Seahawks' Richard Sherman tells students to be courageous (Audio)

PORT ORCHARD – Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman advised students to be courageous during a special visit to Cedar Heights Junior High May 7.

The 6-foot-3-inch 27-year-old star player spoke with several hundred children at the school gym and encouraged them to show their character and strength by not bullying fellow students.

Sherman was welcomed to raucous applause as he ran down the front row of students seated on the gym floor and let loose a series of high-fives.

“I’m here to talk to you guys about courage,” Sherman said.

Everyone encounters situations where they make a decision to be courageous or act fearfully, he said.

“And how you react to those situations kind of shows your character and shows who you are.”

In his football career, Sherman said some players might be afraid of “real big” competitors on the field.

“I’m not scared of nothing. But in those situations, you know, they’re running full speed; you’re running full speed … they’ve got a ball; you’ve got to tackle them. And the decision to be courageous is one that some people make and some people don’t.

“Some people say, ‘Well that’s Marshawn Lynch. I’m just going to get out of the way and let him score a touchdown,’ and some people try to tackle him. I mean, they may not succeed in tackling him but they try, so it’s courageous.

“But there are other ways you can be courageous. In school a lot of people get bullied. A lot of people think … because they’re bigger and badder that they can bully people. And it takes courage to stand up to bullies. It takes courage to be a person who doesn’t bully. It takes courage to stand up to people that you’re afraid of.

“You know it’s always unique what time in your life you realize you’re courageous, because everybody has courage within them and sometimes you realize that at a young age, and sometimes you’re 55 and you realize, ‘Oh, I’ve got some courage in me.'”

Sherman said when he was little he used to be afraid of the bogeyman in the dark.

“You guys don’t seem like you’re scared of those things. You guys have iPhones and stuff so I’ve got to keep up with the times (and) figure out what you guys are afraid of. I guess losing your (phone) charger,” Sherman joked.

“Always remember that courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s you triumphing over fear. You standing up to fear and not being afraid. You standing up to the things you’re afraid of. You acting while being afraid … you’re still doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”

The students eagerly peppered Sherman with questions:

What makes you courageous?

“I guess my dad.

“One day … we were playing football and there was a guy that was really bigger than me and I wasn’t trying to tackle him and my dad came up to me, picked me up and then he body slammed me and I was like, ‘Well, I’m not going to get that done again.’ I’d rather deal with him (the player) than deal with him (the father).”

Was the post-game turkey leg (after the 49ers game) any good?

“It was a little greasy.”

How long has your hair been in dreadlocks?

“Since 2004. Going on 11 years.”

What’s the hardest thing about talking to Cedar Heights students?

“Well you guys make me nervous. I don’t know what you’re going to do. You guys take a lot of pictures. You’re going to put me on Instagram and things of that nature. Insta-Twitter-book,” he joked.

“Some people fear standing in front of people and speaking. I don’t.”

He said he hoped the students understood his message, and that if they did he would consider his visit successful.

Would he do the “whip” dance?

“What kind of touchdown celebration am I going to have if I give you guys all my act today?”

Do you get nervous before games?

“I get nervous before every game.”

He was more nervous when he was younger – the fans and TV cameras got to him a little, but “you kind of blur all that out. You kind of think: It’s 22 people on the field and a few referees. You kind of blur everything else around you out. You don’t think about the fans. You don’t think about the cameras. You don’t think about anything but doing your job.”

How many pairs of shoes do you have?

“I stopped counting at about 57.”

Why did you go to school at Stanford?

Sherman said he wanted to change the impression people had of his home town, Compton, California.

“And give the kids just a glimpse of what can happen when you try hard. How successful you can be if you really focus on school and academics.”

How do you block-out the “haters”?

“I got hater-blocker shades.”

How much courage does it take to walk out on the field?

“I think it takes a lot of courage to walk out on the field. Because you’re walking out into potential failure. You’re walking out into a lot of criticism, a lot of skepticism, a lot of judgement. If you go out out onto the field and fail you have millions of people that criticize and judge every move you make, everything you did. Whether you did it right or wrong they’re going to criticize you. Whether you won or lost they’re going to criticize you.”

Why did you start playing football?

“I had anger issues as a kid. It was the best way to get them out.”

How did you feel after the last play of the Superbowl?

“It sucked. We lost.”

What’s your favorite game you’ve played in?

“Every game. Because it’s fun. It’s fun every week, man. It’s actually more fun to win than to lose.”

What was your most courageous moment?

In the fifth grade, Sherman said he was a nerd or “square.” His friend wasn’t cool, either.

“We were kind of not-cool together. But he was getting picked-on and getting bullied on the playground.”

Sherman said he fought the bully, but wound up getting suspended as a result.

What was the most difficult game last season?

Against Green Bay.

Can you clap with one hand?

Sherman vigorously flapped his hand.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. I tried.”

How do you deal with losing a big game?

“The same way I deal with winning a big game. You move on to the next game. You just move on. You treat the two impostors the same: Success and failure. Because neither one of them is fatal and neither one of them is final.”

What’s your favorite thing about being on the Seahawks?

“People cheer for me from time to time when I’m not even doing anything. You guys, I was walking and you guys were cheering pretty loud … that was pretty cool.”

Why did you choose sports as a career path?

“It called me. I think sports … it’s just one of my gifts. Everybody has a gift. Some people have a gift of technology. Some people have a gift of medicine. Some people have a gift with music. Some people have a gift with art. My gift is athletically.”

“It’s just really personal preference,” and intuition.

What would you do if you did not play for the NFL?

He would be talking about football, or be a coach.

“I love football so I’d be around it somehow.”

What are the steps needed to make it in pro football?

A good education and “you have to be really good at what you do in your sport. And you have to get lucky, honestly. There’s a lot of luck involved. Because there’s a lot of talented people out there who don’t make it, and it has nothing to do with talent, it has nothing to do with all the steps they took. They could have done everything right and just not got lucky – not have the right person, right place, right time, seeing what they can do.”

What’s your second-favorite team (after the Seahawks, of course)?

“The Seattle Seahawks, again.”

Have you been in situations where you found it difficult to be courageous?

Yeah, “because that’s what makes it courageous. If it wasn’t tough it wouldn’t be courage.”