RENTON — Finally, a story from TMZ that actually makes you feel good.
The celebrity gossip and entertainment website reported Seahawks wide receiver and special-teams ace Ricardo Lockette came across a concentration of homeless people in a rough part of Dallas last Thursday, the day he was released from Baylor Medical Center following neck surgery. He had his parents drive to a nearby McDonald’s, bought 100 cheeseburgers and then — with his neck brace on — distributed the burgers to the unfortunate.
“So some people were like, ‘What happened to you?’ But Ricardo didn’t try and bring attention to who he was,” Earl Lockette, his father, told TMZ while confirming the story.
“Some people knew who he was. But this was more about Ricardo seeing people who were in worse shape than him, and wanting to help them however he could.
“It was a beautiful thing. Through helping other people, he helped heal himself. It was therapeutic for everyone.”
Lockette sustained disc and ligament injuries in his neck from an open-field hit from Cowboys safety Jeff Heath on a punt during Seattle’s win at Dallas Nov. 1. He had surgery that lasted more than five hours the next day at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. He was released Nov. 5, then passed out the burgers.
Lockette flew back to Seattle with his parents Monday night. His season is over. Head coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday doctors haven’t determined whether the 29-year old will play again.
“We haven’t even heard anything about that yet,” Carroll said.
The coach said one of the most popular players in the locker room will be around plenty over the last half of this season. But he won’t be doing much more than resting and very light rehabilitation.
“Yeah, we plan on it. Yeah. He wants to be here and we would love to have him here,” Carroll said. “He lives here in town so we expect him to be around a lot.”
Lewis to start at center
Offensive line coach Tom Cable said following practice Wednesday that Patrick Lewis will start at center in Sunday night’s NFC West showdown against Arizona at CenturyLink Field. Lewis started for the first time this season Oct. 18 against Carolina, after Drew Nowak had made his first five NFL starts at center to begin this season.
Lewis has been out with a sprained ankle that cost him a start in Seattle’s last game; Nowak started again at Dallas. Four days before that game, Cable said the team doesn’t take people’s jobs away because of injury, but by game day against the Cowboys the Seahawks determined Lewis wasn’t quite ready to play.
He is now.
Seattle signed Lewis in October, 2014, off Cleveland’s practice squad. He then started four games last season when since-traded Max Unger was hurt. One of those starts was the Seahawks’ rout of the Cardinals in Arizona last December. Lewis played well that night. He’ll get another start against the blitzing Cardinals on Sunday.
Happy Veterans Day
Clayton Pitre, a 91-year-old Congressional Gold Medal honoree who was a corporal in the United States Marine Corps, talked to the team at the end of the holiday practice Wednesday.
The team’s website reported Pitre, one of the first African-Americans in the Marines, will raise the “12th Man” flag just before kickoff Sunday. It’s the Seahawks’ annual “Salute to Service” game.
Pitre entered the military at a segregated facility at Camp Montford Point in North Carolina. He delivered ammunition during the Battle of Okinawa from April 1 through June 22, 1945, the last major fight in the Pacific theater of World War II. The native of Louisiana eventually relocated to Washington state and graduated from Seattle University in 1968.
The team says Pitre will be the seventh veteran in seven Novembers to raise the flag.
Extra points
Carroll all but announced WR Paul Richardson will make his season debut Sunday. “We are going to jump him right back in,” the coach said of the second-round pick from 2014. “He’s had enough time now.” The speedy Richardson is still on the PUP list following reconstructive knee surgery in late January. The obvious move would be to activate Richardson into the roster spot that will be open after Lockette goes on season-ending injured reserve. … Carroll said he expects DE Cliff Avril and TE Luke Willson to play against Arizona. Both had ankle injuries in the game against Dallas. … All-Pro CB Richard Sherman keeps saying this showdown with the Cardinals isn’t any bigger than any other game, because every game in the NFL is tough. He pointed to everyone’s surprise that the malfunctioning 49ers beat 6-2 Atlanta last weekend. “If you had bet your last dollar on that,” Sherman said Wednesday, “you’re broke.”
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