Richard Sherman’s bitterness makes for must-see Sunday matchup

After taking a few shots at Russell Wilson, it will be interesting to see what Richard Sherman does when he returns to Seattle on Sunday.

It’s pretty clear that Richard Sherman is still harboring ill feelings for the Seattle Seahawks.

In advance of Sunday’s matchup between the Seahawks and Sherman’s San Francisco 49ers — the first time Sherman is returning to Seattle since being cut by the team — some of those feelings resurfaced.

More specifically, Sherman surprisingly had some harsh words about Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, whom Sherman played with for six years. When asked if the Niners could keep Wilson from making plays outside the pocket, Sherman responded with some mildly harsh words.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him throw five picks in the game, so you see what he’s capable of on both sides of it,” Sherman said, via USA Today. “You understand that he can be defended, so you go out there and give it your best shot.”

Sherman was referencing Seattle’s 38-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers in 2016, a game in which Wilson was intercepted five times for the worst performance of his career.

Sherman might not have intended to sound harsh, but it’s not out of character for him to speak passionately about something or someone he believes has wronged him. Sherman doesn’t have anything against Wilson personally, other than the fact that he represents the Seahawks franchise, and Sherman does feel like the Seahawks essentially turned their back on him.

“You just expect after you’ve done so much for a franchise that they wouldn’t cut you while you’re hurt,” Sherman said. “It’s kind of more of a respect thing than anything, but they did, so you have got to kind of roll with the business.”

With his obvious bitterness towards the Seahawks franchise, you can bet Sherman has been long awaiting this return to CenturyLink Field. He has a reputation for taking things personally in football, and he may have been offended at the idea of someone praising Wilson when he most likely feels he deserves just as much of the praise for everything the Seahawks accomplished during his tenure.

The fact that Sherman brought up Wilson’s five-pick game from two years means he’s probably greatly looking forward to forcing Wilson to relive that awful memory on Sunday, and proving to the Seahawks that they were wrong to release him.

At 2-9, the 49ers aren’t involved in a lot of must-see games these days. But seeing how Sherman responds to playing in Seattle once again could make this game one that fans won’t want to miss.