Future Hall of Famer Richard Sherman reveals which NFL receiver showed him it was time to retire

Richard Sherman was arguably THE cornerback of the 2010s and his resume speaks for itself: a five-time Pro Bowl selection, three-time First-Team All-Pro (tied for the most among cornerbacks that decade with Patrick Peterson and Darrelle Revis), member of the 2010s All-Decade Team, and a Super Bowl XLVIII champion as one of the faces of the Seattle Seahawks‘ Legion of Boom. However while playing his 11th NFL season at 33 years old with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021, he says he quickly discovered it would be his last season. That realization came in Week 6.

Facing the Philadelphia Eagles and their rookie 10th overall pick, reigning Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, Sherman realized his time in the league was up due to his inability to keep up with the next generation of wideouts. 

“DeVonta must’ve run this comeback,” Sherman said on a June 27 episode of his podcast for The Volume. “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 ended up missing a bulk of the 2021 campaign following his matchup with Smith due to a groin injury that held him out until Week 14, two months later. 

 “You’re trying to guard and chasing him [Smith] around and you’re like please don’t throw him the ball, please,” Sherman said about his mindset facing Smith. “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.”

Though he hasn’t made an official retirement announcement, Sherman hasn’t played since 2021 and has apparently hung up his cleats. He has since found multiple ways to stay connected to football through his work as an analyst on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football coverage and through “The Richard Sherman Podcast.”