man, I'm doing pretty good. How are you doing, doing great,
doing great. Great to be here. Great to see you. How you
feeling after year number? I'm doing the math here real quick.
Eight, is it a damn old, man? You gotta know that
us feeling old fella know. Mentally, I'm young, but my
body feeling a little bit old. But man, it's just a blessing
to be able to had an opportunity to play my eighth
year
and just to be able to Excel and it was fun, you know, new team
and it had a lot of ups and downs, but it was really
A year to remember,
is it always crazy that all of a sudden become the old guy in
the locker room. Like I played eight years, I remember in this
up, you're like, people started calling me. I'm like, I'm 30
years old, people call me old, man.
What the heck is going on here? Yeah, I mean, it was a little
weird just knowing that you're too old head, you know, it was
cool that I was able to get voted Captain, so that was
the first time I ever got voted Captain
but I'm just learning how to be a captain, learn how to talk to
people meet people where they were. And like you said, like
I've been a part of what eight different draft glasses.
There's a little weird,
Me because I've seen a lot of people come and go. But you
know, I've seen a lot of people that I think I'll stay for
a while to yeah. What's it mean? The first time you pull that
Jersey on, it's got to see on it, man. It I mean for me, like
it was just really the fact of the respect that I have for my
teammates,
just having to see. It doesn't mean that I have to do anything
that I haven't done before. It just
really just being able to know that this is how my team sees
me what they think about me and it's not about me living up to
an expectation but I've already become what they wanted me to
be. So like I said meeting people where they
they were the hardest part was being able to understand
a difference between being a leader and being a friend.
That's one of the hardest things is one of my teammates
Penny heart was saying, you can't be a leader and a friend.
So you had to be able to find a balance of went to be a brother
and went to be that teammate, that everybody might hate it
that moment. But you know you're doing what's in the best
interest. It's well, great way to put it, they're going to
put, I haven't thought of it that way through the coaches.
That way. You don't think a teammate's that way but there
are times where not just the quarterback but somebody else
who's wearing that c has to step up and
maybe show a little
Tough love to get guys pointing the right direction. Exactly.
And it wasn't easy. But, you know, when you have a lot of
guys that are on the same page, a lot of older guys, who kind
of believe in the same thing and makes it easier to know
that you have a backbone full of people, that'll be able to
speak for you and right, support your message or
whatever. Yeah. Alright, so, let's talk about, you know, one
of those leaders are your team or your offense. I've been
Gina.
Oh yeah. I mean,
you've had experience with Gino, did you really expect
this type of year with Them before the year to where he was
just going to capitalize and be one of the better quarterbacks
and football. Yeah, I mean I thought that Gino is going to
be absolutely amazing.
A lot of people didn't but I mean it was fair for them to
say that because they never got the chance to see him, right?
I'm we're talking about a guy who hadn't gotten the chance to
play in a while. But what they don't understand, is with Gino
being on Scout team. He went against the ones every single
day,
so he's going against the best defense that plays on Sundays
every single day, right? And so, he's preparing, he's
running different systems that these teams are running.
To prepare our defense for the teams. And so, once he finally
got his opportunity, when you add in all that learning and
stuff you did with scout team, now he's able to have variety,
you know, as a quarterback and he's able to understand how to
attack different defenses, what plays work and stuff like that.
So once he got that opportunity man he ran with it. What was?
He definitely did. Well speak to like
you know, I don't think people realize his physical tools are
what they are. Yeah. Right. Like that's the one
misconception. I think that I know we tried to Explain to
people where in the year I was like with him because I, you
know, EG no used to work out with my family, a little bit.
I go, might he can really throw it like yeah.
And he's big and you move like talk about it,
you know, Russell Wilson's? Got a good arm,
Gino's arm every bit as good, right? Yeah. Well I mean
there's nothing like having the opportunity to play with Russ
and play with Gino like I play with rush for seven years and
learned how to be able to play with each other. Like we
understood each other's chemistry and how to build
another cool thing for me is
being able to have that chance to build that saying chemistry
with Jean But I only had a year so far to be able to build it.
