RENTON, Wash. -- Richard Sherman finally got his moment of being a top pick. He stood on the stage with spotlights beaming directly on his bow tie. With the coach on one side and general manager on the other, Sherman held up a Seattle Seahawks jersey with his named across the back. When Sherman entered the NFL as a fifth-rounder, there was no fanfare. That all came on Wednesday as Sherman became the latest piece of the Super Bowl champions to be locked up for the long term. "I guess this is how it feels to be a first rounder," Sherman said after signing a four-year contract extension with the Seahawks that will make him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in NFL history. Much in the tenor of doing things the way he wants, Sherman unveiled the extension on his website before the team could make the announcement. The two-time, first-team All-Pro selection wrote the deal will pay him $57.4 million with $40 million guaranteed and will keep him in a Seahawks uniform through the 2018 season. The deal includes a reported $11 million signing bonus. Its a massive deal for a player who earned $375,000 in base salary as a rookie in 2011. But Sherman insisted the money will not change the approach or attitude that has made him one of the top defensive players in football and a magnet for attention. "Im still the guy scrapping for a spot. You never lose that mentality. You can take a ragged dog that has been living on the streets for 10 years and put him in a brand new house with steak and lobster every night and hes still the ragged dog that you got off the streets," Sherman said. "So Im still the ragged dog off the street. That mentality isnt something that I can change I dont think. Even I wanted to, I cant do it, Its not a switch that I have." Shermans deal wraps up a solid off-season for the Seahawks prior to the NFL draft. Seattle re-signed defensive end Michael Bennett before the start of free agency. They then reached extensions with coach Pete Carroll through 2016 and a four-year, $40 million extension with All-Pro free safety Earl Thomas. "Id like to thank Paul Allen for anteing up," Sherman said. Sherman said it was important to get the extension done before the start of the 2014 season and take any lingering doubt about his future out of the equation. He made a point of thanking nearly everyone on the Seahawks defence during his opening remarks. Sherman wanted to spend his career playing alongside Thomas and Kam Chancellor as part of a secondary that has developed into the best in the league. Sherman and Thomas will be under contract through 2018 and Chancellor is under contract through 2017. "It was headed in the right direction for several weeks," Seattle general manager John Schneider said. "I thought it was time to get it tied up and let everybody move forward." Despite the pedigree of being a fifth-round pick, the one thing Sherman has never lacked is bravado. Whether it was getting in the face of Tom Brady after a win in 2012, off-season social media arguments with other players or his comments about Michael Crabtree after the NFC championship game, Sherman has never hidden the swagger. "The thing I struggle with Richard on is his confidence level," Schneider joked. Displaying his self-confidence has made Sherman a target for criticism. It was never louder than the gap between the NFC championship and Super Bowl when Shermans shouting postgame rant on national television overshadowed the play he made to clinch the conference title against rival San Francisco. But all those moments have made Sherman known outside of football and his consecutive seasons with eight interceptions. Its why he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine and invited to the White House Correspondents dinner last weekend. "Its a great statement about a young man that demonstrated an extraordinary belief in himself and dedication to be a nerd in high school way back in his Dominguez (High School) days when he was a track star and a football player," Carroll said. "He was always in the classroom working on his stuff. He had a real vision on what he could become way back then and see it come all the way through to this day today, it is a new beginning for Richard and his career with all that goes along that makes this guy up. Hes really special." Mike Matheny Jersey ." One game is checked off, 15 remain and the next one to get crossed out could come Tuesday night when the defending champion Heat host the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. Stitched Cardinals Jerseys . 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Parker, who was born in Belgium but raised in France, said he didnt know at the time that "it could be in any way offensive or harmful.Every team wants to start its season on the right foot, but general manager Bryan Murray says training camp this season is vitally important for the Ottawa Senators. "Maybe, we were too comfortable," he told TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie. "It looked to me that - the year before we had a lot of injuries and a number of the key guys didnt play very much - we came to camp with a full group, maybe we thought we were going to be better than we were going to be and, certainly, we didnt compete at the same level. Theres no question. Maybe there was a comfort that the stars were back, so the other guys didnt have to work so hard." Murray, heading into his eighth year at the helm of the club, insists that things will be different this season. "At the end of last year, we had a long, intense meeting with all of management and coaching staff," he explained. "This year, a week ago, we had a sit-down again to review what we had talked about, but also have some objectives going forward starting with training camp and the first visit we have with our players. Theres no question that we have a plan that we think its going to