Cornerback Richard Sherman said he had some help in figuring out Peyton Manning's hand signals during Super Bowl XLVIII, and that some of that help came from outside the Seattle Seahawks locker room. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Sherman claimed that players from other NFL teams contacted him with tips on breaking the Denver Broncos' code.
Richard Sherman claims other NFL players helped him decipher Peyton Manning’s hand signals
Sherman told Jimmy Kimmel that players from other teams called him with advice on cracking the Broncos’ code before the Super Bowl.
“You got guys calling you from other teams and telling you information they know,” Sherman told an amused Kimmel. “It’s a lot of different things that go into scouting.”
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“Friends of friends, friends of teammates, friends of mine,” Sherman said when asked who lent the advice. “Everybody wants to help you win.”
He declined to name his sources, but noted he himself had handed out tips to fellow defenders in the past.
Following the Seahawks’ blowout 43-8 win, Sherman revealed to Robert Klemko of MMQB that he and other members of the Seattle secondary deciphered several of Manning’s audible gestures early in the game.
“We knew what route concepts they liked on different downs, so we jumped all the routes,” Sherman told Klemko. “Then we figured out the hand signals for a few of the route audibles in the first half.”
Whatever they did, it worked. The Seahawks defense picked off Manning twice and held the Broncos’ record-setting offense to their lowest scoring output of the season.
Here's the clip of Sherman and Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith on Kimmel. You'll want to stick around until the end to hear Sherman leave the door open on a couple's massage with Michael Crabtree.
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