Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett Credits Rapper for Stellar Play

Getty Tyler Lockett is a big fan of rapper Lecrae.

Seattle Seahawks’ wide receiver Tyler Lockett won Week 5 NFL highlights with an amazing toe-drag catch in the corner of the endzone. Lockett recently appeared on Russell Wilson’s podcast entitled DangerTalk and credited an unlikely source for his great play on the field. Wilson asked Lockett about his pregame routine and the receiver noted he likes to listen to faith-based rapper Lecrae.

“For me, sometimes before we even go back out there [to the field] I listen to Lecrae,” Lockett explained. “I listen to a lot of his old stuff like ‘Background,’ ‘Free from It All’. Just stuff like that to kind of get it off of me because when everything is centered around me, I start thinking too much. I start wanting everything to be perfect, and I start trying to be the captain of the ship. But when I go back to certain songs that allow me to see the bigger picture, I can kind of let things go and I can go out there and play more free and play more open.”

Lockett admitted to being “nervous” before the Rams game and noted music helps him get in the zone. The songs must have worked because Lockett was able to come down with one of the best catches we have seen so far during the 2019 NFL season.

Lockett explained that it was Luke Willson who told him his feet were in bounds even before the replay confirmed the catch. The Seahawks player is not the only athlete that enjoys Lecrae.

Lecrae Has a Number of Pro Athletes Who Are Fans of His Music

A 2012 ESPN feature detailed Lecrae’s popularity among athletes and the rapper noted he prefers the term “responsible hip-hop” rather than Christian hip-hop. The rapper explained the term excludes people, and he feels his music is open to people with a variety of beliefs.

“I think a lot of players have foundations in their faith, and they really see that permeate in every other aspect of their lives,” Lecrae told ESPN. “Music is just one of the areas, and I think a lot of guys love hip-hop or rap music, but they tend to not have hip-hop or rap music that kind of co-signs their views on life. So I think that’s kind of what I provide them. Also, I just like to get guys amped up before games as well. Myself being athletically inclined, I like to have music that pumps me up, too.”

Pete Carroll Called Lockett a “Highly Instinctive” Player

Lockett finished the game against the Rams with four receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown, but it is what NFL analyst Nate Burleson calls his “toe-drag swag” that people remember from the game. With the retirement of Doug Baldwin this offseason, Lockett has become the Seahawks new WR1. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll credited Lockett’s big-play ability and explained his background with Wilson has helped him get off to a good start this season.

“Some of the turn arounds that he made on the touchdown catch, on another catch he made on the scramble situation, it was just almost instant reactions to put himself in the great positions and all,” Carroll said, per Seahawks.com. “He has the extraordinary ability to capitalize on that too. He can finish the play and make the game catch and all that as he showed. It’s nothing new. It’s just pretty exciting to have a guy playing like that at that level and also, to have had the background with Russ. The two of them, they’re both just highly, highly instinctive football players.”