Richard Sherman Podcast - Derek Stingley Jr. on GREAT Texans defense, NFL WRs & being a lockdown corner | Richard Sherman

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Richard Sherman Podcast – Derek Stingley Jr. on GREAT Texans Defense, NFL WRs & Being a Lockdown Corner

Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd (iHeartPodcasts, The Volume)
Episode: Richard Sherman Podcast feat. Derek Stingley Jr.
Date: October 25, 2025
Host: Richard Sherman
Guest: Derek Stingley Jr., Houston Texans CB

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EPISODE OVERVIEW

This episode features an in-depth, candid conversation between Richard Sherman and Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. Focused on Stingley’s breakout performance in the NFL, the discussion delves into the Texans’ stifling defense, Stingley's personal football upbringing, best NFL wide receivers, and the unique mentality required to play cornerback at the highest level. Sherman, drawing from his All-Pro career, extracts personal insights from Stingley on technique, mindset, and adjustments on and off the field.

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KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

[02:29] - [03:36] Stingley’s Recent Interception & Style of Play

• Opening Salvo: Sherman immediately highlights Stingley’s recent highlight-reel interception and his physical stiff-arm post-pick. Stingley humbly downplays it but notes, “We get stiffed on all the time, so...” [03:01]
• Reading the QB: Stingley breaks down his process on that play – reading the vertical threat and reacting to the quarterback’s intentions. Repeats his mantra: “Just get the job done.” [04:48]

[04:50] - [05:42] Anatomy of a Great Defense

• Complementary Play: Stingley credits both the “engine” defensive line and the coverage communication (“communicating with teammates, safeties, or nickels…” [04:27]).
• Elite Numbers: Sherman notes the Texans’ #1 scoring defense, only four passing TDs allowed, and 14.7 points per game. Both agree that teamwork and preparation catalyze success.

[05:42] - [08:59] Early Football Journey & Mentality

• High School Legend: Sherman is amazed that Stingley was offered by LSU in ninth grade and played varsity in eighth: “Bro, that’s like legendary stuff...” [07:00]
• Athletic Pedigree: Stingley credits his father’s Arena Football experience and coaching for his maturity and preparation: “Without him I wouldn’t be sitting right here talking to you at all...” [08:02]
• Smooth Transition to NFL: Stingley notes the biggest jump was the “speed of the game” but feels the process and mindset didn’t shock him.

[08:59] - [10:00] “Welcome to the NFL” Moment

• Practice Humility: Stingley’s welcome moment came in practice against Brandon Cooks:

  “It’s a jump ball... he ripped it away. That was the first time someone really took the ball away from me in the air. That’s crazy. This is the NFL now.” [09:39]

[12:59] - [14:58] Who Are the League’s Best Receivers?

• Respect for Peers: Stingley lists elite WRs beyond the LSU circle (Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase):

  “Garrett with the Jets. Mike Evans is up there… Devonte Adams… Tyreek up there too.” [13:07-13:46]

• Everyone Has a Specialty:

  “Everybody’s great at something... that’s why they’re in the NFL. It’s hard to rank people at any position.” [13:58]

[15:02] - [16:12] Stingley’s Inspirations & “DBU”

• Role Models: Stingley looked up to Champ Bailey (“He did everything. Since I was a little kid, Champ Bailey been one of them.” [15:10])
• LSU Brotherhood: Shares stories of Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu mentoring him by returning to campus, teaching, and motivating young DBs.

[16:12] - [17:21] On Pat Surtain II & Defensive Player of the Year

• Surtain’s Recognition: Stingley is proud for fellow cornerbacks:

  “It’s about time it come back to the cornerbacks... he deserved it.” [16:24-16:39]

[17:21] - [20:28] Mastering the Cornerback Craft

• Navigating Officiating: On avoiding penalties and hand-fighting:

  “Just making sure you not too grabby... after a certain point, sometimes it can hurt you if you’re still trying to use your hands too much...” [17:21]

• Technique Preferences: Both discuss press techniques; Stingley favors step/replacement approaches over “motor/soft shoe” or pedal, seeking early contact for better reads.

[20:28] - [21:27] Film vs. Instinct

• Balanced Preparation:

  “During the week you film study... [but during] the game, sometimes you just have to turn that off and just go play football... it’s a different battle throughout the game.” [20:56]

• Both agree on the importance of instincts, feel, and situational awareness.