allow our players to be more productive." That plan, he added, begins with a commitment to defence, something that he believes was the source of the teams biggest failings last year that saw the Senators finish fifth in the Atlantic Division, 11th in the Eastern Conference and five points outside the final playoff spot. "I dont think we played defence at all last year," he said. "A lot of people blamed our goaltending, but I dont think our defensive corps were any good. I think each and every one of them took a step backwards. I dont think we were focused at all on preventing or that type of thing and we werent disciplined. I thought our penalties were far too high. Our goals against were far too high. Shots against in every game were far too high. The focus has got to be getting back to the team game and the team game starts at playing defence." For Murray, defence will start from the back out, with the team signing goaltender Craig Anderson to a three-year extension late last month worth $12.6 million. Anderson, 33, is coming off of a season where he went 25-16-8 in 53 games, posting a save percentage of .911 and a goal against average of 3.00. Despite the emergence of Robin Lehner, a player Murray says "is ready to be a No. 1 goaltender," Murray is a strong believer in the importance of having two NHL-calibre keepers. "To get a deal done in the league at this time, you just cant ask a guy to sign a one-year deal and then go away," said Murray. "We didnt wanna do that. Craig Anderson is a good goaltender. He might be in the top half of the league in goaltending, certainly, at this point in time. I like the fact that he have two. I think Paul is going to give opportunity to the guy who plays the best to play the most and thats all we can ask for. I think that the two of them appear to get along very well at this point in time and, if we have to make a move later on, then well do it. But we didnt want to walk a away from a good person and a good goaltender." One player the team walked away from in the offseason was captain Jason Spezza. After 11 seasons in the nations capital, Spezza, the teams leader and best player, was traded to the Dallas Stars for Alex Chiasson, a pair of prospects and a second-round pick next summer. Murray believes that the time was right for Spezza to move on. "Jason Spezza hasnt been happy, really, for a couple of years in Ottawa," hee said.dddddddddddd"I think the finger-pointing at him, sometimes, was a little harsh. We all thought Jason was a quality player, a big point-getting for us, but maybe it was time for him and maybe it was time for us to make the next step and try to get another player in that role or a variety of players to play that role. I think well find the solution and we think Jason will do well with Dallas. We think well do well with the group weve got." In Spezzas absence, Kyle Turris will be looked upon to jump into the No. 1 slot and match up with opposing teams top defensive pairings and checking lines. Murray thinks that Turris is ready, but also is of the opinion that the other pivots around Turris will help provide needed insulation, namely Mika Zibanejad and free agent signing David Legwand. "I think Kyle will handle it, but I think he will have a more difficult time when they play the No. 1 pair of defence against him on a regular basis or the number-one checking centre," he acknowledged. "We think Zibanejad is going to make a huge step this year. He looks big and strong coming into the little bit Ive seen of him so far in the skates that weve had. Getting David Legwand, a veteran guy who probably hasnt scored the points that Nashville thought he was going to get, but has been a good, honest player in the league. We have a couple of other kids that we think can step up. We think Zack Smith can play a more prominent role than hes played. We lost the big guy in the middle and were not discounting it. Thats a big loss for us. We think we have a couple of guys that can handle it and, if its Kyle who has to face the No. 1 guy, then its Zibanejad wholl face the No. 2 guys. I think it will work out, maybe not as quickly as we want, but I think it will work out." With Spezza gone, the Senators, like it was last summer when Daniel Alfredsson signed with the Detroit Red Wings, are without a captain. But Murray doesnt think the team will rush to fill the vacancy. "We have to make the right decision, if we make a decision in that area," said Murray. "It may well be that we go with three As this year and appoint one of them as sort of the senior guy. I think a captain is really important, but I also think that having a core of four or five guys, at least, that relate to the coach and help with the players is just as important." What about superstar defenceman Erik Karlsson for the captaincy? "Hes a guy whos taken leadership as a very important thing for him," he said. "Weve had talks at the end of last year and we didnt like some of the games that a lot of our defencemen played. I think Erik is going to back and hes going to be our star, no doubt." If somebody were to be made captain this season, Karlsson looks to be the frontrunner. "Hes a forceful guy, hes an opinionated guy and hes a talented guy," said Murray. "Hes respected by all of the players in the room. I think we just have to see now, can he take the step that we think hell get back to and I dont think theres a big hurry to put a young guy in a pressure spot at this time. But we may well decide at the end of training camp that there is a need to do that and if we have to, we will." What the team does have to do, says Murray, is return to the post-season and the general manager believes his team is a playoff club. "We work hard, we play right and play more conscious of defence," said Murray of what it will take to direct the team back to success. The Ottawa Senators open training camp on Thursday. ' ' '