OT: Ricardo Lockette to retire after neck injury

[varjao]

Very sad news, reading the article it was worse than it was reported at the time.

Terrible neck injury forces Seahawks WR Ricardo Lockette to retire

 

[chasa]

bummer, seemed like a good kid,

 

[RobertWeathers]

Just read the article. My god. The EMS team there that day had to be perfect....and were.

"The doctor told me that pretty much my skull, all the muscles, all the ligaments that connect my vertebrae and the cartilage between that -- so the cartilage is out, the ligaments torn. He said if I would have stood up then, the weight of my head, left, right, front, back, I would have died,"

 

[BobDigital]

Wow. Well I hope he will be able to live a normal life at the very least. Sounds like that is mostly the case though. As sad as this is you can't help but think he was lucky too cause if it just went a tiny bit worse he wouldn't be around.

 

[Kontradiction]

A tragic, but good example, of why you always need to keep your head on a swivel on special teams. I've dished out hits like this before and I've absorbed them as well. The latter is not fun...

Best of luck to Lockette in his post playing career.

 

[Froob]

Wow had no idea he was so close to death, glad he'll get to retire. Hope he saved his money.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Wow had no idea he was so close to death, glad he'll get to retire. Hope he saved his money.

It's a shame he was only on a one-year deal (i.e., he was a free agent when he retired). If he had been under contract for this year, he'd have been able to collect up to $1M (and up to $500K for 2017).

 

[jefmblrd]

Really sorry to hear this news.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Four (random) thoughts.

1) It's a very violent sport.

2) The quality of care he received in the moments after the injury seems to have been extraordinary. I wish the Officials were as professional and competent.

3) I wish him a long, happy and productive life.

4) Lockette will always be part of Patriots lore because of his role in the Butler pick. Malcolm got to the spot where Ricardo was supposed to be a nanosecond before he did. Lockette's hitting the ground and his apparent bewilderment as he processes what has just happened makes for a very compelling visual: he goes from thinking he was going to make "the catch that won the SB" to realizing first that the play had somehow been blown up and then that the ball had been been intercepted.

 

[The Gr8est]

What is scary to me is that the hit, at least from the angle I am seeing it did not look that bad.

It really is a violent sport.

 

[PatsFan2]

I am glad Ricardo hung em up more to life than just football I hope he has a pain free life after this. Interesting but the name Lockett will live on in Seattle they a fine Second year man in Tyler Lockett.

 

[captain stone]

I hope that this incident isn't used by the empty suits as an example of why their horrible plan to eventually eliminate the Kick-Off is a sound one.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

What is scary to me is that the hit, at least from the angle I am seeing it did not look that bad.

It really is a violent sport.

Yes, the awareness of the impact of the violence on players' health is gradually increasing among the general public.

It is inevitable that the game will be played under a very different set of rules 10, or even five, years from now, especially as the technology evolves to identify CTE with a PET scan without having to wait for an autopsy.