I had to leave the comfort zone. I have to leave what I knew. I'm

in Florida, Tampa, Tampa, Florida. But you're so intelligent, you you've you see the game and you see life so differently. But yeah, you were. You were kind of weirded out by going to Tampa, no question, no question. It was the times. It was also my family didn't come, you know, the wife and kids didn't come. So it's totally different. You know, it's you got the three hour time difference. You want to see your wife and kids. You can't just call whenever you want to call. You got practice,

and that made it different for me. Just being able to watch my teams, you know what I mean, Simple stuff like that, like the Lakers. I gotta wait till Tim thirty. The Lakers watch your college Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, they were watching you play, right watch my so growing so growing up though, growing up in Compton, what was your experience as young Richard Sherman, Well, you know, I mean it was it was what you expected, you know.

I mean, I guess you've never known nothing different than what you get, um, so growing up and starting in Watts, it was just, you know, it was you what I recognized as normal wasn't normal. You know, crack fiends walking down the street, you know. But but my parents made everybody seem like people, so I never thought about like the person we help and giving giving our leftovers too, is a crack fiend in a homeless person, you know what I mean. It's just her name was Silver. It's like, oh,

that's just miss Silver. You know, she's coming there get some some food. We we ate steaks, are we ate pork chops last night? She's coming to get something. Give them to her and and and say thank you, and YadA YadA YadA. And it's like the homeless dude who lives across the street and then the drug next door. You know, you see the small little plastic ziplock bags. You don't never I didn't. I've never seen one since and I didn't even know they made him that small.

And I ain't gonna tell you what was in them. But as a kid, you know, we plut putting dirt in them, you know, playing games because I'm not knowing what's going on. I didn't I didn't see the environment. That's a bad place, you know, I didn't see. It's like, oh man, you're in a terrible You're in a hood, like like she can go back at any time. You know, my dad's trucks getting stolen, getting robbed, people getting shot all the time. It's like, oh man, it's just where

you from. And so so as I grew up, you know, my parents shielded us from that by making it a welcoming neighborhood. You know, they they sitting there, you know, we haven't we go to we go play baseball or play football at at will Rogers Park on ninety nine um. And we we come home and it's freaking twelve kids. And first off, I don't know how my parents was doing that. We didn't have no money, you know, we had no fool and we're bringing home all this. I

wouldn't bring home twelve kids right now. But my parents made it a community. You know, kids would start spending Christmas, you know what I mean, because they didn't have their parents so they spend Christmas at our houses like that's how comfortable people were. And so the neighborhood became like a family. And so we run into situations where it's

like just sticky, it got dicey. It's dicey right now, and and do to I can not my parents, you know, I mean me for my parents and be like hey, get up out of here, like like this ain't for your for you, we're about to deal with this, and be like all right, you know what I mean, like cool, and like a lot of times I wouldn't get to make bad decisions. I'd be about to make a bad decision, so I can't give myself credit like that where I was like, man, I just made every right decision. No,

I'm about to make a bad decision. And somebody said, now you ain't go over there. It's like no, I think I'm with y'all, like no you ain't, but all right, I ain't. And then you go home. But I think that's that's why I gotta give a lot of parents. Credit to my parents. You know, my dad drove a trash truck for thirty years. You know that's that's that job sucks, Like he did it and he only got one eye, and so you know, you have a fair share of accidents. But that's the story for a different day,

hiring the man with one eye. But he did it. Um, But my mom worked mentally and physically disabled kids. And it's like I went to work with him one day one time, bring you something to work day, and I never go again because I was like that, I don't know how the hell you sit in at this stinky trash truck and pick up trash all day long. It's hot, it's traffic, people being rude, you can't even drive fast, like what is this? And you did it for thirty years.

But it helped me recognize his sacrifice, you know what I mean, like what he was doing for us and so so a lot of times that that like pushed me over the edge, you know what I mean. Anytime to ship you're tough with with sports, are at school or missing meals or it's just like bro, bro, he grunted, he doing what you gotta do for us, Like like one day I'm a paying back. There's a a myth or legend tells it is true back home and said when your pops came home from work, when that trash

truck was there. Nobody was leaving the house, no question, no question. That was your story. So that was your stories like Sharon's pop drove a trash truck and when you can do whatever you want, but when when Pops came home, the boys is in the house for the night, in the house and your friends don't even come asked,

may come to ask now, you know? You know I love cut to It and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe and you can follow us on social media too, Smithie, where where at that's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to It Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr? What about online? And you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts.

