Gutted.
That accurately describes my feeling reading that All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman will be released by the Seahawks.
I know that it's time. I know the team clearly needs a rebuild after getting much older and expensive over the past couple of years. And the Seahawks made it clear that was their plan when they traded Michael Bennett to the Philidelphia Eagles earlier this week.
That doesn't make the release of my all time favorite player any easier.
Sherman certainly had his detractors who disliked him for a laundry list of actions on and off the field, some of which even I was not a fan, but he along with Marshawn Lynch really laid the foundation to bring a team no one cared about up here in "Southern Alaska" to national prominence.
"The Tip" that sent the 2013 Seahawks on to win their first ever Super Bowl still remains my favorite moment in my own sports history. I remember holding my barely 1 month old son Kane as it happened. I ran out of the room celebrating before quickly returning to hand off Kane to my wife so as not to drop him in my hysterics.
It's not just "The Tip" though. His last minute interception that saved the game in Houston, his battles with Calvin Johnson (Megatron v Optimus Prime), U Mad Bro? with Tom Brady, I could go on and on. Even when he didn't choose his words or actions carefully he seemed to just be real and fun in the moment.
Ultimately, I'm confident his incredible career will land him in the Hall of Fame no doubt as a Seahawk, and I hope one day to see "The Tip" enshrined as a statue outside CenturyLink because it's a moment in history none of us Hawks fans should ever forget.
I'll certainly be wearing my #25 all next season in solidarity... unless you become a Patriot, or a Steeler, or a 49er, or a Ram...
Later Sherm, We'll miss ya.
- CJ