Everything We Know About Richard Sherman’s Arrest—and Yes, It’s Bad

On Wednesday, NFL free agent Richard Sherman was arrested after reportedly breaking into a family member’s home and scuffling with police before being taken into custody.

Now the picture is starting to get a bit clearer after a 911 tape of a caller, reported to be Sherman’s wife Ashley Moss, claimed that Sherman was heavily intoxicated and threatening to kill himself.

According to ESPN which obtained the tape early Thursday, the caller claimed Sherman was being “drunk and belligerent” and said he was “threatening to kill himself.” The caller noted that Sherman was being aggressive, fought with her uncle, and allegedly “sent text messages to people saying he’s going to hang himself.”

The caller can be heard telling Sherman “Richard, please stop” in an attempt to prevent the former San Francisco 49er from leaving the residence. The caller also claimed that the one-time Pro Bowl cornerback had drunk two bottles of hard liquor.

The caller pleaded with the dispatcher to instruct police not to shoot Sherman as he allegedly threatened to fight with cops once they arrived.

In another 911 call, the caller told the dispatcher that she believed Sherman was driving to her parent’s home in Redmond, Wash. Sherman reportedly crashed his SUV and then allegedly tried to break into his in-laws’ home. The NFL free agent fought with officers who arrived at the scene and had to use a police dog to arrest Sherman. He was arrested and denied bail, which is standard for suspects in domestic violence cases in Washington.

Sherman will see a judge on Thursday afternoon, who will determine if there was probable cause for the arrest and set bail, ESPN reports.

“At this time we’re going to make no statements, except he didn’t harm anybody,” Sherman’s wife Ashley told the Seattle Times. “My kids were not harmed in the incident. He’s a good person and this is not his character. We’re doing all right, just trying to get him out. I want people to know no one was injured.”

Sherman, 33, played last season with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020 after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. Sherman has been extremely outspoken in the movement for Black lives and currently is the vice president of the NFL Players Association’s executive committee.

“We were made aware of an arrest last night of one of our player leaders for an alleged domestic violence incident and have activated our domestic violence crisis protocol for the protection and support of everyone involved,” the NFLPA said in a statement, ESPN reports. “We will continue to monitor events closely as more facts are made available to us.”