I got all my answers questions. Um, yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut to a Podcast dot Com. You go backwards and you look at everything you've accomplished, how you've gotten there. You know, what what is something you know talking about time travel? What is something you can go back that you think you would. I think you would have taken more time with not change, but just kind of sitting

taking more time with. For me, I'm a numbers guy, so I wish I would have took my mathematics to a too, another level, just one more level, because I'm good at math. I can see numbers, I can look at I can look at some numbers and figure it out. Right. If I would have took just another two classes, man, i'd be a dangerous dude. I guess I think I think I would have taken I took more people with me. I tried to take people with me in high school, but I didn't. I wasn't as convicted as I needed

to be. Really, what do you mean by take take it more, take take more people with you? Well, you know, I mean in high school, you you know s a T was a was a was a barrier. Uh. And some dudes, it's just like you said, it's cyclical, it's a box, it's mentality, it's you you've grown. It's like people don't want to go to the class. It's like not cool, you know what, I mean, to go to class, which is the stupidest thing in the world, you know,

And it was stupid to me back then. But but it always felt like the stork dropped me off in Compton. Like I wasn't like a compete kid sagging my pants, I'm banging on everybody was like, like, I'm a regular jagular dude that somebody dropped off in the hood and was like, hey, make it all right. Well, you know what I mean. I'd like to read books. I'd like to do this. I don't a lot of these dudes don't like to do what I do. But I better find my way through this neighborhood. I better navigate the

way I need to to make it out. And so I felt like at times I would talk to those dudes, and some dudes I got through to it. It It was like, bro, y'all need to go to class, Like I help you with your work. I'll help you with this. I hope you with this. If you get this g p A No, we can figure the s A t out. You know, those ways to get figured out. You know, some people people better test takers than others, you know, but that's

the story for a different thing. We're not one of my one of my kids is one of my kids is really smart. Put the test in front of him, and they just they struggle. They just don't test well, right everybody, don't you take the test away and you just grill them. It's automatic. They know the information. And so so there were a couple of kids and back to what we talked about, like that we could have got out. That that could have got out if they would have if I would have just pushed them a

little harder. They spreaking ditch in school and it's like my senior year. You know, I'm the cool kid, I'm the big man on campus. I'm doing everything, and now they're listening. But it's the senior year. You know. They got that first and second years too late, and it's like if I would have got them earlier, then it would have been better. But then we get out and the rest of us go to college. They stayed there, they get killed, they're gone, and so it's like it's like,

damn is it you know what I mean? Should I have been doing more? And so that's that's some of the stuff you think about when you think about going back and like what you could have did different and what you would change, And it's like I would have tried to pull they would have tried to put more pressure on him, because it's just like, bro, I see what y'all don't see you know what I mean, not that I'm crazy smarter than y'all, but I see you coming to class. I mean you coming to school to

ditch class. Yeah, it's the most asinine thing I've ever heard of. That requires a lot of work. You actually from the security. Yeah. So when you look back on it, how were you able to balance football? I know you're in track above four point o g p AOL track events. He'd run no track. Hey, hey you, I'm gonna let him talk for himself. I ain't even gonna I'm not even going all American? So how were you able to

balance all of that? And even on top of that, how was all of that instilled and you could just like you said, it's almost like you were a story dropped off. Those are your words, but really this whole embodiment of books book smart, street smart. So how are you able to navigate and balance all of those things? Well? Should if my parents and my parents made it very clear early on, like it's it's school first and then everything else. Like if you don't get your school work done,

your grade's not right. You're not playing that goddamn thing. You're gonna be in that house and then doing your school work. So if you want to play and you want to go mess around, you want to play sports, get your school work though, and so that was always paramounts. So once it's ingrained in you, it's like, oh, you know, so it's like, hey, get my work done, and I'm

I felt like I was really sharp kid Like. We didn't have the resources necessarily, Like, you know, the internet wasn't crazy going on crazes back there, so it wasn't like you could just google stuff. You know, you have to really go to a library. You have to really try to go. Encyclopedias. Man encyclopedias, oh my god, you live them. And then even the encyclopedias were sometimes outdated for the information you need. You know, it's not like

we got the most recent encyclopedias. You don't get every years. It's nine. It's I'm looking at encyclopedias from ninety five. That's not I'm not even making a joke. That's where that's what. That's what it was. We only had a few, We didn't have all alphabets, had a few. My uncle bought us something. My uncle bought us something from the yard sale. Yeah we had the old ones. True story,

I just had a few. I don't had a whole and you have something mess you got and in the end was supposed to be together and them drop off like, yeah, we don't have no cues disease. I will tell you that right now. A little smaller books. Actually, I'm not sure you've never seen him, but that's what was messed up.

