Richard Sherman keeps his promise to a student by helping to pay for college

The Seahawks cornerback told a student last year that he'd pay for a scholarship if she raised her grades

To this point in his career, Richard Sherman has developed a bit of a controversial reputation. He's arguably the best cornerback in all of football, but his perception has been tarnished by his proficient trash talking, tendency to blow up on the Seahawks' sideline and call out his coaches, and the occasional times he has taken shots at media members. 

But the story that the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Wes McElroy published on Saturday serves as yet another example that what we see on TV for three hours every Sunday can be misleading. It doesn't paint the full picture. 

As the Times-Dispatch reported, Sherman -- a graduate of Stanford -- is providing a personally-funded college scholarship to a high school student.

Here's the quick version of the story: Last year, Sherman met a high school student, Hershai James, in Richmond, Virginia at a dinner to benefit the Excel to Excellence Foundation. There, Sherman promised to give James a personally-funded college scholarship if she made the honor roll as a senior. 

"At the dinner when Richard Sherman came to me about the scholarship, I was in shock. I believe I said 'Really?' for reassurance," James told the Times-Dispatch. "I just felt so blessed to have been given the wonderful opportunity."

So, that's what James did. She made the honor roll.

"When my senior year began, I definitely had the scholarship in my head as motivation," James said. "With being a senior, the year is really stressful. Having something to look forward to helped. It's like saying my hard work and dedication had paid off."

And Sherman didn't hesitate to provide that scholarship once he was notified of her achievement. 

"It goes back to knowledge is power and if you have knowledge you're going to be as powerful as you ever want to be," Sherman said. "Nobody stops anybody from reading and educating themselves."

According to McElroy, James will attend Norfolk State University where she is planning to study business. She'll do so with Sherman footing at least a portion of the bill. As McElroy wrote, the financial figures of the scholarship weren't disclosed. 

It's been a tumultuous offseason for Sherman -- the Seahawks admitted to being open to trading him and he was the subject of a recent ESPN feature that dove into the schisms of the Seahawks' locker room -- but this story provides a reminder that football isn't everything.