Seahawks Legend & New Seattle Science Foundation Ambassador

36 Pages·2016·10.73 MB·English

Winter Report 2016
Ricardo
Lockette

Seahawks Legend &
New Seattle Science
Foundation Ambassador
After nearly dying on the field, retired NFL
player Ricardo Lockette explains
the power of grit & his work with the
Seattle Science Foundation.
Page 6
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Featured Story
After nearly dying on the field, retired
NFL player Ricardo Lockette explains
the power of grit & his work with the
Seattle Science Foundation
BY Taylor Soper, Geekwire.com
For Ricardo Lockette, overcoming adversity started Throughout his life, Lockette’s grit — a personality
long before the former NFL wide receiver and special trait regarded by some researchers as an indicator of
teams stud nearly died on the field last year in Dallas. success — has carried him through adversity, which
included the scary moment this past November when
Lockette had his skull disconnected from his spinal
It starts in Albany, Ga., where the 30-year-old first
cord after taking a big hit while on punt coverage for
developed the grit and determination that helped
the Seahawks.
Lockette push through obstacle after obstacle before
eventually making it to the NFL and winning a Super
Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. I had the pleasure of interviewing Lockette on stage
at the 2016 GeekWire Summit, where he shared his
inspiring life story and talked about how he’s now
It goes from ending up at a Division II college after
committed his life to helping others in need after re-
poor academics prevented him from at playing at a
tiring from the NFL in May. Lockette is now partnering
top school; to not being selected in the 2011 NFL
with the Seattle Science Foundation to support spinal
Draft; to bouncing around NFL practice squads.
cord research.
You can watch the interview online at
www.ssfyoutube.org, or read the transcript below.
GeekWire’s Taylor Soper: “Most people here probably
know you because of your time in the league, but your
journey starts in Albany, Georgia, where you were born
and raised. Let’s start with how you grew up and what
your childhood was like.”
Ricardo Lockette: “First of all, thank you guys for hav-
ing me. It’s pleasure to be here. I always feel at home
when I’m in Seattle. Growing up in Albany, Georgia is
a little different than Washington. Really hot, as you
can imagine, gnats everywhere. But my dad, he was
a major influence in my life. He was my first football
coach at the age of seven. He was always hard on me,
harder than everyone else. So I had to run extra laps,
had to be at practice early because obviously, he was
the coach. I had to do all these things that he made
me do, that I felt was unfair. I think that was the first
lesson, as far as my life, as far as grit, and being re-
silient. I felt like stuff was harder, but I was still a kid,
and I somehow still had to overcome those obstacles,
because my love for my dad was greater than the
effort it took to do the work that he was asking me to
do.”
GeekWire: “You didn’t really get into football until high
school, junior year. I read somewhere that you were
jumping over cars and someone was like, ‘You need to
go play football.’”
Lockette: “No, no, I’d been playing football for awhile.
But I started running track in my sophomore year, and
it was just basically off the fact that some guy didn’t
show up one day, and the track coach asked me to
run a lap in the 4×4. We ended up winning. That year I
set three school records.”
GeekWire: “Not bad — you were fast, even back then.
You eventually played college ball at Fort Valley State.
Photos by Dan DeLong
You didn’t get a whole bunch of attention from NFL
scouts, but you did win the Division II 200-meter
NCAA Championship. What was going through your
mind? Was the NFL what you wanted to do? Or maybe
the Olympics?”
geekwire.com
Lockette: “In high school, I was kind of the big guy on
campus, and teachers kind of helped me along. They your hunger. That sandwich didn’t stop your life, it
kind of passed me, because I was kind of the nice guy didn’t ruin your plans for being great at anything. It
who was great at sports. But that ultimately affected was a small obstacle that you didn’t plan on that hap-
my college career because I had offers from major D1 pened — and that is grit. That’s where it comes from.
schools, but because of the lack of attention I paid to It comes from being great, being resilient.”
my education in high school, it caused me to go to a
Division II. Everyone was just like, ‘Hey, now he’s going
GeekWire: “So you made it through school, but you
Division II, he’s not going D1, he can’t go to the NFL,
didn’t get drafted. You did get an invitation to the NFL
what is he going to do now?’ Everyone’s asking me
Combine, where all the scouts address your skills, but
this, and it was just aggravating, so much. They were
the draft went by in 2011 and you didn’t get drafted.
asking, ‘What are you going to do now?’ Like, okay, so
Was that the end? Were you just like, ‘Okay, I’ll go find
you’re giving up on me. You don’t believe I can do it.
something else,’ or was the fire still in you to make it?”
You don’t believe I can do it.
