Tristan Sinclair recalls childhood interaction with Richard Sherman

From one Stanford man to another, linebacker Tristan Sinclair recalled a childhood interaction with Richard Sherman.

Sherman, before he starred in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, played at Stanford as a wide receiver before switching to DB his final two years. But it was the message Sherman gave Sinclair back in the day that really stuck with the linebacker.

Now, it’s full circle for Sinclair at Stanford.

“I was young,” Sinclair said. “Me and my brother, after games, my dad had season tickets, we’d go to a ton of home game, we would hang out in the parking lot, trying to get autographs, gloves from guys. I’m sure it wasn’t just him. Richard Sherman told me to dream big and I could make it here.

“I was a little kid. Watching those guys play, it was a dream for me to be here, I’m so grateful and blessed to be here.”

Last season, Sinclair finished with 37 total tackles, 20 solo tackles, one tackle for loss, 0.5 sacks and one interception. The fifth-year linebacker has one last season to make a big impression to get to the NFL.

According to Sinclair, Sherman said the linebacker could achieve a dream and he certainly did by being able to play Division 1 football and a highly accredited academic institution.

As a member of the Class of 2019, Sinclair was a four-star recruit out of Danville (Calif.) San Ramon Valley, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 31 overall prospect in the state, the No. 24 linebacker in the class and the No. 211 overall prospect in the class.

Troy Taylor plans to rebuild with high school players, not portal

Stanford head coach Troy Taylor has a rebuilding job on his hands with the Cardinal. The storied program has had a losing season three of the past four seasons, winning only three games in each of the past two years.

Taylor said he is going to base his team building around high school recruiting and doing their best to dominate on the recruiting trail. Maybe a player like Sinclair can be a model player for the young bucks.

“We’re not bringing in 30 transfers a year,” Taylor said. “We will use high school recruiting.”

The Cardinal added only four players from the transfer portal this offseason while losing 17. However, 16 of those 17 players graduated.