It's like, to really acquire information and knowledge, you gotta go search for it like like, and no offense to the teachers, because there were some good teachers in the school, teachers out there that that loved on us right and was trying to help us because they saw the disadvantages that we had. But then you got enough bad kids that are wearing them down. My my my teacher was

Mr Russell. That changed everything for me. He found my competitive juice was my answer to to academics um and that the four fifth grade, I mean at school wasn't really I mean, I was just a hood kid. I'm just wanting to I'm smart, so I'm gonna finish my work. But I'm really gonna lilly gag and do everything. But one day he realized if he made everything a competition, I'd win. Like, hey, making a competition, I don't care

what it is. I don't care if it's math science, making a competition, I would do everything I can to win. And so he challenged me academically through competitiveness. And so he made everything a competition, and which made me challenge me. He you better read these books because I'm about to win it. Like like he just knew how to get it up out of me. But um, back to Stanford.

So I was I was a receiver. I was averaging seventeen yards to catch my sophomore year, you know, And and me and hardball had had a had a We really didn't have a disagreement until we were playing you Dub my sophomore year and like I'm on pace for a thousand yards, I'm I'm killing and we are getting our faces kicked in by you Dub, like like they are destroying us. And we won't throw the ball. We won't throw it for nothing. We won't throw we won't throw a pass. And I'm like, bro, throw a pass,

Like try a pass? You know what I mean? The quarterback um tc O stranger at the time, so we we but we didn't have a quarter We only had two quarterbacks that were great my time here, it was it was Trent Edwards was pretty good, and then Andrew Luck was good at the end. So yeah, right and so so, but in between it was just a lot of let me tell you as I throw you off. In Carolina, I played with the Stanford quarterback, Randy Andy fa back. He's a police officer up in there, back

up back home. Yeah, good, shi, not a football player. Everybody ain't everybody. They gave me a chance, but yeah, all right, right right right. So they didn't throw the ball. They didn't throw the ball like I'm black a fellow receiver whose job is to catch the football I'm throwing you you don't get an attempt because you know, especially hardballs, they're gonna point out everything and everybody went wrong. They're not gonna state why it went wrong, all right, all right, continue.

So so so he suspensing me for the game for the next game because I'm spasms. Don't like, bro, you're not trying to win, like, like, what are we doing? And so he's suspending for the next game. We played the w s U. We lose because I'm the leading receiver at the time. It's not gonna go. So who's the other receiver on another side? Um, we had Mark Bradford. We had Um, we have Mark Bradford. I think Evan Moore was hurt, but they were they were seniors. Okay, okay,

so they still I'm trying to get the landscape. I'm trying to paint the pick. Yeah, we were who's the running work we we literally had moved the corner to running back that game. That's another reason why I was frustrated, because we were so beat up at running back that we moved the corner to running back and we want to run the ball. Yeah, that's kind of like that

sounds like you taw on the Rose Bowl. This plast year, we had a running back scored a touchdown but also gave up a touchdown because our starting corner broke his leg in a Patrol championship. I did not know that. Yeah, so that then, so they was that's why they was picking on picking on one side and then we tried to we tried to switch sides. Yeah, they switched to play on the other side too. Yeah, Who's Who's tragic? Continue? Sorry? Oh man, that's so so so the rest of the year,

I'm in the doghouse. We only we only got two games left the rest of the year. The doghouse with the hardball is not a good thing. It's not the it's worst place. You can never be in the and so so the next year during um during before winning conditions during like spring ball, but I ran track during Okay, so you got you. So you're talking about winner, you're talking about what you gotta get up early. They want to make sure you get up early to work out.

You can showers right the six workouts that were held, and so we go through the winter conditioning. I messed up my knee a little bit, like nothing crazy and nothing serious. I go run track. I messed it up a little more. We're getting the training camp. I'm the number one receiver. The seniors is gone, like I'm I'm going to my junior year. I'm on the bullet in the cough watch list like it's time. And but my knees messed up, like I got my my patella is starting to tear, like it's a tear in it and

it's just starting to split. And they're like, hey, it's a ticket time bomb. You make one bad cut, it corruptures. And so I'm limping my way through the first couple of games, and I'm like ineffective because I can barely run, I can barely do anything, can't I can't really practice. And they're like, hey, you need to you need to get the surgery. Are you're gonna rupt your patella And I'm like okay. So we're meeting weekly with the whole

training staff and Hardballs in there. So by the fourth game, they're like, Hey, if you don't sit down now and get surgery, you're gonna lose this whole year. And so they all agree, Hardball agrees, sit down, get the surgery. The next week, I get a text I got I get next day, I get a text, Hey, come to me in my office. So I go to his office and he's like, you quit on team. He's like, you get on team. Like I've never seen a player quit on the team the way you just quit on team.

