As Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman becomes more and more popular and respected and recognized for his stellar play, his motivation comes from a place where plenty of great players have found that thing that coaxes a high level of performance.
A draft-day free fall.
“Some of those guys who got drafted [ahead of me], I was like, ‘Wow, this is ridiculous.’ I thought, ‘What’s the point of playing good ball if it doesn’t matter?’ By the time the fifth round rolled around, the damage was done,” Sherman told Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports. “I was like, ‘When I get to the NFL, I’m gonna destroy the league, as soon as they give me the chance.’ And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”
Sherman has climbed from day three of the draft to the top of the sport in less than two seasons. He now wants to climb even higher.
“I want to be the best, period,” Sherman said. “A lot of people don’t think it’s possible, because how could a fifth-rounder be the best of all time? But that’s what I want to be. Where you get drafted is such a big deal in the league, respect-wise, and that’s why it still frustrates me.”
Sherman, who explained that he’s less physical than fellow Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner because Sherman wants to bait quarterbacks into throwing the ball his way, won’t be eligible for the Pro Bowl if his four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy against steroids and related substances is upheld before the end of the season. So he won’t be officially included among the best current players, at least for 2012.
And that likely will give him even more motivation. Especially since he seems to pretty good at identifying actual or perceived indignities.
“Let’s face it,” Sherman told Silver, “if I had been the first pick in the first round, I’d still find something to be pissed about.”
So, yeah, the guy who famously posed the “u mad bro?” question to Tom Brady likes to be mad, too.