[21:27] - [22:22] Houston Texans HC DeMeco Ryans

• Player’s Coach: Stingley praises Ryans as a motivator and as someone who understands defensive players’ perspectives:

  “He’s a great coach... he can do this as long as he wants.” [21:41]

• On Career Longevity: Jokes about playing until age 50. [22:27]

[22:49] - [25:30] Learning from Mistakes & Mental Growth

• Stingley flips the script, asking Sherman about adjusting during games—specifically halftime changes (touching on a Bills matchup). Sherman describes being “humbled” by receivers who break his tendencies, and the value of “locking in” after being beaten.

  “You grow when you’re having a bad game or somebody... how you respond because they’re coming back to you.” [25:07]

• Both emphasize the mental resilience required for great play: one play at a time, always respond, always grow.

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NOTABLE QUOTES AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• Sherman on Defensive Greatness:

  “[The D-line], we say they’re the engine of the defense.” [05:16]

• Stingley’s Humility:

  “Football is football. That part didn’t change.” [06:00]

• On Upbringing:

  “Just being around [my pops]... he molded me into who I am.” [08:02]

• On Playing Corner:

  “It’s about time it come back to the cornerbacks.” (on Defensive Player of the Year) [16:39]

• Respect for All NFL WRs:

  “Everybody is great at something that they do... that’s why they’re in the NFL. It’s hard to rank people.” [13:58]

• Sherman’s Self-Reflection:

  “Sometimes you’ve got to get the get back.” (on rematches after tough games) [14:46]

• On Adapting in-game:

  “You grow when you’re having a bad game... how you respond because they’re coming back to you.” [25:07]

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TIMESTAMP HIGHLIGHTS

• [02:29] — Show begins with Sherman welcoming Stingley
• [03:01] — Stingley discusses his latest interception
• [05:16] — Texans defensive line = “engine of the defense”
• [08:02] — Stingley on father’s formative role
• [09:39] — “Welcome to NFL” moment, Brandon Cooks
• [13:07] — Best WRs outside LSU circle
• [15:10] — Champ Bailey as a role model
• [16:24 – 16:39] — On Pat Surtain II’s Defensive Player of the Year
• [17:21] — Navigating PI and illegal contact rules
• [20:56] — Film study vs. instincts balance
• [21:41] — Stingley on DeMeco Ryans
• [23:06] — Sherman on in-game adjustments mid-struggle
• [25:07] — Growth through adversity

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TONE AND STYLE

The episode’s tone is thoughtful, insightful, and filled with mutual respect and humor. Sherman blends personal anecdotes with honest admiration, drawing out Stingley’s humility and intelligence. The mood is conversational, competitive, and filled with tips of wisdom for aspiring athletes and football fans.

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TL;DR

• Richard Sherman and Derek Stingley Jr. trade war stories and technique tips, diving deep into what makes elite NFL defenders tick
• Texans’ defense praised for synergy between line and secondary, with Stingley thriving in both man and zone coverage
• Stingley credits his family and LSU “DBU” heritage for his mentality and development
• Challenges of today’s rules, hand techniques, and the mental demands of cornerback are honestly dissected
• Both agree growth comes from adversity, not just success—one play at a time

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Transcript

[Richard Sherman]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Richard Sherman]

Welcome back to the Richard Sherman Podcast and we have a very special guest. A guy that Is very tough to track down, but I'm happy to have him today. One of the best corners in the National Football League, Derek Stingley. Appreciate you joining me, brother.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yes, sir.

[Richard Sherman]

Glad to be here, man. You. Yeah, look, look, I. I'm not gonna start no controversy. Y' all playing some great defense right now. Y' all playing some great defense. You had the pick last week. Well, I'm gonna start it off with that. The pick was incredible. Why you still form that man like that?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I mean, I did. I thought it was just a normal still form. Apparently it was, you know, not. But I don't know. You know, we get stiffed on all the time, so.

[Richard Sherman]

Right. You got to give them back a little bit when you can. Yeah, that was a. That was a great play, though, man. What. What. What did you read on that play? What did you see? Because, I mean, that was incredible. A lot of your books are really great. Show your ones in the playoffs was. Was great, too. I think your ball skills are next level. Obviously, they said you had 27 of them things in. In high school. I said, that's just silly numbers, man.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Now, yeah, on that play, I mean, you know, I'm just looking at the vertical, and then I saw the quarterback, he was looking at two. And then, I mean, I just went to the ball. I seen the ball just get ball.