He's like, he's like, you will never play wide receiver here again, He's like, and then he gave me a contract. He gave me a contract with um a list of things on it that I needed to do in order to not get kicked off team. And it was it was it was paid back all my loans. It was um take twenty units, which was excessive because I was over. I was above, I was ahead of where I need to be to graduate. But he just wanted me to quit take twenty units, sublect because I was living off campus,

so I had sup let my lease. I just pay my lease off, moved back on the campus. And if I didn't do all those things by the end of the quarter, you can kick what's going on in your mind when you when you sit down and you read all those terms, what's going on in your mind? I can tell you a few things were very off colored a lot of things to you saying that we cannot repeat on this podcast. We all lose a lot of things, no question, but but it was it was a situation

where you're so powerless, you know what I mean. First off, I'm at Stanford place nobody thought I would get to. Now I'm risk and getting kicked out for something that that really wasn't in my control for you thought he was in agreement. This isn't you quit, this is I'm injured and I'm actually during the team of dis service by hobbling out there, out there like I had. I had a hundred and a hundred eight yards in four games,

like I can't move at all. And he and you're literally in every meeting what the doctors are sitting there saying he needs to get surgery. He needs to get surgery. He needs to get surgery. So when it happens, he's like, He's like, bro, Um, so you put on team. You did all that, If you do all this, you'll stay on team, but you will never play wide receiver here again. And I'm like, bro, I'm on the belit like watch this,

like bro, what like what are we doing? And so I just had to So thankfully we had some great people around and I was able to get those things done. So I go back to him, turn the contract in. He says exactly what he said, you never play well receiver here again. Okay. I said, well, can I play defense? He said, I don't give a damn. I don't call the defense. I don't I don't care. He didn't want to deal with you anymore. He didn't want to deal with me anymore. So ron Lan, who was decordinator at

the time, takes me on defense. I'm the load of walk on. I'm playing corner. But Steve, as you know, if you play wide receiver and you're the number one option, you know every spot in the offense. You should learn learn it like the back of your hand. And so when you move over the defense, Steve, if you went over the defense and played against Baltimore Ravens or the Carolina Panthers in the offense that you knew, you could tell their signals. You can tell they plays, they splits

the alignments on third down. Oh that motion, Oh I know that motion. He's about to do this. So imagine how tragic it was for all this first spring. I am. I don't know how the pedal really, I don't really know how the pedal. I don't really know how to press and do all that. But you know, and I know the play. You already cerebral at that moment. It's like you got a cheat code and he's piste off and this. So every practice I'm out there, Hey, alert

the curl and sit right there and curls coming right there. Hey, alert to slap. Hey it's a flat route, push out. I'm gonna pick this and I would walk to places they're going, yeah, absolutely, playing offense in reverse, I was the starter before this ring was over. I couldn't paddle. I didn't know how to press good, but I knew the place they could not complete the pass. So so fast forward, I'm in games and I'm using the same information now by by then, I've been had enough practice.

I'm peddling decent. My press is gotten a lot better. You know, I'm more patient at line scrimmage. But my my, my gift right now is still the understanding of what officers are trying to do to attack. So that's where I put myself in position. So when we would so as I progressed in my career, that was always my my saving grace. I didn't have to be the most athletic if I know the play. Like as you're talking, in my mind, I'm going back at some of the times that we're playing. I was like, he is a

horrible backpedaler. I like, and then we used to press, Like a few times you go against me, you would you would like throw them, but you wouldn't really throw them, and then your base was wide. And so I'm literally sitting here, Yeah, I was getting beat from a dude that really wasn't even I was a technical quarter. I didn't become a technical quarter. I feel so dirty. But like by my third year in the league, I was no. But but you still had you still have some some

things that me in my mind. That's why the way you played, that's why they cover three the way you played, how you played it. Because sometimes I will run routes and try to get in your blind spot and then you would panic. Now I'm going I don't why, right, because it wasn't It wasn't as natural for you it was. It was it was in eight because you're an athlete.

