Richard Sherman may be dealing with some negativity as it relates to the Seattle Seahawks, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a stand up guy.
The Stanford graduate has followed through on a promise to a young woman to fund her scholarship to Norfolk State in exchange for her turning her grades around and hitting the honor roll.
This fantastic story comes to us by way of Wes McElroy and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“At the dinner when Richard Sherman came to me about the scholarship, I was in shock. I believe I said ‘Really?’ for reassurance,” Varina senior Hershai James said, per McElroy. “I just felt so blessed to have been given the wonderful opportunity.”
James and Sherman met during a 2016 special event in Richmond put on by Sherman’s former teammate, Michael Robinson. It’s an annual event that benefits the Excel to Excellence Foundation.
When James lived up to her end of the bargain and registered a 3.0 GPA this year, she got in touch with Johnathan Mayo, TEAM EXCEL’s executive director. Mayo contacted Robinson and Sherman.
Sherman didn’t hesitate to follow through on his promise.
“It goes back to knowledge is power and if you have knowledge you’re going to be as powerful as you ever want to be,” said Sherman, who graduated from Stanford University in 2010. “Nobody stops anybody from reading and educating themselves. Mike is only trying to empower these kids to be everything that they can be and if we can help with that with our presence, with our (autographed) jerseys (for an auction), with our words, we’ll do everything we can.”
“When my senior year began, I definitely had the scholarship in my head as motivation,” James said. “With being a senior, the year is really stressful. Having something to look forward to helped. It’s like saying my hard work and dedication had paid off.”
She told McElroy she “will study business with the hope of international travel in her future.”