And so a lot of it went with just the communication and
and are our mentality of the game understanding how we see
the game. How we perceive it already, kind of had it with
Gino because we're that big 12. Yeah, you know, people don't
talk about that Big 12 Football, but
Big 12 really plays a difference. And so
the way that we played that's the same mindset that he wanted
to have me as well. And so when we watch film, when we talk, we
were always on the same page and sometimes we weren't but we
were more so on. Same page and we were yeah
first season without Russell Wilson
expectations were low and you know,
they say only one teams really happy at the end of the year
but you have to be happy that you made it to the playoffs and
yeah it didn't work out. But again it only works out all
them like for one team, you feel like it was a win. It was
a good year for the Seahawks math feel like it was
an amazing year.
Like you said, I mean, one of the easiest things to do is to
play with no expectations and so for us, we went out there
and we really didn't have anything to lose. We had
everything to gain. I'm I think there was a lot of It's had
a lot of young guys play
and what a lot of young guys playing. You really don't think
from the outside looking in at a team like that is going to go
to the playoffs. But when you talk about the draft that we
did, when you talk about the players, how they came in and
put their head down, they work
like these are the people that's going to be
the cornerstones of the foundation with the Seahawks and so they
play like phenomenal. And I was just excited to be able to be
there and watch them and how they played and how they
practice.
And I think they were the most rookies that we've ever had
that played that many amount of snap. Well, speak about
the freaky one, Kenneth Walker,
because I love his game.
We'd be both do. I mean Todd is gonna have a 300 yard game at
one point and the way he ran the ball we were in Camp. I was
telling people that he's the best guy ever seen in my life,
right? And a lot of people wouldn't have been able to see
it without him being able to get those opportunities
but when he has the opportunity he's one of the most explosive
players and I've seen he can make cuts and still be at
the same speed that was probably made the cut. So I mean
you know I'm happy for Because he was able to still be
healthy. He was able to play a full NFL season
as well as another numerous amount of rookies. But man just
the way that he played at a high level. I'm embracing
contact not running from me though, he'd understand. And
when they get the first down, when you get out of bounds,
like
all of those things are what if he can learn that now as
a rookie like sky's the limit for him? Yeah. You another freak on
the offense and you and I are about the same size. I can only
imagine your reaction when DK
Metcalf walk through the door. The first, yeah,
I mean DK is just a creative player.
Like that somebody when you play Madden
like this is what, I'm
not really fair, but I'm gonna do it
fast. I want him to be like this is like the body size and
all that, like that. That's that's a creative player right
there. So I'm just having the opportunity to go out there and
watch him play.
It's kind of cool because, you know,
you see a physical receiver. And then you see me
that doesn't shy away from contact only when it's time for
me to fall to make it to another down, but you also
learn how to be physical and running routes
and so there's Guys, when we play, I got to be more physical
with them running routes, just like decays physical with them
how he does it. And so we kind of are able to learn off of one
another, as well as sign. Jay, Our receiver coach helps us
out, right? All right, so I want to like, ask you about
the Super Bowl a little bit,
right? I know you didn't play the Eagles
but you played the Chiefs later on in the year, I wasn't there.
Oh, that's right. You weren't there?
You're right. It might have been different. Maybe you guys
would have scored more than 10 points, but but like you were
there for the week of preparation, right? You don't
even get in the meetings that we Christian the surgery. It
was total surgery, Hospital leaf and that's the only you
only missed one game.
Yeah well is I was out in Cali getting surgery so I wasn't
there to whole week. Yeah, okay. I mean I've watched
the Chiefs enough. All right. So we'll give us at least
the Spiel of what the team thought and what some of the guys
thought
during that week. Kind of getting ready for the Chiefs.
Well, obviously it was a very, very cold. Yeah, so yeah,
throwing a ball is a little different, but I'm going to
guess the chief defense, like we know that the Chiefs are
really good at defense.
They play a lot of man playing. A lot of covered too.
You don't want to get in those situations where they get
the play covered too. Because I am you'll allow their Chris Jones
and crazy and friend Clark in Autumn be able to get to you,
right? But the Chiefs are really good at being able to
control the ball,
stay on the same page. And so
I think the Super Bowl is going to be a really good game man,
like the eagles are really good at rpos knowing when, and how
to take deep shots, they got a quarterback that can be able to
run also. Yeah.