But it was not like sleeping. It was like, even though I'm older and don't play ball anymore, I can still run routes and I can close my eyes and do things I can back of my hand, right. But you know, I played corner in the high school, and so there's some things that as even as a corner, I'm like, I'm a lot rusty on that. So but so I'm just going back in my mind, like, huh

makes sense now. So so a lot of times if you if you ran into my blind spot, the reason I panic is because I thought to play was something different. It's because you're selling me something I'm not feeling like like I'm thinking you're about to run a dig. You went blind spot and came back to the den or you went, you know, and it was like, oh what is this? What is this? And then you were grabbed me right right right right where I need you to

be re secured. This situation, I ain't gonna ain't hurt nobody. Let me tell you. That's what you're talking about getting me frustrated. Man, When Corners grabbed me, I was snapped dog. I would just snap like I was going to get Reevis one time and this when he was with New England Patriots and he grabbed me. And you know, I

went against Reevers and with the Jets. And I'm not throwing shade the Reevers, but I'm telling you, when you have and just like Richard, when you have a dominant defensive line or a defensive line that gets penetration early, it rushes everything. The receipt I'm talking about. I'm like a ten year old kid one a hundred dollars in the video game store. I can't I can't remember what right. And so anytime like Reevers grabbing one time and said man,

stop grabbing me. He said, met's stop complaining. So the next place he grabbed me again and I pulled him by his face masks all the way down. I said, you grabbed me again. This is gonna be the whole game. But it just it makes so much sense now because this podcast is just turned upside down. I'm going back at time now like stranger things. I'm going back in time and I'm being a receiver. Look, it was one time you you end up like wrestling with me on

the plate. I knew the plate and you didn't run the rout and you were told Cam I told him, don't throw me the ball. He threw it. He knew it. He threw it. It was like an out route. I've seen you the clip. It was like an out route you were supposed to and you like stuttered and I broke forward. I broke because I knew the play and you just ran through me like hit the ball hits you on the side. I'm like, bro Steve, that was my pick. You can't do me Like what did I say? Oh?

You was going on. It was a whole lot of things you can't say on there. You didn't get scripture, just quoting the scripture. If this is the different part of oh before they hand ink bright, before before they used let's getting down. Hey Gerard, why did you get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh? Yes, I got it from cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you

listen to podcasts. Let's talk about Legion of Boom. Just all those guys back there. I just got to tell you this, though, I have to say it. Brandon Browner bro tattoo knees used to rub so close again, can't not need knock, need not need go google it, Brandon brown and knees and google when I tell you that was one time. I'm gonna say, super Pauls. Pauls. I was standing, he was standing, I was standing behind and I was just looking at him, going, how is that

physically possible? How was he backpealing where while he's standing right now, his inner knees are touching each other, not his thigs, his inner knees like a little dimple in your knee, you know, so you got the knee you got the knee cap. Now when you're going, I'm touching my right knee. So when you go on left right there it's a little it's a little sweet spot. Those was touching each other like so for some people that cankles.

He had cankles in his kneecaps, and they was touching, and he was backpedal knees and Bro, he was tall. His genetic disposition did not say he was a pro Bowl corner. Corner did not. His disposition did not say he should be able to run. But he did a hell of a job. Bro, Bro, if he got his hands on you, yes, over. But I was too, I was. I was watching. It was like I had of out of body experience. How is this bowtlegged knock knee brother covering you, Steve, I'm not I'm not sure. I don't know.

I was talking to myself out of body experience, looking at myself, shaking my head and smacking my teeth and then still frustrated, trying to figure out this puzzle. It was like I was playing checkers with no board or pieces, but we was in the game and then I'm over here, so I got I got Bobby Fisher, Richard Sherman and I got I got his coach over here, molly wapping me. And then and then when I think I gotta pass, I'll go across the middle. Bam, Bam, Cam Chancellor, Man,

Cam Cam, throw a pass to me. One time across the middle that camp Chancellor had an opportunity hit me. I dove just to get out of the way of Camp Chancellor business cession. It wasn't a business session. I got the hell out the way a business is like, no, I get it. Next time, I said, you probably saved yourself a surgery. Look, Cam Bro that you don't talk about the legion to Boom like first off, we all we all had a few screws loose from the beginning,

like but but we're all type A alpha males. But there was enough humility in the within the group that that is yet to be said when I hear about the legion of Boom, that there was enough humility because because nobody knew us, there's no way like type A alpha alpha's come together in one group, you know, with Bobby Wagner and with Mike Bennett and with all this and don't have clash. We never really had a clash

like that. Because everybody was like if somebody, if somebody need to say I'm the best, I'm gonna best out here, your best, Like we're gonna encourage it, like he the best. Like it ain't gonna be like, oh, he think he's the best, Like I'm gonna be jealous, Like I put it on tape every week, you know what I mean, It don't really matter. I'm like, I don't have to measure to anybody. If it helps us win, if that

