Former 49ers CB Richard Sherman says 2021 season ‘probably my last’

While former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman didn’t officially retire from the NFL when he joined Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football coverage team last year, he kind of did.

Sherman recalled his football career on a recent podcast alongside Philadelphia Eagles’ right tackle Lane Johnson. The former San Francisco 49er didn’t officially announce his retirement, but admitted his best days are behind him. He remembered the moment he realized that, guarding Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith during the 2021 season.

“DeVonta must have ran this comeback, and I had him under control, you know what I mean? I was like, ‘Bang, quick jam, easy, got him under control.’ He must have stopped, and I tried to stop. My whole groin says, ‘Snap, snap, snap, snap.’ I said, ‘Oh, whoa. Whoa.’ And then you’re trying to guard him, you’re like chasing him around, like please don’t throw him the ball,” Sherman said on the podcast.

the game DeVonta Smith forced Richard Sherman into retirement

wild to hear Sherm narrate it in detail

you can see him grabbing at it after the route pic.twitter.com/kM3Lc57xx7

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 8, 2023

The once-elite CB knew in that moment that it was probably time to hang it up.

“Our coach was looking at me on the sidelines, like, ‘You want to come out? You want to come out?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but they’re in a hurry-up.’ So, I’m like bailing out. At that moment, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is probably my last year. I don’t got it for these young dudes right now.'”

Richard Sherman, 35, last played in the NFL in the 2021 season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A five-time Pro Bowler, he finished his career with 37 interceptions, 116 passes defended and 495 combined tackles. Sherman played for the 49ers for three years, spanning the 2018 to 2020 seasons.

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