In January of 2014, Richard Sherman made the play that sent the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl, tipping Colin Kaepernick’s pass toward the corner of the end zone to teammate Malcolm Smith for the game-clinching interception.
Last Sunday, Sherman again found himself at the center of an interception that secured a berth in the Super Bowl, hauling in Aaron Rodgers’ long bomb to end any designs of a comeback.
But this time Sherman did it for the team the Seahawks beat that fateful day in 2014.
The former Seahawks star cornerback is headed back to the Super Bowl, this time as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, and I want to know how you feel about this.
Sherman was one of the faces of the Seattle team that reached back-to-back Super Bowls in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, winning it against the first time and coming one yard short the second. He spent seven seasons with the Seahawks from 2011-17, intercepting 32 passes and was named first-team All-Pro three times.
And Sherman was as visible as any Seattle player during that period. He was a founding member of the Legion of Boom secondary that became the team’s identity, helping Seattle lead the NFL in scoring defense four straight years from 2012-15, and at 6-foot-3 he changed the model for an NFL cornerback as teams now seek more height and length from their pass defenders. And his excellence was matched by his brashness as he was the player who fans from opposing teams loved to hate — including 49er fans.
But Sherman’s tenure with the Seahawks came to an end in a less-than-triumphant manner. Sherman suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles during the 2017 season. The Seahawks decided to cut bait with a 29-year-old coming off a major injury and whose outspokenness could cause headaches, releasing Sherman from his contract.
So what did Sherman do? Of course he signed with the NFC West-rival 49ers.
That was of little consequence to Seahawks fans during Sherman’s first season in San Francisco as the 49ers won just four games in 2018 and Sherman had a subpar season in which he had no interceptions. That changed this season as Sherman returned to Pro Bowl form, helping San Francisco snatch the NFC West title away from Seattle on the season’s final day.
And now Sherman will be wearing red at the Super Bowl instead of blue.
So what do you think about this development? Will you be rooting for Sherman because he’s a Seahawks legend who helped the franchise win its first Super Bowl? Will you be rooting against him because you consider him a turncoat for signing with a division rival? Are your feelings conflicted? Are you indifferent about any player who’s no longer a Seahawk?
I’m soliciting feedback from Seahawks fans about how they feel about Sherman playing in the Super Bowl for the 49ers. Email me at npatterson@heraldnet.com, or leave a comment at the bottom of this article, and make sure you include your name and hometown.
Your responses will be shared in a column prior to the big game Feb. 2 in Miami. And we’ll find out just how Seahawks nation feels about this.
Follow Nick Patterson on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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