Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett chose not to opt out. But he almost did.
Via Brady Henderson of ESPN.com, Lockett told reporters on Friday that he “definitely had a lot of hesitation” about playing pro football in a pandemic. As Henderson explains it, Lockett has a pre-existing heart abnormality, detected during the 2015 Scouting Combine. His aorta is on the wrong side, and the discovery created temporary uncertainty as to whether his career could continue. He also has multiple family members who suffer from asthma.
“So just with everything that happened in COVID, that was one of my biggest issues was just trying to make sure [this heart condition] wasn’t gonna affect me if I was able to go out there and play,” Lockett said, via Henderson. “Obviously, nobody really knows. You’ve got doctors who kind of give you what you need to know up front, what they think and what their biggest opinion is of it, but I think I had my chance to opt out, and I said that if I come up here, I’m gonna just play.”
Lockett found inspiration in the fact that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is 68, and that other Seahawks coaches in closer to the age range that puts them at heightened risk.
“I know that we’ve got Pete [Carroll], we’ve got a lot of older coaches,” Lockett said. “They don’t want to put themselves in a situation to get sick neither, so I told myself if they could do it then I know I could do it. And if I’m going to come out here and play, then I’m just going to do what needs to be done. I’m not going to stress about COVID. I did that from February to before we came into camp.”
Lockett was less concerned about his own health issues than the fact that he potentially could put family members at risk.
“That’s why it made me question if I wanted to come play,” Lockett said. “I have a lot of stuff in my family to where I don’t want to put anybody in jeopardy.”
Of course, once teams start practicing in pads and/or once games begin, Lockett may feel differently. The problem is that the opt-out window has closed. If he changes his mind about feeling sufficiently safe, he’ll need the team to agree to let him leave without any type of financial consequence, including $4.5 million in unearned signing bonus money.
