Former UConn star Sherman calls it a career after 10 seasons in league
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KANSASCITY— In the locker room after the Chiefs had advanced to their first Super Bowl in 50 years, coach Andy Reid sought out fullback Anthony Sherman for a hug.
‘‘One more,” Reid told him as he patted his back.
“One more,” Sherman replied, “for you.” That list stands at just two now. Sherman, 32, announced Thursday his retirement via a video on Twitter, saying he’s turning his focus forward to a new career, apparently as a deputy sheriff.
“Kansas City. Thanks for all the memories. It’s been a great run — eight years, Super Bowls, but it’s on to the next chapter,” he says in the video, wearing a deputy sheriff’s vest.
Sherman, the former UConn standout, played 10 years in the NFL despite occupying a position — fullback — that is becoming increasing obsolete in the league’s passing offenses, including in Kansas City.
But as his eight-year Chiefs tenure progressed, hefoundahomeasaleadblocker and as a leader of the special teams, where he played at least 200 snaps in every season. He totaled 2,593 special teams snaps in his career, whichbeganinArizona, the organization that drafted him in the fifth round in 2011.
He scored five total touchdowns in his career, his lone score last season serving as one of his most memorable. The Chiefs dialed up a play especially for him in which quarterback Patrick Mahomes flipped an underhand pass his way for a touchdown against the Ravens. The Chiefs called it
“Smoked Sausage,” in homage to Sherman’s nickname, “The Sausage.”
Sherman was scheduled to be a free agent in 2021. For the first time in the Andy Reid era, the Chiefs do not have a fullback on the roster. If it’s a position they prefer to keep on the roster, despite its limited usage within the offense, they’ll have to acquire one via free agency, the draft or an undrafted free agent. They’d pursue one capable of playing special teams.