Many were quick to judge former free agent Richard Sherman during one of his lowest points in the public eye, which saw the Super Bowl champion pleading not guilty to four misdemeanors back in July.
Now, he’s back in the league on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to continue his career as a cornerback, even taking the negative legal situation and using it to get the help needed to make a positive change in his life.
Although he refers to the ordeal that led to domestic violence, criminal trespassing and malicious mischief charges as “regrettable,” ESPN reports Sherman also was able to see the light at the end of his tunnel, stating, “It led to some really positive changes — some help, some therapies, some tools that I didn’t have before — to address some things that you kind of let stack up in your mind.” He continued by adding, “You never have time to address them. It’s not the right moment. It’s not the right place in your life to deal with these emotions and feelings.”
Here’s more on how Sherman turned a negative situation into a positive one for himself, via ESPN:
“It really forced me to step back and go ask for help and get the help I need and to not be afraid, to be proud to ask. In that, it’s been remarkable how many other people have said they had the same issue. Because you always feel like you’re alone. You always feel like you’re the only one dealing with this.
“At least in the Black community — it’s one of those things that you’re never taught to seek counsel, to seek help. You always feel like, ‘Hey man, I’ll deal with it, tough it out, let’s get to the next play.’ In football terms, ‘Let’s get to the next play, next play, next play.’ It’s like, ‘You give up a touchdown? Like forget about it, I can get an interception. The same kind of holds true in life. If something terrible or tragic happens in life, you never really address it. You’re just like, ‘I have to get better and keep pushing towards my dreams. I can’t deal with that right now.’”
Although he did still have a pretrial hearing scheduled for today in Washington, we continue to pray that Richard Sherman keeps the upward momentum going. Thankfully that looks like a very possible reality, as he also said in the statement via ESPN, “In those situations, you can either take accountability and try to help as many people as you can through a bad situation, and turn it into a positive situation, or you can hide. And I chose not to hide.”
