Ex-NFL player Richard Sherman, now a presence on TV, arrested for alleged DUI

NFL “Thursday Night Football” analyst and former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman was arrested early Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said.

Sherman, 35, was arrested in King County, Washington, which underlies greater Seattle, at 3:48 a.m., according to jail records. The former player was arrested by Washington State Patrol, trooper Rick Johnson said, adding that details would be revealed if charges are formally filed in the case.

The Super Bowl veteran was booked into King County Correctional Facility at 4:51 a.m. based on a law enforcement allegation of driving under the influence, those records show. No bond or bail was listed, and it appeared Sherman was still behind bars Saturday night.

Washington state law defines DUI as “driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, cannabis, or any drug,” including having a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or greater or having more than 5 nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood.

It wasn’t clear if allegations against Sherman regarded alcohol, marijuana or another intoxicant. A lawyer who has represented Sherman in the past, and a business representative listed on the former player’s Instagram account, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In summer 2021, Sherman was arrested after he allegedly drove under the influence, crashed his SUV in a construction zone and tried to break into his in-laws’ suburban Seattle home. The initial case against him included allegations of criminal trespass, DUI and resisting arrest.

As part of an agreement with King County Superior Court following those incidents, he pleaded guilty in March 2022 to two misdemeanor counts — first-degree negligent driving and second-degree criminal trespass. The agreement included court supervision through part of 2024 as well as a suspended 90-day jail sentence, with two days credited for time already served, so long as Sherman stayed out of trouble.

Also in 2022, Sherman announced he was shifting to TV appearances and pausing his football career. Amazon Prime Video said in an introduction to its NFL streaming hosts last year that Sherman joined it ahead of the 2022 launch of its “Thursday Night Football” franchise, working as a pregame, halftime and postgame analyst.

Sherman’s playing career included a two-Super Bowl run with the Seattle Seahawks, and a victory in 2014; contributions to a San Francisco 49ers team that reached the big game in 2019; and play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He told the NFL Network in 2022 that he was leaving the door open to the possibility of returning to the gridiron.

Sherman grew up in South Los Angeles in a neighborhood near Watts, attended Dominguez High School in nearby Compton and graduated from Stanford University, where he studied communication.