Richard Sherman: Matchup vs. Eagles' DeVonta Smith Made Me Realize I Had to Retire

Richard Sherman knew the exact moment he had to get out of the NFL.

During a recent episode of his podcast with Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson as a guest (starts at 9:40 mark), Sherman explained how covering DeVonta Smith during a Week 6 game in 2021 led to him realizing it was time to hang up the cleats.

"DeVonta must've run this comeback (route)," Sherman said. "I had him under control, I was like, bam, quick jam, easy, had him under control. He must've stopped and I tried to stop and my whole groin said, 'Snap, snap, snap, snap,' and I said, 'Whoa, whoa."

Sherman noted the coaches were on the sideline asking if he wanted to come out, but the Eagles were running a hurry-up at that point: "I'm 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 here."

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Sherman as a free agent on Sept. 29, 2021. He played in his first game with the team four days later against the New England Patriots.

The Bucs-Eagles game was on Oct. 14. Sherman only played six snaps before being taken out with a hamstring injury. He appeared in two games the rest of the season.

Smith, who was a rookie at the time, only had two catches for 31 yards in the game. The Buccaneers earned a 28-22 win.

Despite talking about the end of his playing career, Sherman hasn't officially filed retirement papers with the NFL. He told NFL Network last offseason upon being hired by Amazon Prime Video as part of its Thursday Night Football coverage he was still keeping the door open to playing "as long as I can" and he would listen to offers late in the year if a team called.

Now, at 35 years old and having not appeared in a game since December 2021, it's probably a safe bet Sherman won't play in the NFL again. He had a fantastic career with five Pro Bowl appearances and being named to the All-Pro team five times, including three first-team selections.