[Richard Sherman]

You done picked off the SEMA 2 a lot. That's what I'm saying. Maybe it might have been your first game back from injury, like a couple years ago. That might have been your first or second book. They ran a scene, a vertical, and you was on one. You came off of one in book two. Do you prefer. And I know people always argue this, you do a great job following the best. Best receiver and mirroring them. But when you in zone, you get to play with vision, and your football IQ is so high that you can. You have an incredible feel for the zone, the space, the concepts. You getting. Talk me through that.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Well, I mean, it really doesn't matter, to be honest. I mean, if I'm a man just being up there, just playing face to face, or if I'm his own, just knowing that I. That I'm communicating with, like, my teammate, my safeties or the nickels or whoever. Whoever is next to me just going out there, just whatever it is, like, it doesn't matter.

[Richard Sherman]

Just.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Just get the job done.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah. What makes this defense so good? You know, it seems like y' all have a great. Great combination of incredible pass rush and a great secondary, y'. All. Number one in the scoring defense. You only allow four passing touchdowns this season, allowing 14.7 points per game. And that's. Look, that's giving you a chance to win every week. Talk. Talk me through that. Y' all got a great D line. Obviously, they hunting up front, but in the back end, y' all locked into.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah, I mean. I mean. I mean, you pretty much said it all. Like, you know, the. The. The front. The D line, they. They know how to work with each other. Like, they know whenever somebody is. Is caging and containing around and, you know, like, they all working together, and then it's the same on the back end. And then whenever we all do that at the same time, everybody. Every play, at least we try to every play, and then it's just a good result. So, I mean, it start with them. We say they're the engine of the defense.

[Richard Sherman]

So when you got to the league, was it what you thought it would be.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

In a sense of, like, business? Yeah. I mean, I knew coming in that, you know, it's a job, like, you're. You're here doing a job.

[Richard Sherman]

But, I.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Mean, it's still fun. Like, it's still football is football. Like, that part didn't change either. Like, huh. I don't know. I mean, first coming into the league, obviously the speed of the game was, you know, had to get used to that, but other than that, it's been pretty much the same.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, but. But that's one thing. Y' all got an advantage at lsu, man. Y'. All. Yes. You facing what you gonna face. You seeing what you're gonna see. SEC ain't much better. Ain't much better than what you've been seeing. Yeah, talk me through that. You were the number one recruit in your class coming in, which is rare for a corner to be the number one recruit. Is it true they offered you in ninth grade?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah.

[Richard Sherman]

And you played on varsity in eighth grade? I didn't even know that was possible.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Well, yeah, you know, I went to a small school, so, you know, it was possible for us.

[Richard Sherman]

So did you. Did you. Did you get any? Did you get any?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah, yeah.

[Richard Sherman]

In eighth grade?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yep.

[Richard Sherman]

Bro, that's like legendary stuff you tell as like a folktale. Like, you know, you tell your grandkids, like. Yeah, man, when I was in eighth grade playing varsity, yeah, I was about.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Five, eight and one. I don't even know. Like, I wouldn't. I was small out there, but, yeah, good times. Good times.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, you got a good feel. So what. What. What helped you was it was it just, you know, having a. Having NFL around you, you know, family members, obviously your pops played pro baseball and. And. And. And played some. Some arena football. Is it. Was it just that. That helped your mentality? Because obviously, every level, it seems like you've dominated and been the most mature. You came to the league. It didn't. It didn't seem like it surprised you. As soon as you got your reps, you got in there, you. You were picking stuff off. Yeah. Your first time in the playoffs, you're picking stuff. Well, not your first time in playoffs, but last year was one of the most dominant playoff runs for db. I thought y' all had a really great chance. But tell me what. What really molded your mentality coming up?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I mean, it was really, you know, being around my pops. He. He played, and he. He also coached in the. The Arena Football League. And I. I mean, since a little kid, I would be doing DB drills with, like, the players that was on his team or running the rotary, like, against his DBs at practice, and just. I don't know. I mean, just being around him. Without him, I wouldn't be sitting right here talking to you at all, which is crazy, by the way, but, you know, just. He molded me into. Into who I am, so, I mean, I just got to keep it going.

