The beef between Richard Sherman and Jim Harbaugh continues to burn. From Sherman's end, at least.
Doubling down on recent comments, Sherman said Monday at Super Bowl Opening Night that his disdain for Harbaugh is so intense from their time together at Stanford that it became his goal to put Harbaugh out of the NFL. And Sherman feels he succeeded.
"I wanted to put him out of the league. And once I got that done, I had no animosity toward the 49ers organization," Sherman said.
Richard Sherman on moving on past the Harbaugh feud: "I wanted to put him out of the league. And once I got that done, I had no animosity toward the 49ers organization."
— Phil Barber (@Skinny_Post) January 28, 2020Sherman played for Harbaugh at Stanford from 2007-10, and he basically claims Harbaugh tried to ruin his career.
After Sherman underwent season-ending surgery in 2008, he said Harbaugh accused him of "quitting on the team." When he returned the next season, Sherman, originally a wide receiver, said Harbaugh wouldn't let him play on offense -- instead suggesting he play cornerback. (Not the worst idea, as it turned out.) Then he said Harbaugh encouraged him to transfer.
To top it all off, Sherman said Harbaugh didn't help his cause in the NFL Draft process, which is why he fell to the fifth round in 2011. The five-time Pro Bowl corner has harbored a grudge against his college coach ever since.
"There is nothing to mend," Sherman told the San Jose Mercury News earlier this month. "The bridge was burned down, torn down and built another bridge at another place. But the bridge in this particular relationship will never be rebuilt. I don't think he is interested in it, and I'm not interested in it."
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Their rivalry continued in the NFL when Harbaugh became head coach of the 49ers the same year Sherman started out with the Seahawks. After Harbaugh won the first three meetings, Sherman and the Seahawks won three of the next four, cresting with a victory in the 2013 NFC Championship Game that ended with Sherman breaking up a pass for Michael Crabtree in the endzone.
The Seahawks won both meetings the next season as well, after which Harbaugh and the 49ers parted ways. The story came full circle in 2018 when Sherman, who had been released by the Seahawks following a torn Achilles, signed with the 49ers. Now he's a win away from his second Super Bowl.
As for Harbaugh, he's kept mostly quiet on the Sherman front. His only response, per the Mercury News, has been to dispute Sherman's claim that he honked his car at the Seahawks team bus one year after a 49ers victory.