helps everybody feel good, I'm happy to encourage it. And we had enough dudes comfortable and that within their own skin to be like, I'm not offended by any of them, like I need. That is very rare to hear and I and I'm just calling out see it. That's very rare for I think a lot of black athletes, right, a lot of men who are from the bottom to be able to set to be able to sit aside and says man, my boy Rich, he's the one, the best, my boy Browner, he's one of the best. Earl, he's

one of the best. Bam, Bam, he's one of the best. Bobby Wacken, Like you don't you don't generally get that cheerleader mentality out of alpha males on a football team, right, and you guys actually didn't. There was no chinking armor. You guys were tightly net like guys got married, y'all's best days weddings just like it was like three or four weddings back to back, and it was grade or four groomsmen back to back with new outfits back to back.

And and like you guys, the groomsman's suits were fired, then the next one was was better. And it just there was the showmanship in every area of you guys lives football and off the field, and yet in every picture you guys were there, right. It's it was it was I think Chris Rashard, r DV coach really really did a great job because he worked with but he he was a great leader of men for us because he had he had certain pillars that we had to

buy an accountability. It had to be loved, respect accountability, and and so when you're getting held accountable, it's not it's not like hey you suck, like what happened in this play. It's like, hey, you're better than this. We need to be better than this, and we need you to be better than this. So when whenever we're on the field and we come together, that's why you see we celebrate with each other every goddamn like you see

us in practice. Our offense hated us because it could be incomplete pass on the other side of the field. You know, thought we want a super Bowl. And it's like Earl bat in the past, you see every single one of us slapping hands and then we go line it up again. A d lineman gotta sack. We got damn spreading them there. And we're having a blast every day,

celebrating each other's victories and celebrating each other's work. And so when somebody made a mistake, it wasn't like, hey, Earl man, you don't freaking suck, Like what are you doing? It was like, hey, you better than that, Like, hey you got him, you got him, and we next time we're gonna Kelly, like come on. And so every time a mistake happened, it wasn't like, man, you gotta hold your head. It was like, hold your head up high.

You'll see Earl come up. If I gave up a grab or something here, come up and he's just and that's all you got to say. And it's like I'm not taking that as disrespect or him. I'm telling him, Hey, you know I can be better than that, and I can be better than that, and I don't want to let him down again. I know his babies, I know his wife, I know his kids, and I don't want to let them down. I know he gotta put food on the table. I'm gonna help he put food on

the table. I'm not gonna let him down again. The same It's true, Cam b B still keep up with BB and his kids. Um. Cam, We literally just had a charity basketball game yesterday and all our kids playing kJ right, Bobby Wagner like it's Bobby's birthday today. Um. And So when you have that love and respect, it's like playing with your brothers. She's like playing with your real family. And so when you play with your real family, you you rarely ever come at them with from a

place of malice, you know what I mean. You always come from a place of love. So it's like, hey, I'm coming here, but you know I love you, So when I get on you, you know it's from a place of love. When when two's go at each other and you don't think it's a place of love, it's a place of disrespect. And then it's like, that's where the friction, that's where the friction happens. That's where the

that's where locker rooms are fragmented. So what have you learned about the NFL business now that you're that, that you're older, Um, that that's intriguing. Well, it's dangerous to have that, to have that mentality because you feel like family. But the front office controlled everything. So it's like we were willing to do what it took to stay together as long as we could, but we didn't get that out. So it's like the year I tore my key leaves the same game, Camp had his nick ind and his

career ended. So our our times in Seattle, Arizona is the worst stadium in the world for us. It's like the House Awards. We lost the Super Bowl there. My career in Seattle ended there. Camp's career in Seattle ended there. Earl's career in Seattle ended there. That's he flicked everybody off, he broke his leg and as the last game he ever played in Settle, literally all three three of us and we lost Super Bolter. It was just one stadium. But um, but I've learned that you you you have

to separate two. You have to separate your love for the game and your love for the team and your love for the environment from the business. You had an agent most of your career, and then you go to Sevcisco and you negotiate your own contract, and people are saying that you're an idiot walking through that process of why you decided to negotiate your contract. What was the premise and the reasoning behind all of that. Well, first off, it it was the right time. And what I mean,

what was the right time. It was the right time in my career. It was the right time in terms of knowledge and information I had uh and the maturity that I had as a as a player, and my knowledge of the business. You know what I mean. I mean, you're seven, now you're your your three my knowledge Still I'm still in love, you know I mean, I'm in love with the team, you know what I mean. I'm I'm like, hey, like whatever, I'll do whatever, you know, I mean, I'll take I'll take it. You know what