Lockette: “The longer I sit here, the more and more
Everyone would ask me that, so I said to myself that
stuff that you bring up, it’s like, wow. All these doors
no matter what school I go to, I’m going to be the
have been closed in my life. This is really the first time
best, every day, no matter what. But first of all, I’m not
that I’ve heard all these things back to back to back.”
supposed to be here. I’m bigger than this. I felt like I
was bigger than every situation. I felt like I was better
GeekWire: “We’re just getting started here.”
than every person that was next to me, and I felt like
there was no goal that was unobtainable. Lockette: “So coming out of Fort Valley State, like I
said, I had the drive and I’m telling everyone that you
can do it, you can make it, you can make it. And here
So being in that environment, I think I brought my
we go over again, here’s the draft and everybody is
teammates along, I brought my coaches along, and I
like, ‘OK, hardly anybody comes out of a Division II
brought my family along with the drive that I had. And
school, so this is our guy, he’s going to make it.’ And it
I made it work out of Fort Valley State, I think.”
doesn’t happen.
GeekWire: “At such a young age, I mean, you’re only
a college kid. Where did that drive come from? Was it
So this happens again. ‘What are you going to do
your father? Was it the way you were brought up? Was
now? Well, you know, I have a mechanics shop where
it the small community? That doesn’t just come.”
you can do this…’ I’m not doing that. I have a goal. I
have a purpose, and this is what I’m going to do.
Lockette: “People always ask, ‘Where does that drive
come from?’ Coach [Pete] Carroll, we have talks
So time goes by, a couple teams call, and Coach
around the locker room and meetings about, where
Carroll gives me the call. He says, ‘Hey, I read up on
does grit come from? What is it? Like I said before, I
you. I know who you are. I’m just going to give you an
think it’s when your passion, or when your purpose,
opportunity.’ At that time, when I told my family, and
is greater than the work, like I said. A lot of people
I told my friends, the look in their eyes, the way my
have plans of doing this, and they have plans of being
grandparents cried, the way my dad smiled, just out of
great, and coming up with the next this and the next
pure happiness … it’s something that I knew I couldn’t
that. But sometimes, there are bumps in the road that
let die. The only way I would let that die is if I come to
you didn’t plan on. And sometimes people derail from
Seattle and waste the opportunity that I had.
their plans.
I think every day we wake up, we have an opportunity
I talk to my kids, and I talk to other people, and I say,
to do something. Obviously, everyone in here realizes
‘Look at it this way. If you went to the kitchen, and you
that. If there’s anything you can take from this and
were fixing a sandwich, and you were really hungry,
take from me, don’t ever give up on your dreams, be-
and you dropped your sandwich — that doesn’t stop
cause there’s someone older, younger, next door that’s
your hunger. So do you go to lay down, and say I
watching you, and they are going to reap the benefits
dropped my sandwich, or do you fix another sand-
from what we do in this room. I think this is an amaz-
wich, or do you find something else to eat?’
ing group, and I think this is an amazing meeting.
GeekWire — it’s something that’s going to change the
That’s pretty much what I think life’s about. I’m no
world, and I’m pleased to be a part of it.”
philosopher or anything, but I think it’s about feeding
GeekWire: “So you made the team, but you didn’t
actually play your first game until about four months
later in December. It’s a home game, CenturyLink
Field, it’s electric, and on the first play, Seahawks have
the ball, Tavaris Jackson drops back, 44 yards, you’re
right there. You make the catch. You’re right on the
Seahawks sideline. Everyone’s going crazy. That’s got
to be an amazing feeling.”
Lockette: “That was actually one of the best days of
my career, because my dad’s favorite team, coinciden-
tally, is the 49ers. So my first play was Christmas Eve
and we played the 49ers. I told my dad, I said, ‘Hey , Photos by Dan DeLong
watch the game today. I got something to show you.’
He doesn’t know that I’m active. He just thinks that at this kind of like a war zone, kind of like a military
I’m going to sitting on the sideline in a sweatsuit, and thing. It’s like, I’m blocking for Marshawn so that he
hopes that I don’t run across the field and do some- can get there and hug his mom. I’m blocking for Rus-
thing crazy. sell Wilson so that he can get back and hug Ciara.
It’s bigger than us, is what I’m saying. You understand
So the very first play of the game, Christmas Eve, the purpose. The purpose isn’t just to get a touch-
my dad’s favorite team, his son that he coached his down. The purpose is to do everything right so that
entire life is walking out on the field. He’s like, ‘I was certain people don’t get hurt, and so forth and so on.
watching it and I thought that was you but I wasn’t Obviously, certain things happen, but that’s how it
quite sure. Next thing I knew, they hiked the ball and goes.”
they threw you the ball and I was just hoping that you
caught it, just hoping that you caught it, and when
GeekWire: “Let’s jump to last November, almost a year
you caught it, I couldn’t stop the tears from my eyes,
ago now. You’re in Dallas, you’re sprinting down as
because that was everything I wanted you to experi-
fast as you can on punt coverage, and bam. You get
ence. I wanted you to know that you were great, and
hit, you fall. You’re not moving. What was going on in
that anything was possible.’ So that Christmas Eve
your mind?”
was one of the best Christmas Eves, one of the best
gifts I probably could have given my dad.”
Lockette: “We’re running down, and Coach Carroll, he’s
like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go. Rocket, we need you.
