Seahawks News of the Day

Let’s take a look at the Seahawks news of the day, including Ricardo Lockette’s retirement and how the roster is shaping up for the 2016 season.

Okay, first things first. By now you’ve heard that Seahawks wide receiver and special teams–ah–specialist Ricardo Lockette is retiring after four seasons with the team.

Before we get to his career-ending injury in Dallas last season, full disclosure: I wasn’t a huge fan of Lockette at first. In 2011, after the Seahawks signed him as an undrafted rookie out of Fort Valley State, I saw a cocky, raw receiver who liked to talk trash and get penalized. It might not be fair (or true), but that’s what I saw.

Then, in 2013, I started to revise my view of Lockette. After spending the 2012 season on the Cardinals’ practice squad, Lockette got another shot with the Seahawks and contributed to one of the best special team coverage units in NFL history. The Seahawks allowed a mere 82 punt return yards in 2013, the sixth fewest in NFL history–more than a little because of Lockette’s unrelenting runs down the field in coverage fueled by his blazing speed, which he had used to win the National Championship in the Division II 200-meter race.

I finally saw the light. I saw a player with toughness and the willingness to go all-out on every play. Even I can be wrong about players sometimes.

I had been hoping for weeks that Lockette would retire. Playing in the NFL is extremely dangerous, and playing special teams is like volunteering to go in first during a ground invasion. The hit on Lockette was legal, but it’s still sickening to watch (you can go look it up if you want, but I’d rather not watch it again). The revelations later that Lockette would have died on the field if not for some alert, talented paramedics make the moment even scarier and highlight my elation that Lockette chose to hang up his cleats before he gets himself killed. The Seahawks will undoubtedly miss his effort, especially on special teams, but it’s not worth another broken neck. I’m glad he took himself out of harm’s way.

This week we saw the end of rookie mini-camp and we learned a few things about the team heading into 2016: The Seahawks are deeper than we thought at linebacker, undrafted free agent quarterback Trevone Boykin appears to be the best option for backing up Russell Wilson, and seventh-round draft pick,and receiver Kenny Lawler may see action early in the season. This paragraph is according to Jacob Sosler at 12th Man Rising.