Teammates, bro: Richard Sherman joins Tom Brady to chase a ring in Tampa

Teammates, bro: Richard Sherman joins Tom Brady to chase a ring in Tampa
By Greg Auman
Sep 29, 2021

TAMPA, Fla. — Richard Sherman and Tom Brady have always been inexorably linked to Oct. 14, 2012, when the brash rookie cornerback picked off Brady in Seattle’s win over New England. As the quarterback walked off the field, Sherman approached him and yelled, “You mad, bro?” The phrase made Sherman famous, selling T-shirts and building a buzz around the Seahawks defense.

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They have met in a Super Bowl since, with Brady escaping with a win, and on Wednesday, they became teammates, with the 33-year-old Sherman joining the 44-year-old quarterback by signing with the defending champion Bucs, hoping to help fix the NFL’s worst pass defense.

“Me and Tom have had a great relationship over the years,” Sherman said. “We always thought it’d be really cool to play together if we had the opportunity. It’s crazy how things shake out. … It was a perfect situation, a perfect fit, and I’m excited to be here.”

Tampa Bay played much of Sunday’s loss to the Rams without two of its top corners, with Sean Murphy-Bunting on injured reserve with an elbow injury and Jamel Dean sidelined with a knee injury. Healthy or not, the Bucs rank last in the NFL in pass defense, giving up 338 yards per game and a total of nine touchdown passes in their first three games.

Enter Sherman, a five-time Pro Bowler who just two years ago, in Bruce Arians’ first game as the Bucs’ head coach, had a pick six against quarterback Jameis Winston as part of the 49ers’ win in Tampa. Sherman was limited to five games last year with a calf injury and released by the 49ers this spring, but he’s eager to show he can still play the position well.

“It’s great to have him as a teammate,” wide receiver Mike Evans said. “I’ve had some battles with him. He’s an all-time great player. Very, very smart player, one of the smartest players to ever play this game. I think he’s going to help us a lot.”

Arians, who went up against Sherman twice a year in his Arizona days, said he’s “a veteran, experienced guy, a Pro Bowl player, one of the smartest players.” That said, Sherman has much to learn in a compressed amount of time — the Bucs didn’t practice in full pads Wednesday, but Sherman wore them anyway, getting a head start on the accelerated process of getting back to football and prepared to take the field with his new team. This offseason was unfamiliar for him, without a team and left to push himself to stay in shape, preparing for an eventual return.

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“That was kind of weird. You’re training by yourself, you’re lifting by yourself,” Sherman said. “That’s why your support system comes into it. My wife is getting you out of the bed: ‘Go. Get out of the house. Go run. Don’t come back for a couple of hours.’ I think it challenges you in a different way. Once I got out here, football is football.”

Dean practiced Wednesday, and the Bucs have Carlton Davis on the other side and can use Ross Cockrell at nickel, so there shouldn’t be an urgency for Sherman to play in New England this weekend. He said he’d like to have at least a week of practice to be physically ready and learn the new defense, that it would be “foolish” to play him this week and expect him to play at “a super-high level.”

The Bucs first reached out to Sherman after Murphy-Bunting’s injury in Week 1, and things escalated after Dean’s injury. Sherman announced Wednesday morning that the Bucs were his third NFL team, following seven years with the Seahawks and three with the 49ers. Within hours, he was on the practice field, sporting a new number — he’ll wear 5, with his old 25 taken by running back Giovani Bernard, saying it’s a nod to his son Rayden, who was born on Feb. 5 in 2015.

Tampa Bay has all of its defensive backs from last year’s Super Bowl team, but they’re an extraordinarily young group, with the top six all still on their rookie contracts, so his experience and wisdom can help them as much as his presence on the field.

“He’s already teaching, asking us questions and giving us hints,” safety Jordan Whitehead said. “We haven’t had that. We’re all new to it. He came in and we told him: We’re all young. We need that leader. He came in and he’s just talking ball with us. He fits right in, like he’s been here for a while.”

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The Bucs’ secondary was a huge part of their playoff push to a championship last season, but they’ve been inconsistent, especially in this three-game start. Sherman said part of his job is establishing the expectation of a higher level of play for himself and everyone in the secondary.

“My standard of play is just higher. The standard people hold me to is just higher,” he said. “I’m not allowed to have bad games. I’m not allowed to give up catches without getting killed. The accountability part, I’ll bring that, and hopefully earn the respect of my teammates.”

Sherman had a difficult offseason, in that he was arrested in July after police said he tried to force himself into his wife’s parents’ home. Sherman is facing five misdemeanor charges, including driving under the influence, and has pleaded not guilty to those charges. He could face a suspension down the road, but that’s unlikely until his legal case has been resolved, which should be after the season.

Sherman issued an apology after the arrest, saying he was “deeply remorseful for my actions,” and was open about “personal challenges” he had been dealing with, saying that “the importance of mental and emotional health is extremely real and I vow to get the help I need.”

Sherman said the mentality you need as a cornerback — move on, forget it, next play — doesn’t always work in real life, and he understands that better now. On Wednesday, he was grateful to have another opportunity to play football, saying therapy has helped him make positive changes in his life, and he hopes that can help others do the same.

“It let me address some things that you kind of let stack up in your mind,” he said. “You never have time to address them. It’s not the right moment, not the right place in your life to deal with these emotions and feelings. It really forced me to step back and go ask for help and get the help I need, and not be afraid and be proud to ask. It’s been remarkable how many other people have said they have the same issues. You always feel like you’re alone, always feel like ‘I’m the only one dealing with this. I don’t want to burden anybody else.'”

Arians said Sherman will get any support he needs from the Bucs, that “we all make mistakes” and he’s comfortable with the player he’s known for nearly a decade.

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As a sign that he and Brady had moved on from their viral moment nine years ago, Sherman said the two players swapped jerseys after a game several years ago, and in autographing his jersey for Sherman, Brady wrote “I’m still mad, bro” as a joke.

Sherman said he’d look for a picture to post on social media, but now they’re wearing the same jersey and chasing the same championship with the Bucs.

“He’s a great sport about everything,” Sherman said. “He’s just a competitor, and we’re like the same spirit in that regard. Anything that it takes to win, obsessed about this game, a lot of what Kobe Bryant stood for, the late, great. You can appreciate that about each other, and that’s what attracted me to come. He’s the same kind of animal I am.”

(Photo of Richard Sherman: Greg Auman / The Athletic)

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