[Richard Sherman]

No question. You. You're doing a great job keeping it going. You got 11 interceptions already. You. You in your class. I would. I would assume you got the most because by. By far and away, not a lot of them getting books right now, but you. You definitely hunting them. Who is. Who's been like, have you had your welcome to the NFL moment? You know, sometimes guys have them. Sometimes it's not that big a deal.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah, I mean, it was. It happened in practice. I'm going against Brandon Cooks, obviously, my rookie year. I'm covering him, and he. It's a jump ball that's in the end zone, and I jumped up, like, to catch the ball, and he also got his hands on the ball and he ripped it away. And that was like, the first time that somebody really, like, took the ball away from me in the air, and I was just looking around like, oh, like, that's crazy. Like, Brandon Cooks, like, you know, he cold, like, whatever you think about him, but he's one of the great receivers to be in the league, and he. Yeah, he made that play. And I was just looking around like, yeah, this is the NFL now.

[Richard Sherman]

Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's for sure. NFL. No big. Cooks don't ever get enough credit. You get. You get in front of cooks and you be slouching if you want to.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

But cook your grits for real. It's crazy.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah. Who you? Who you? I can't really talk to you about who the best receivers in National Football League is because you you went against them in college and you probably see them a lot different. I mean they still elite. You can't not say that.

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[Richard Sherman]

But outside of Justin and Jamar, who are you feeling like are some of the best receivers in the National Football League?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Oh, well, outside. Yeah. Outside of Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase. I mean, Garrett with the Jets. Mike Evans is up there.

[Richard Sherman]

Oh, people don't give Mike Evans the credit he deserved. Mike Evans a handful.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, who else played against her? Devonte Adams was always gonna be up there. Oh, I can't even think of people right now.

[Richard Sherman]

For real. Oh, now I give some. You. You probably played against Tariq. You probably played against devonte's split release stuff and how he moved his release packages.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said about. Yeah, he, he's always up there. Tariq would be up there.

[Richard Sherman]

They. A lot of people saying puka right now, A.J. brown.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

See, that's the, you know, like people be ranking and doing all that. Like, everybody is great at something that they do. Like, that's why they're in, in the NFL. Like, like all. Everybody that you just said is phenomenal at a specific thing and that's how they get their yards, they touchdowns. So I don't know. It's, it's hard to rank people with, with any position.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, right, right, right. Because it, it, it just depend on any given day. Like, I give a lot of respect sometimes to receivers. People don't. Like, Stevie Johnson was an issue for me. And, and, and we, we've talked about this a lot of times. Like, that boy had a split release and I had to figure that out. And, and you know, I went against him once in, in Toronto and it was a long day. We won by like 30. But you know, one of them days where you. You didn't have a great day, the team had a great day. My day wasn't great, you know, and. And then we.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

He.

[Richard Sherman]

He got signed by San Francisco, and I went against him again. And that much different. Much different kind of day. I had two books on a day. It was Thanksgiving. I was eating turkey on the field after the game. Sometimes you got to get to get back.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah. Living, right?

[Richard Sherman]

Yes, sir. Living. Living good.

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So who.

[Richard Sherman]

Who did you look. Look up to outside of your pops and, you know, as a. As a db, as a corner that, you know, you tried to emulate?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Champ Bailey, he was just somebody that I always seen. He wore number 24. He got the interceptions. He was able to cover, like, press or off, like, you know, he did everything, and he. Yeah, since I was a little kid, Champ Bailey been one of them.

[Richard Sherman]

No. No question about it, y'. All. LSU is dbu, and they've put out some of the best. Did you ever have, like, a good relationship with, like, Tyron and Pat P. And those guys? I mean, two of the best to play.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah. I mean, Pat, he would come back and work out with us, like, teach us some of the stuff that he was either learning at the time or dealing with or playing with at that time. Then we'll just take that added to our game. Tyrone Matthew would come back and, like, talk to us before the game sometimes, like, break down the DB huddle. Who else? I mean, it's. Oh, yeah, it's a lot of people. Like, we. We. We got too many. Is a lot of people that's coming back, though.

[Richard Sherman]

Right? Right. Talk about one. Another good corner in National Football League. Pat Certan, one defensive player of the year last year. What. What was your reaction when you saw that?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

No, I mean, he deserved it.

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[Derek Stingley Jr.]

He been ever since day one coming into the league. He, you know, he doing what he doing now, so, like, you know, it's about time somebody in our position got it right.

[Richard Sherman]

Right.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I think the last one was. Was who? Gilmore.

