© Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
The 49ers had six players finish fan Pro Bowl voting with the lead in their position. Despite that, just four 49ers made the Pro Bowl, with Raheem Mostert (special teams) and Arik Armstead (defensive tackle) finding themselves on the outside looking in. The other two-thirds of the voting is done by coaches and players, meaning Armstead’s snub comes from his colleagues within the NFL.
Armstead ‘mad,’ confounded by Pro Bowl results
It was Armstead’s snub that struck many by surprise, including Armstead, who posted this on Instagram following the Pro Bowl results:
Armstead lost out to Grady Jarrett (starter), Aaron Donald and Fletcher Cox. While Jarret and Donald are no-brainers, Cox has just 3.5 sacks this season compared to Armstead’s 10. While he frequently plays as a defensive end, Armstead has spent most of his time on the interior and said 8.5 of his sacks came there.
He was less than enthused about the results.
“I’m mad. You dream about getting it and you work hard for it and you feel like you deserve it, and you don’t get it. It’s beyond my understanding, but it is what it is,” Armstead said. “A little extra motivation, I guess, for sure. You know, you want that respect from the coaches and your peers, so guess I got more to prove.”
Richard Sherman has been singing the praises of his defensive teammates all season.
“We came up a little short, but I think at the end of the day, we’re searching for something bigger,” Sherman said. “But it’s just unfortunate those guys worked hard, they played well and they deserved the recognition.”
Sherman credits wife for contract decision, explains how he can play through injury
The three-time All-Pro and now six-time Pro Bowler is not like most people, let alone most athletes. Unless his leg has fallen off the bone, or the team says he shouldn’t play, he will play. This Saturday, against the Los Angeles Rams, is no different.
“Saturday I’ll be out there,” Sherman said. “There’s no question. There’s nothing I need to show them. I’ve gone through practice. Today we had a full-speed practice, no tweak, nothing to be scared about on my end, so we fell comfortable about that, they feel comfortable about it.”
That’s despite what Sherman admitted as being a partially-torn right hamstring. But again, this is not your typical person. This is a man who played 108-straight games before tearing his Achilles and said he could feel the tear coming, yet played through anyway. Sherman described his mentality in facing injuries as “If you can walk, you can play.”
“I just play through. At the end of the day, like I told myself, ‘If you can walk, you can play.’ If I can walk, I can get to full speed,” Sherman said. “Now, if I ever felt like I was a detriment to the team or I couldn’t get to full speed or I couldn’t function at a high level, I’d sit my B on down because then I’m not helping anybody but I’ve always felt if I can play, if I can help the team, if I can get my foot in the ground, if I can move like I need to move out there, then I’d be helping the team.”
It’s why Sherman, less than a year removed from tearing his Achilles, bet on himself with a heavily-incentivized contract, which, with his Pro Bowl selection, not only earned him a $1 million bonus, but increased his 2020 base salary by $1 million, and fully guaranteed that next year salary.
He’s also due a $1 million bonus for playing 90 percent of the defense’ snaps. While he’s not eligible for that this season, he said general manager John Lynch agreed to give him that bonus despite not hitting the 90 percent mark.
He credited his wife, Ashley Moss, as helping the deal get done with the 49ers and encouraging him to bet on himself. Sherman, who represents himself, said he and the 49ers were at a standstill in negotiations, and he had suggested a one-year deal. The 49ers preferred something longer-term “but not too long,” Sherman said. The 49ers proposed incentives, but which didn’t guarantee his next year’s salary, something Sherman was concerned about.
Moss suggested the next year guarantee be triggered by a Pro Bowl or All-Pro nod.
Sherman credits wife, Ashley Moss, for Pro Bowl nod guaranteeing 2020 salary: “My wife was like, 'Well why don't you just make the Pro Bowl and the things that trigger him to get those incentives guaranteeing those next year's deal… They agreed. That's why I took the deal." pic.twitter.com/5JpyLlMPWf
— Jake Hutchinson (@hutchdiesel) December 19, 2019
“My wife was like, ‘Well why don’t you just make the Pro Bowl and the things that trigger him to get those incentives guaranteeing those next year’s deal. Because if he’s making the Pro Bowl or making All-Pro, it means he’s playing like the player you guys thought he was and it should work out perfectly.’ They agreed. That’s why I took the deal.”
Sherman admitted this Pro Bowl nomination was special for him, having proven to himself (and errant critics) that the three-year, roughly $30 million deal was a smart negotiation on his part, and he could recover to be the player he was before the Achilles tear.
“It’s been an interesting journey. It’s one where you always learn about yourself when you go through a serious injury like that and you battle back and get back to where I was. Regardless of outside noise or what anybody else thought, that’s what I always kept in perspective,” Sherman said. “It definitely means a lot. Just being able to show yourself you can believe something all you want, but to be able to go out there and accomplish it, is a whole different thing.”
Other notes: Jullian Taylor and Jaquiski Tartt still at least a week away
- Both Jullian Taylor and Jaquiski Tartt remained out of 49ers practice and will not play in this week’s game against the Rams. Dee Ford was also out of practice (he’s not expected to return until after the end of the regular season) again, while K’Waun Williams and Sherman remained in full participation.
- Taylor told KNBR that the right elbow ligament injury he suffered was on the third-to-last play against the Baltimore Ravens when his elbow got caught in an “awkward position” (play is below, he stays down at the end). He said he could “possibly” play next week, and has made positive progress this week, though this week isn’t an option.
