Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin remembers when Richard Sherman was awful

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is one of the best defensive backs in the game. However, he hasn’t always been a premier player at his position. Sherman’s current Seahawks teammate, wide receiver Doug Baldwin, has known Sherman since he joined Stanford in 2007.

Sherman began his collegiate career as a wide receiver before making the transition to defensive back, and Baldwin recalled the first time the two went one-on-one in practice.

According to Baldwin’s memory, Sherman stunk.

“To be honest, when he first switched over he was awful, he was terrible,” Baldwin said, via Pro Football Talk.

“He couldn’t backpedal, he couldn’t track the ball, and he didn’t really try to quick jam, because he would get lost at the line of scrimmage. We had wonderful coaches at Stanford, they kind of honed in his skills, made him focus more on the details and then when he got here he kind of blossomed into amazing defensive back that he is now. He never in his mind had doubt that he would be one of the greatest, he’s always said that he was going to be one of the greatest whether he was going to be a receiver or a defensive back. I had no doubt in him as well because I know how hard he works.”

Obviously a lot has changed since then.

Baldwin is a solid wide receiver for Seattle, but Sherman has developed into the best cornerback in the NFL in the eyes of many people.

If we can learn anything from Sherman’s story and transition from an awful corner to top flight defensive back, it is the old cliche that hard work pays off.