Seahawks pick a pair of defensive backs in fifth round

Published 12:06 pm Saturday, April 30, 2011

The Seahawks picked up Stanford cornerback Richard Sherman with pick No. 154, then took Appalachian State safety Mark Legree two picks later.

Sherman began his career at Stanford as a receiver, and only moved to CB two years ago. As a freshman, he led the team in receptions and receiving yards. In 2007, he caught a pass to covert on 4th-and-20 in the final drive of Stanford’s shocking win at USC. At 6-3, 195, he certainly has the size Pete Carroll and John Schneider like in a cornerback. In fact, when Carroll recruited Sherman out of Dominguez HS in Compton, the former USC coach told Sherman he was the perfect size to be a lockup cornerback. While Sherman didn’t go to USC, that did prompt him to change his email address of lockup2006. Sherman said the Trojans did offer him a scholarship to play corner, but that he instead chose Stanford because he wanted to show that, “You can go to Standford from Compton,” adding that he believes he is only the second Dominguez grad to do so.

Legree, meanwhile, is a three-time Division I-AA first-team All American. And if you’re wondering how a future fifth-round pick ended up at a I-AA school, it’s an interesting story. Legree went to a small Catholic School and graduated in a class of just 28. Needless to say those aren’t the kind of schools college football programs usually spend much time recruiting. He said Appalachian State was his only offer, and that only came because he had a friend who went there and asked for his highlight tape to pass along. No other school even asked him to walk on.

“I never thought the NFL could happen. I just wanted to play football for four more years and go to school for free.”