Richard Sherman Says Protecting Devonta Smith Of The Eagles Motivated Him To Retire
Richard Sherman realized just how outmatched he was on Thursday night in Philadelphia.
He had to compete with Eagles wide receiver Devonta Smith, and he soon realized that his time in the NFL was up.
“Devonta must make this comeback [route] And I got her under control, do you know what I mean? I was like, ‘Bang, quick jam, easy, got him under control,'” Sherman said of his experience guarding Eagles wide receiver Devonta Smith. on his podcast, “He must have stopped, and I tried to stop, and my whole back said ‘snap snap snap snap.'”
“At that moment, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is probably my last year. I just don’t get it for these young guys.'”
The game took place on Philadelphia’s opening drive – a 3rd and 12 play that was thrown for 23 yards to wide receiver Quez Watkins.
Sherman, who was 33 at the time, came in with an apparent wobble and came out the very next game and missed several games thereafter with what the team called a “pulled hamstring”.
The Buccaneers won the game 28–22, and Tom Brady threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Leonard Fournette added two rushing touchdowns of his own.
Smith, a 2021 rookie, had just four catches for 41 yards in that game.
However, Smith caught 95 passes for 1,196 receiving yards and seven touchdowns the previous season.
The future Hall of Fame cornerback – who played 11 seasons in the league, has played just one more game in 2021, a December win against the Miami Dolphins. 12, where Sherman made the interception.
From there, Sherman called it a career, being placed on Injured Reserve in January as Brady & Co. They lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Sherman, a three-time All-Pro who won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks, now works as an analyst for Amazon Prime, joining Tony Gonzalez and Ryan Fitzpatrick on their “Thursday Night Football” team Are.
