Richard Sherman may play for the enemy, but he doesn't plan to cut all his ties to Seattle.
The three-time All-Pro corner was released by the Seahawks on March 9 and signed with the rival San Francisco 49ers the next day. Nonetheless, Sherman hopes to remain ingrained in the Seattle community.
"Just because I'm leaving Seattle doesn't mean I'm ... leaving Seattle," Sherman wrote in a Players' Tribune piece published Tuesday. "There may be very little loyalty in football, as I've learned, but Seattle is still where my kids will continue to go to school. It's where I met (fiancee) Ashley. It's where her parents live. It's where we own a home that we don't plan on selling. It's where I'm going to continue to work with the kids in the surrounding communities the way I always have.
"Shoot, I own a Wingstop in Seattle. And I highly doubt people there are gonna stop eating wings just because I don't play football there anymore."
While Sherman hopes his personal and business relationships in the area stay friendly, he also provided some insight into how his departure from the Seahawks took place.
Sherman said there was no contract negotiation with the team. He was informed during a face-to-face meeting that he would be released and the transaction became official two days later.
Sherman says Seahawks general manager John Schneider asked for the opportunity to match any contract offer he received, so the player called his former GM before he signed with the 49ers.
"I gave the Seahawks an opportunity to match. They didn't," Sherman said.
Sherman previously told Peter King of The MMQB that the Seahawks informed him the incentives in the 49ers' offer were too expensive to match.