[Richard Sherman]

Gilmore, yeah.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Gilmore. Yeah. It's about time it come back to the cornerbacks. So I'm happy for him. Like, he. He deserved it.

[Richard Sherman]

So no question about it, y' all two right now are the top of the totem pole, top of the mountain as. As cornerbacks go in the National Football League. But talk to me about how difficult it is to play. I played corner in the league, obviously, for. For 11 years, and it's so. These refs sometimes just be so on the. On the. On my goddamn Nerves about, about some of this ticky tack nonsense. And any given play, they could just decide to throw one. You know, I mean, whether it's illegal contact or, or you calling PI talk about how you. You've been able to navigate around that.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Well, I mean, just kind of like what they always teach us if you're down the field and the receivers coming back, like my DB coach Dino, he. He always say if you, if you're getting beat on a go route and you find yourself catching up to the receiver, that doesn't mean that you're that much faster. That means the ball is in the air and it's slowing down for you to turn around and, you know, look for the ball, make a play or whatever. Hopefully the refs wouldn't throw nothing if you're looking back for the ball. They still can, but, you know, the chances of it go down. And then, I mean, at the line of scrimmage, just making sure you. You not too grabby, like grabbing too much with your hands. I mean, you know, whether you play with your hands a lot or not, like certain. After a certain point, like, you know, sometimes it can hurt you if you're still trying to use your hands too much. So, I mean, I, I don't know. Like, I just go through my processes, starting at the line and then as you move away from the line, just eliminating. And I don't. You don't really need to use your hands for. So.

[Richard Sherman]

Right, right, right, right.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

You're.

[Richard Sherman]

You're a hell of an athlete, so you don't need to use them much. Sometimes it just, it's just some of them things where hand fighting, you're hand fighting down the field. But that's why anytime it's nine ball, I'm. I'm shoulder in front of theirs. I look up. Yeah, get them off the red line, they go get the money.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Gotta get it. Yep.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, got to. So do you like to step kick or do you or what. What do people call it? Step replace or. Everybody calls it something else. Or do you like to motor or soft shoe?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I'm more of a. Like a step. Like a. Either step in place or step and replace or you know, whatever. Like you said, whatever you want to call it. I don't really like to. To what is it? Inch or pedal at the line? Because I, I want to get some type of contact like within that first movement because then at that point then I just feel like I can kind of read. I can read the receiver easier after that. So.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, yeah, I was total step Kick I could, I couldn't do the motor stuff. I felt like it even low key, I didn't like to pedal. And your pedal was smooth as your pedal is smooth and clean and you get out of your brakes clean. I, I moved from receiver to corner like my junior year college. So I, I, everything I was doing when I, when I changed over was pure. Like, I understood, I knew what the place, I knew what they were about to run. So it was like, hey, I recognize the play. Bang. It's about to be slant, it's about to be curled, it's about to be this know. It's like I, I didn't feel like I needed to pedal. So I get to shuffle so I could have my foot in the ground so I could just break when I want to break because I start pedaling and I have my wrong. My, my left foot up and then have to pedal one more cycle to get my right foot in the ground and all this. So I started doing that side shuffle stuff and we ran a lot of COVID three. Obviously you ran man on, on third down. But when I had vision and I could see it, I'm tough to deal with. But I, I really see a lot of that in your game too. When you visual and you can see it, boy, they better be careful putting that ball over there.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah. And I mean, you know, sometimes it, you know, isn't good. Like my eyes, you know, beat me sometimes, but try to eliminate that and then, you know, the ball in the air, try to go get it.

[Richard Sherman]

So how much, how much of, of what you do is, is film study, route recognition, combination recognition. And how much of it you feel like? It's just feel instincts. Like I feel the movement, I feel the lean. I feel the, the hips drop.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I feel like, I mean, of course during the week you, you do whatever like, like you film study, like you, you do a whole bunch of that. But then you get in the game. Like sometimes you just got to know when you just got to know certain situations. I, I feel like you just got to know when to turn that off, like the analytical part of it and just be able to just go out there and play football. So I say about what and what. Like it's a, it's a different battle, like throughout the game. Like whichever one you choose to use in that, in those moments.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, yeah, I feel, I feel the same way. How is Dico? I mean, obviously I know Dico. We were in San Francisco together. Incredible player, incredible person. Like, just, just a great man. But how was he as A head coach. I've never seen him as a head coach.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

No, I mean, you know, he's, he's a great coach. He, you know, he always smiling. He gonna be smiling anytime you see him. He gonna, you know, motivate you and make sure that, you know, you ready to play. You know, he played defense or he played linebacker. So he understand, he understands what's really going on, like from a player, like from a player's perspective, he understands, like, what's going on, whether that be on the field, off the field, or whatever. Tommy. Yeah. He just wanted to great coaches in the league and, you know, he can do this as long as he wants, so.