“It’s about the team, it’s Let’s go. Let’s roll, let’s roll.’ He’s really high-energy like
this. We get ready to roll, and the ball is snapped, and
about my family, it’s about
I give a move, and I’m running down the field, and then
I check to see the flight of the ball, because I’m going
my community, it’s about
to fight for the return, no brakes. I’m running right for
helping others, it’s about him, and I see him, I see him, and I’m pushing this guy
off.
the greater cause for life
Then, all of a sudden I hear a boom. It’s like a loud
itself.”
crack, right there. It’s kind of the sound if you were to
hit a fork on the side of a glass. I’m just laying there,
and the only thing I can move is my eyes. I’m looking
Lockette: “It’s more of a family environment, and it’s
around. I can’t hear anything. That was a moment
the way he incorporates family into business. A lot of
where a lot of things changed in my life.
times, you know, we’re at work and you’re away from
your family, you’re away from your husband, you’re
away from your kids. But what Coach Carroll does, I look at myself as a warrior. I look at myself as some-
he brings your family in. He makes it real. He says, one that can’t be stopped. I look at someone that has
‘hey Ricardo, these are Russell Okung’s kids, this is an unbreakable personality, and that moment, I was
his wife, this is so-and-so.’ Then, you understand, they extremely vulnerable. I wasn’t a warrior. There was
have to get back to these people. We kind of look nothing that I could do for myself.
I look at myself as a warrior. I look at myself as some-
one that can’t be stopped. I look at someone that has
an unbreakable personality, and that moment, I was
extremely vulnerable. I wasn’t a warrior. There was
nothing that I could do for myself.
So I’m laying there, and I’m just asking God to just
give me the opportunity to get up and walk again.
Give me the opportunity to hug my mom again. Give
me the opportunity to at least tell my daughter that
I love her, and I want her to be great in life. At that
point, I’m laying on the ground, and touchdowns and
X’s and O’s and Super Bowls don’t matter anymore.
That’s when you realize what’s really important in life.
What’s really important in life is affecting others in a my family a little while to get to the hospital. My mom
positive way. How do they feel about you? If you leave and the doctor says, ‘hey, your daughter is outside.’
today, what did you do to help mankind, your family, November 1st is actually her birthday, so she came to
your brothers, your sisters? That’s what’s important to that game as a birthday gift from me. She’s outside,
me now. she’s ten years old. She’s at the door. They’re like, ‘Do
you want her to come in?’
I had great doctors and a great training staff. They
helped me out. I’m laying there and pretty much my At this point, I have to think about — I’m the hero, I’m
skull is disconnected from my spinal cord. If my team- the warrior, and my daughter’s like, she’s my little girl,
mates were to come over and say, ‘hey, get up,’ and she’s my angel. Do I want her to see me like this? Dad-
pull my hand or move my arm, I would have died. If dy’s all bandaged up, stuff’s all on his neck, wires and
the play would have extended a couple more seconds, stuff everywhere. Do I want her to see me like this? Do
and the guy would have ran the ball and fell on top of I want to see her at my weakest point?
me or whatever, I would have died. If the training staff
had came over and just tried to pick me up or put me
My answer was yes, because I wanted her to feel
on the cart some kind of way, I probably would have
okay. I didn’t want her to go to sleep not knowing
died.
what happened to daddy, or not knowing this, not
knowing that. I wanted to deal with that void in her
But I’m thankful to be here. I’m thankful to God that brain. Once she got in, all my tears went away. All my
I’m here. Because their training, their studying, their pain went away, because, like I say, my purpose was
passion for what they want to do, what they wanted bigger than the effort or the work it took to get the
to do and be, saved my life. I dare not take that for job done. The job that I had to get done was to show
granted. There’s a lot of people that are in the hospital my daughter that no matter what happens, you can
right now that are fighting for their lives, and a lot of always win. There’s always another day. Hey, dad-
people that’s not here today. I dare not waste another dy’s going to be okay. You know, don’t cry. It’s OK, it’s
day not giving my all to be the best I can be, giving football, you know? This is not … we’re going to have a
my all to help others complete their dreams and their birthday party tomorrow.
goals in life.”
At this point, I don’t know if my neck’s broken, I don’t
GeekWire: “What were those couple weeks, maybe know if I’ll ever walk again. I have no idea. All I know
months after … I know you had some conversations. is that I have two to three minutes with my daughter
Marshawn visited you in your hospital room. I’m sure that thinks I’m the greatest thing that ever happened
some of these thoughts that you have now, you had to life, and I have to make her happy. That’s what I did,
then. And your daughter came. What were those con- and I’m glad that I chose to let her come in the room.”
versations like? Was your perspective already chang-
ing at that point?
GeekWire: “You decided to retire earlier this year. As
we talk about how your perspective has changed, it’s
Lockette: “Yeah. It had definitely changed. Maybe an tough to hang up the cleats, but you dedicated your
hour after the hit happened, it took my daughter and life to helping others in need. Why?”