Sherman says he wants to retire a Seahawk, calls reports of dissension 'a joke'

SEATTLE – Richard Sherman worked Wednesday to downplay much of the controversy that has surrounded him this offseason, telling reporters at a VMAC press conference that he’s happy with his teammates and coaches and never expected to be traded.

Speaking after the first day of the Seattle Seahawks’ minicamp, Sherman said he hopes to play out the rest of his career in a Seahawks’ uniform.

“I would definitely like to retire a Seahawk and finish my career here,” Sherman said. “We started something special, and I think it’d be best to end something special here.

“This is a great city. It’s the city I’d like to raise my kids in.”

RELATED: Bennett talks Kaepernick, Wilson and ‘Things That Make White People Uncomfortable’

After a season in which he twice got into heated exchanges with coaches on the sidelines, the offseason has been spotted with stories that the team was trying to trade Sherman, and that a rift had developed between Sherman and the coaches and offense, in particular quarterback Russell Wilson.

Sherman dismissed the talk of dissension in the locker room, claiming ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham blew normal competitive tension out of proportion.

“These are jokes,” Sherman said. “We laugh about this in the locker room, because it’s a complete joke.”

Sherman in particular took offense at a Bleacher report claim, which Wickersham referenced, that some Seahawks players didn’t think Wilson was “black enough.”

“If you asked any of us, ‘do you think Russell’s black enough?’ Of course not,” Sherman said. “Nobody ever even thought that.

“It’s hard enough being a black man in America. To question if somebody’s black enough? You know? It’s just laughable.”

Sherman also denied reports that he’d asked for a trade, and downplayed comments from coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider that the Seahawks were actively shopping him on the trade market.

“If somebody comes with two first rounders, I wouldn’t blame them in the least, you know, I wouldn’t blame them at all,” Sherman said. “It’d be another crazy trade like – who was it that got traded like that? Hershel Walker or somebody like that? – but it’s just a conversation.

“I think we have a fantastic relationship, and we always have. “