Super Bowl champion Richard Sherman has been charged with driving under the influence more than a year after he was arrested in Washington state — the second time the defensive back has faced drunk driving charges.
The former Seattle Seahawk was charged with refusing to take a breath test — defined as a gross misdemeanor in the state — which could lead to a harsher penalty, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told The Seattle Times.
Sherman was pulled over by a Washington State trooper on I-405 just before 2 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2024, but not charged until Tuesday.
The 37-year-old had been driving 79 mph in a 60 mph zone while “bouncing back and forth within the lane it was traveling in,” according to police.
Once he pulled over, Sherman told troopers he’d had two margaritas and refused to do a breathalyzer test, The Seattle Times reported. He did, however, agree to do some voluntary tests leading police to conclude he was under the influence and take him into custody,
Police acquired a signed warrant to draw Sherman’s blood roughly two hours after he was pulled over, which showed his blood-alcohol level of about 0.11, above the legal limit of 0.08.
The charges were not filed until Tuesday — the day after the prosecutor’s office received the blood test results from the crime lab, the report said.
Sherman, 35, was previously arrested for drunk driving and domestic disturbance charges in July 2021 after police said the former Seahawk crashed his car into a construction zone then attempted to break into his in-laws’ home outside of Seattle.
The case was settled in March 2022 when Sherman pleaded guilty in Seattle to two misdemeanor charges.
Sherman played for the Seahawks from 2011 to 2017, helping lead the team to Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. He later played three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and one brief season with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers before he retired after the 2021 season.
He has since worked as a pre and postgame analyst for Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” since 2022 and as a panelist on FS1’s “Undisputed.”
