Kevin Sherman Refuses To Live Off His Son

michael89156 · 2014-01-29T08:07:44Z

Kevin Sherman Refuses To Live Off His SonKnown for trash-talking bravado on field, exemplified by NFC title-game tirade, Richard Sherman is humble and happy-go-lucky off it. He can, and does, thank his parents for that. Kevin Sherman's truck is wrapped with images of his son, Seattle Seahawks star cornerback Richard Sherman. Kevin Sherman is proud of what his son has accomplished in life. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / January 27, 2014) By Sam Farmer LA Times January 27, 2014, 6:21 p.m. Long before Seattle's Richard Sherman learned to talk trash, his dad hauled it. Kevin Sherman, father of the talkative and provocative Seahawks cornerback, has worked for the Los Angeles sanitation department for 26 years. Each day, he gets up at 3:45 a.m. to drive a trash truck, typically opting to work holidays to make more money. "People say, 'Let your son take care of you,'" said the elder Sherman, 50. "Yeah, but I've got a few years left until I retire. Why would I mess up my own retirement? Why should my son have to foot everything? I have a medical plan that will cover me. Why should my son have to pay my medical bills? It doesn't make sense to me." Ask Richard Sherman about his 4.2 grade-point average at Dominguez High in Compton, or his Stanford education, and he points to the work ethic he learned from his father and mother, Beverly, who works with disabled inner-city children. "I think it was incredibly significant," Sherman said of his parents' example. "It forced my brother and me to understand priorities and family. You've got to do everything in your power to make sure your family is taken care of." Of his mother, he said: "She's always been the one holding down the household. . . . I've gone up there many times to see her and spend time with the kids. It's remarkable, man. That's probably as humbling as it gets." This is the other side to Sherman, whose chest-thumping bravado on the field — something that has made him a Super Bowl week star — is in sharp contrast to his happy-go-lucky and endearingly conscientious personality off it. His pro wrestling-style tirade on national TV after the NFC championship game against San Francisco made him look out of control and emotionally unstable. In an interview with Fox's Erin Andrews, moments after his game-saving deflection of a would-be touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree, Sherman screamed about being the best corner in the league and chided the 49ers for daring to test him with a "sorry" receiver. That wasn't a first for Sherman, who runs his mouth like a carnival barker during games. He famously got in Tom Brady's face last season after a victory over New England in Seattle, and, after a playoff victory at Washington in early 2013, was slapped in the face by Redskins tackle Trent Williams. Kevin Sherman said his son is simply "portraying a personality" when he steps onto the field, and that he would not be as good a player were he to suppress that. "You cannot bring enough heat to be an athlete in this game if you're not overcharged," the father said. "Because you're supercharged when you get inside those lines. And when you're over here [outside the lines], you're just being yourself, kind of laid back and relaxed." Kevin and Beverly Sherman were at the 49ers-Seahawks game, sitting in seats behind the end zone where Richard made his victory-saving play. Beverly joined her son on the field after the game. Kevin didn't budge. "I sat there for a good 30 minutes after the game was over," he said. "It was kind of a proud moment, you know? I had to sit there and gather myself, then I headed down to where the parents go." In many ways, the son is living his father's dream. Kevin Sherman was a good athlete at Crenshaw High, but surely would have been better had he not lost his right eye in a go-kart explosion at age 14. He said he wasn't in a gang, but spent a lot of time with gang members. At 18, he was shot twice in the chest, the bullets narrowly missing his heart. "After that I said, 'To hell with hanging out with people,'" he said. "I went out and got a job, and I've worked ever since." He worked in fast-food restaurants, and a flower shop, before getting a job with the sanitation department, where he has spent nearly three decades. "It's not as tough as it used to be," he said. "We used to hand-load. We'd literally pick up the cans and dump them. Now, it's gotten a little easier. It's more of a prideful job now; you stay clean most of the day. The old days were sweaty. You'd bust your back just to get through. "You would work a good solid four hours, and you would be soaked from head to toe. You'd go in and take a shower and go home. Just some of the grossest stuff you'd ever want to see . . . it's horrendous. It's very humbling. But to me, it didn't matter. It was the price I had to pay to feed my family." His sons, Branton and Richard, were watching. Branton went on to play football at Montana State and is now his brother's business manager. "My dad di...

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sjireland

(@sjireland)

Posts: 49

Helmsman

If you call him a thug you are a racist. I doubt you were calling Richie Incognito a thug. Nah when a white person acts like that he's just an a hole, but a black guy is a thug. Do you guys know what the definition of a thug is? Cause I have a good feeling what you guys really want to call him starts with an N and ends with an ER

Posted : Jan. 29, 2014 2:55 pm

Anonymous

(@Anonymous)

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Cabin Boy Guest

If you call him a thug you are a racist. I doubt you were calling Richie Incognito a thug. Nah when a white person acts like that he's just an a hole, but a black guy is a thug. Do you guys know what the definition of a thug is? Cause I have a good feeling what you guys really want to call him starts with an N and ends with an ER

Nope, just a thug as per Merriam Webster (a brutal ruffian). Like everything in life it's all about context. If you ASSume you know what that does. Just ask people what they mean. Communication is tough I know but you'll need that skill later in life when you graduate and go into the real world!

Posted : Jan. 29, 2014 3:04 pm

Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Not this tired old argument all over again. Posted : Jan. 29, 2014 10:33 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Nice family. Good for him. Dad sure is proud of his boy. I am pulling for the Hawks in the big game. Posted : Jan. 29, 2014 10:34 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Feral Buc: "If you call him a thug you are a racist."Looks more like the racist is you. And Richie Incognito is a thug. Posted : Jan. 29, 2014 11:12 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Actions trump words. Name for me a couple of Sherman's thuggish actions? Posted : Jan. 29, 2014 11:16 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Here we have a wonderful story of two great parents who raised a very successful son and all everyone wants to talk about is a small moment in time where Richard Sherman had poor judgement at the end of a game. Does the man's character have to be judged by this one moment? Who on here has not talked trash during and after a game at some point in their life? Posted : Jan. 29, 2014 11:51 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Well the city should fire him because he forgot to take the trash. Posted : Jan. 30, 2014 2:58 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest He's become the face of this Superbowl. And with each story that comes out about him it makes those who labeled him as a thug look dumber by the minute. +1 Posted : Jan. 30, 2014 10:25 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Well the city should fire him because he forgot to take the trash. Huh ? Posted : Jan. 30, 2014 10:57 pm Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Sherman like to talk trash and that doesn't make him a "thug" not even close. the closest thing the NFL has to a thug is SUH and I've never heard anyone call him a THUG smh.. y'all obviously don't know what a real thug acts like Posted : Jan. 31, 2014 12:58 am Anonymous (@Anonymous) Posts: 0 Cabin Boy Guest Los Angeles Times / January 27, 2014) By Sam Farmer LA Times January 27, 2014, 6:21 p.m.That dude can write, good stuff, blows those Tampa fishwrap writers out of the water. Posted : Jan. 31, 2014 1:46 am

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Kevin Sherman Refuses To Live Off His Son

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