[Richard Sherman]

Right. Speaking of that, how long, how long you want to do it?

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I try to play that on about 50.

[Richard Sherman]

There you go. There you go. I love that. I love that boy come from Baton Rouge, about to play till he fit. Yeah, I ain't mad at that at all. You got any questions for me? You know what I mean? I, I, you know, I don't make this more conversational, allow you to say what you got to say.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I mean, I mean, so halftime, you, you talked about, you talked about what's his name from the Bills at halftime, what you was thinking, like, like what you, what you was, what were you trying to change, like, going into the rest of the game, like, so that.

[Richard Sherman]

That was, that's a great question. So he kept doing. Basically, they were isolating me, you know what I mean? Like, they were. He didn't. Because I'm a big time play recognition. Like, I could. If I see the formation, I see this, like, I'm all pretty much analytical. If I know the place on the field we are, I can pretty much tell you what they about to run. And this boy was breaking my rules. Like it, he's supposed to run a slant. He wouldn't, he'd see me sitting inside. That boy stutter, stutter, stutter, go route. I'm like, yeah, what the was that? You know what I mean? Then I'm like, okay, now he, he feeling me for go route. So I'm like, all right, I' ma go, I'm gonna go for the go. That boy stutter, stutter, slant. Like, okay, all right. Just. Yeah, he got me right now.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah.

[Richard Sherman]

And so they got me. They put me in a slot a couple times. And, and this was early in my career, this is my second year in the league, and I wasn't, I wasn't as good in the slot as I am, as I ended up being later in my career. And we in the red zone. You know, seven cuts in the red zone. But my. My grit's been getting cooked all game.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

I'm sitting there, I'm off.

[Richard Sherman]

And so he. He give me. He give me inside release. And I'm like, all right, inside release. We going slant. And he banged me to the corner. Tug. Yeah, one of the two tugs I gave up that year. I tell you, I worked so hard in practice the next two months on everything, boy, my feet were good, my eyes were good, my. My tech was good. I wasn't letting it. It. What I would say is it humbled me enough to, like, give me, get me back where I needed to go because, you know, you start feeling yourself, you get sloppy.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah.

[Richard Sherman]

And I was, I was grateful. So at halftime, I really just was telling myself, like, come on, man, you gotta lock in. You gotta. You gotta lock in. You can handle this, dude. I mean, they. I think they only scored 13 points in a game, so it wasn't like they killed us. Right. But it's just individually, I held myself to such a high standard. I gave up 200 yard games in my career, and he was one of them.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yeah. So it's really just about patience, what I'm hearing.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, yeah. It's about patience and trust. And you know, in those games, in those moments, that's when you can lose yourself. That's when you grow the most. People like, man, you grow so much when you have a great game. No, you grow when you're having a bad game or somebody. You gave up a grab early, you give up a touchdown early, or you give a big play, like how you respond because they're coming back to you.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

No. Yeah, so.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, so. And so the great ones, like, like you, you can give up play and then you book him later in the game, you book him in the fourth, like, hey, I'm about to. I'm about to win this game just like this. And people don't understand the mentality and the mindset. You have to. Have to be able to respond and answer when the, when the, when the ball finally come your way again and be able to change the game.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Right? Yeah. One player, Tom.

[Richard Sherman]

One play at a time.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

That's it, huh?

[Richard Sherman]

You got anything else? That was a great question.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

No, that's about it. I appreciate you. It's crazy.

[Richard Sherman]

You crazy. You crazy, bro. I've been a big fan of your game, bro. One of the best. You're one of the best doing it in college. You're one of the best doing it now. You obviously was one of the best doing it in high school. Big fan of your game and if you ever need anything from me, don't hesitate to reach out.

[Derek Stingley Jr.]

Yes sir. Appreciate you.

[Richard Sherman]

Yes sir. All love.

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[Derek Stingley Jr.]

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[Derek Stingley Jr.]

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[Kyle McLaughlin]

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