i mean? Do we get to stay together? So, like, you know what i mean, I'm still in a honeymoon phase. And so at that point, I could separate two. And what had happened was my agent at the time got suspended and fifteen I think it was fifteen sixteen, and I needed him and he literally could not do business for me, and I had to pay. Oh smell, I don't make you re evaluate some things. And so I

was sitting there like how is this life? Speed? And the suspension was based on something he's done that somebody else, Yes, that affected his job and his creditation with the NFL, right damn. And so it was deep. But it was one of his other clients that he got suspended dinner, but but it still affected you, but represent you, but he could eat off of you, right, And so I'm I'm calling p A. I'm like, hey, what is how

is this life? Bro? I need him to do certain things that he cannot do, and I have to pay him, Like he cannot do the job, but I still have to pay him. But I'm paying him to do the job that he can't do. That he cannot do that y'all have suspended him from doing, but you still have to pay him? Yeah, you high? I was lived and I'm like, bro, what is the point of having an agent if I have to pay him for a job

that he may not be able to do. And most of the time they're not doing anything after the initial negotiation, What has he done for you? And so I said, I called the p A and I said, how did

contract negotiations work? They said, every single agent that negotiated a contract has to send it through them before it ever gets approved, and they will look through contract language and and that's and that's why and how that's why sometimes players are like the kid the linebacker Smith from Chicago because detrimental to the team when they started trying to implement those the languages, that language into the contracts.

I'm I'm one of the very last few guys who was able to double dimp because Caroline had to pay me and Baltimore was paying me. And so they started to take those that do will dipping out. And so they allowed it to where if you get cut and have guaranteed the mute, the new team has to take that,

not the old team. And so so so the every agent is the agent of the union, like they have to be certified by the union, so they have to send the contract through them so they can be like, oh, we agreed, because that the NFL, the NFL p A wants to stay abreast on and some of the new language.

You know, like any lawyer, all lawyers, they they're they're paid to be creative, right, and if the language is bad, they're going up, hey, hey, this language, these two paragraphs need come out, or or if they if they slip through the cracks. Now it's precedent for everybody moving forward. Correct, And it's like, hey, you created this cool caveat let me let everybody else know. So every every contract NFL

contract can be if if a player wants it. You you want all the comps, they'll send them to you right now. That email them to you right now. You ask, you asked for tim, they'll send your team. You ask for a hunter, they'll send your hunter. And so everything an agent can do, a player can do for the most part in terms of like getting the information. And then once my we were agreeing in terms of the contract, I send it to the PA just like every agent does.

That's why the stuff Florio said, He's like, oh, the p A really saved Sherman. It's like they didn't really save me. They just said the language that was in this contract is this is language from um because Jimmy Garoppolo's language was the best language, and say, Eric Armsteads language now probably the second best language on the forty niners. And so he was like, hey, this is like the fifth best language. These are the reasons it's the fifth

best language. They have this where they can avoid this, they can avoid this, So you're gonna want to carve these three things out and then the contract is fine. And so then I go back and say, hey, carve these three things out and we gotta deal. And then they say, oh, oh, look the p a safe rich to term. It's like, no, they did the same thing they do for every single one of these agents, but y'all don't want us disrupt in the industry of these agents.

So you're gonna make a team like the player didn't know what he was doing when the same process I went through every single agent for every single player has to go through. Some agents are obviously with the experience in more years, they're more they're more savvy, they understand

what's going on. Then there's also other areas that as a player that you're going to experience, whether it's uh injuredy settlements, or there's little things that happened that a young a new agent isn't gonna necessarily be up on like second opinions that the teams have to give you a second opinion. A lot of times if you represent yourself getting a second opinion, it becomes a little fickle because basically a second opinion saying, hey, doctor or team

doctor or her team trainer, I really like you. However, however, I don't trust you're thinking, and I just want to make sure that someone else has a new set of pair of eyes because of at times it happens, not all the time, but when you have financially invested perspective, you're gonna look at this injury based on the economics and how it impacts your team, and also how your

employment impacts how you look at this X ray. That is m R I. Right, So if you if you, if you work for a team and you look at this X ray the wrong way and it cost the team twenty million dollars, that that could be problematic. So

you know, so it's it's it's it's it's loopoles. It's things that happened, and there's reasons why, right, But it's also like a lot of players, you know, and and this is the tough part of just being a black athlete and being a black you've been for so long cater to like you've always had somebody to call to do things. We don't necessarily know all the information. So it's like, hey, my agent handles that. So whatever he's handling I have no knowledge of. It could be anything.

