Former NFL player and Super Bowl Champion Anthony Sherman said on a podcast Thursday that the NFL’s COVID-19 policies and turn toward “woke” politics influenced his decision to retire from professional football.
During an interview on Law & Crime’s “Coptales and Cocktails” podcast, Sherman, who was with the Kansas City Chiefs when the team won Super Bowl LIV and later retired to become a law enforcement officer, said that he achieved his goal of playing in the NFL for 10 years, and “the Lord showed [him] the door” when the NFL started to take overt political stances as a league.
“Do you miss it?” co-host Sean “Sticks” Larkin asked.
“I don’t,” Sherman replied. “My goal was 10 [years], and I got 10. And the Lord showed me the door with all of the political stances the NFL was making, the COVID policies, all of this nonsense. He was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to make it easy for you. I gave you 10 and then head on down the road.’ And then he opened up another door with all this law enforcement stuff. And it’s been a good transition so far.”
Larkin also asked Sherman about his experience being a vocal supporter of law enforcement in the wake of the NFL’s increased attention to social justice, and anti-police statements made by prominent NFL players and other celebrities. Sherman replied that his views were respected and largely uncontroversial within the Chiefs locker room. “I kind of had one of those, like, ‘this is who Sherman was, this who Sherman is, like, leave him alone,’” Sherman said. “He’s going to have his opinion, and he’s not going to change his mind about it — any aspect of that. I kind of demanded — not demanded, but had a respect in the locker room, that it wasn’t, ‘Oh, geez, here comes Sherman,’ whatever. It was kind of one of those things where it was, I am who I am, and if you don’t like it, then we don’t have to talk. I’ve got my friends. I don’t need many more.”
Sherman added that the team as a whole was unified and focused on success on the field. “The locker room was great,” Sherman said. “Coach [Andy] Reid and [General Manager Brett] Veach did a great job of bringing in guys. And that’s one of the things I think is the reason they’ve had so much success in the last four or five years. One, Patrick Mahomes. Two is the locker room itself. Everyone loves each other regardless of where you grew up, how you grew up, where you went to school, whatever it is. We have one goal and it’s to win the Super Bowl, and I don’t care what has to happen, but we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna accomplish it together.”
Sherman played fullback for 10 years with the Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs. He currently serves as a part-time sheriff’s deputy in Bourbon County, Kansas, and as a part-time Task Force Officer with the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative arm, Homeland Security Investigations. In a retirement video posted to Twitter earlier this month, Sherman wore his deputy sheriff’s tactical vest while thanking his fans and supporters.