Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett is one of the players who will need to step up into a leadership role this year. In the absence of Russell Wilson and Duane Brown, we believe he is the best candidate to take over as the team’s new offensive captain in 2022.
Lockett has been in the league for eight years now and has always conducted himself with the utmost humility and respect, in addition to being an incredibly underrated receiver. Whether or not he is named offensive captain remains to be seen, but Lockett is already taking the lead on something that’s far more important than football: mental health awareness.
Yesterday on Twitter Lockett shared a moving thread of messages detailing his battle with anxiety and depression since he entered the NFL.
2 years out of my 7 years in the NFL thus far I played through depression and anxiety and almost quit and had my best year. I played through trauma another year and had my best year.
Moral of the story : Just keep going. You never know what’s waiting on the other side!
— Tyler Lockett (@TDLockett12) June 1, 2022
Looking back now I’m so happy I kept going. I’m a strong minded person and when faced with mental health situations I tried to hurry up and fix it like if I got hurt and practice got treatment for a day and I’m good. But with mental health you have to be real with yourself
— Tyler Lockett (@TDLockett12) June 1, 2022
It’s easy to operate in life when you live through your strengths. But these last couple of years I had to live and rely on my weaknesses to get me through. I been more patient with myself than I’ve ever been. I had to learn that my mindset wasn’t the only way.
— Tyler Lockett (@TDLockett12) June 1, 2022
My mindset helped me and got me far but it also set me back.
— Tyler Lockett (@TDLockett12) June 1, 2022
The Seahawks are also stepping up in this area. They have launched a Mental Health Matters program. Here’s the idea, per the team site.
“Mental Health Matters is a program that will focus on destigmatizing, normalizing and encouraging conversations around mental health. The Seahawks will partner with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to provide resources and steps to get help, while also providing warning signs of mental illness and what to do when those signs are present, including steps to get proper help.”
You can learn more here.