It could be buying airplane tickets, it could be renting cards, it could be paying my bills. I think I think that's a lot of I just think that's a lot of athletes in general general. Um, But I had the same I had the same agent for my whole career. However, I was negotiating me my agent from two thousand and four every contract after that. So we sat down like I wanted to know the knowledge of you know, like I was a weirdough in this regard. I would do

whatever they offer me. I would do the calculation after taxes. No, they were like, man, that's you know, I'm throwing out a number. It just isn't the number. So I'm just throwing out, oh, that's twenty MILLI you know you getting paid twenty MILLI dollars? Right, man, that's tim five right, I's how I would look at it, and so we would talk and look at it based on that, and then the sentives, hey, I had a workout bonus never went I don't care. You can put you can put

fifty million dollars in there, still ain't showing up. Don't want it right Just so that that was that was the uniqueness of me. But I had my team, my agent, financial guys. They walked me through the steps. They were willing to teach me because I was also willing to ask, and I was, I was, I want to learn. And then I became Hue and then I became an NFL play NFL rep. So then I learned about all the other stuff as well, and so I was I was all over. Yeah, you were all And if we had

the full lead full of us, we wouldn't. It's tough. It's it's too much money out there, right, and it's and it's but it's guys. It's it's a bit of laziness, it's a lot of laziness and and that. But that's the problem guys have when they transition out. It's because you don't have anybody cater until you don't have anybody to be like hey, go do this. Then you have to figure out how to rent a car on your own. Then you got to figure out how to pay the

bills on your own. Then you got to figure out how to navigate that I can't get nobody don't do that, and a lot of dude but but Steve as you know, a lot of dudes do. So that's that's something that I'm I tried anytime I talked to young guys, it's like, hey, take accountability, to take responsibility for your own damn life.

Like I hear you saying your agent said this. You agent said that, double checket, double checket, just like if you get the third down presentation from your coat and he's like, he's like, they run this on third unit, And I'm gonna go ahead and go ahead and check to take myself and double check outside of these four games you didn't check out because if they ran some other stuff, they probably gonna run that. It's just it's gonna be the time. Oh man, they went outside of

the break that. Oh man, we I was ready. I'll check the tape or the coach that man, we went over it apple and I will say, young men are getting better, you know, they're taking more responsibility. You're hearing young men way more informed than they were ten fifteen years ago. And it's like, just keep pushing the envelope, last one and then we will let you go. Man, appreciate your time. What's next for Richard Sherman? For you know, in the next ten years, what are you looking forward

to impact? I'm and forward to have a greater impact than I have the past ten years. And I mean, how are you going to impact? I'm going to speak more. I'm going to use my platform more, you know, obviously the platform I've been given and the voice I've been given um with the podcast and Thursday Night Football, I'm going to use it to empower and educate more young people.

I'm gonna be a better dad, and you know, I mean, I'm gonna make an impact on kids, my own dad kids, and and be at every track meet and every football game and every soccer game that I can make and make sure that I teach them the lessons that I know are essential going forward. And that's that's some of the most fun I ever have. Man, It's just being there and seeing the growth of your own kids and your own see it and seeing them like put forward

and use the things that you taught them. Hey, man, we worked on this a couple of days ago, and then you go to the game and you see the things you worked on. Man, I tell you what it's It's a super Bowl. Every time you see you're like, bro, that's the movie we work on. That's it. And and so I find a lot of fulfillment in that, UM,

and also continue to get back to the underprivileged. Uh, the underprivileged with the kids that didn't have a choice, and you know, they were born into a situation in which they couldn't control, and it's it's being able to supplement that and try to make their life experience better and give them the tools, um, and the resources that are necessary for them to throw. That's awesome, man, Well

appreciate you, appreciate your time. I look forward to the invite to come on a Richard Sherman podcast as well and give you the same energy you gave me, um, and so man, look forward to it. God bless you, man, and look forward to watch you on Thursday night football. Appreciate and Uh, when you you know, I'll be I'll be in studio going on before you guys. Um. It with with the network. So if you throw any anything out there that seems like a shade or a cap,

I'm gonna call you out. I'm stealing everything you say. I'm gonna taking notes and be like, oh, that's a great point. Appreciate that, alright, Appreciate it, alright, appreciate all right. You are a unique person, you are well worth it, you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Singior, I'm Gerard Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Balto Creative Media, The Black Effect and I Heart Radio.

For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve Smith SINGR, co host Gerard Little John, talent and booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John Show from Balto Creative Media. Cut Too It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, Production coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson.

Lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all