But I think the defense is going to determine who wins
the game on both sides. All right so we'll go give me a give me
a little lean. Then let's go. Don't be a A chicken here.
All right. Who you thinking? Like, who you leaning towards
right now? I think it'll be a score of, like, 23:17 Chiefs
2317. Chiefs. Okay. We're both on the Chiefs and the similar
manner. I think
you went 27:24 I when 28 2014 difference.
Yeah, the Eagles are a great team
but they don't have Patrick Mahomes. All due respect,
everybody on that team but there's only one path of
Mahomes. Yeah, but the Eagles have one of the best defense is
to play Sousa. They come to play like they did against San
Fran, right? It's going to be tough to beat them. Yeah, one
thing I noticed
this year, Tyler, a lot of former Seahawks
seem to take
some Glee
in Russell, Wilson, struggles
and Denver. What was the mood in the locker room? How closely
do you guys follow the Broncos where they're guys that were
pulling form, whether guys that were kind of, like, not all
that upset. That things didn't go well, give us a sense of
what
was going on behind the
Army. And I think,
I think, you know, you got to separate the two because
life for us as a team. Everybody talk so bad about us.
And so, just from
the media talking bad about us and how we were going to be as
a team and made you want to be able to prove everybody wrong.
And so if anything it brought us closer together as a unit
but that doesn't mean that we wished
like failure. You know, I'm saying upon the Broncos, like
we wanted, we wanted the Broncos to be just as good
because we knew what they were getting. Russ has a phenomenal
Talent.
You know, he's a reason why he won one of the most games in
the 10-year span. He was a great leader, like, He was
a definition of hard work and dedication,
all the stuff that he did with us.
That's what made us like, learn how to be great, that's what
made us. Learn how to be able to be great in secondary routes
as well, when they came to scrambling because we knew
that, as long as we had an opportunity,
it didn't matter what the score was, where Russ we had a chance
to be able to win. And so, I mean, for me, like I said,
I play with them for seven years. So, I mean, I developed a great
relationship with them and all
that type of stuff.
It sucks just to be able to see and hear how people are talking
about them and everything, but But I mean, you know, the way
that we look at in our faith is like if people aren't talking
about you, then you're doing something wrong. Yeah. And
so like for him, you know, I wish him all the best. I wish
him to success and all that type of stuff. But like,
I don't know what it's like to be a prime-time quarterback and to
be able to have all eyes on me at all times.
And so, you know, I try to be the best friend that I can for
him and stuff like that. All right. Well you're damn good
talker your damn good receiver.
I don't know about salesman. All right, I've been on this NFL's
DirecTV Sunday ticket for a long time. Let me hear DirecTV
stuff here. Well, you know, when my dad playing in
the league, always on DirecTV watching.
I mean, you know, just truly blessed to be able to be a part
of the DirecTV family. I'm they've been a leader for
nearly 30 years. I'm the ultimate destination for NFL
fans
but you know, one of the things I want to talk about is how we
get the team up with a Ronald McDonald, housing Foundation.
Yeah, this is super cool thing about that is, they're
providing access
of entertainment to kids that are in the hospital's, keeping
the kids and families together. And one of the things that
super cool too is that for me being with DirecTV and
the Ronald McDonald House and charity,
I get to be a part of the
cornhole tournament tomorrow, wow. Friday night and will be
representing the Ronald McDonald House and chair.
I would whup you and cornhole whoopee, I take you down, he's
easy to talk on TV.
Yeah,
the one game that looks so much easier than it really is. All
right, it's like all I gotta do is throw this bag in that hole
and I get a chance to slide it in. That's nothing and I do it.
Yeah, yeah I don't know. Just goes in for me. I don't know
what you got to talking about, how do we take? What
the Seahawks did this year
and push it higher?
You know, I think the biggest thing man is is hard to say
because we're in a league where it's not just about football
because you have great seasons and now you got to deal with
the outside world of football.
You got to deal with the money, you got to deal with
the families, you got to deal with the opportunities, you got to
deal with the media, and you got to learn how to be able to
have balance.
And so I think one of the biggest things for
Russ is we got to continue to teach balance on our team
to be able to understand how to separate off field
on field and being able to have that same hunger and
motivation. We can't have those games like we did last year
where we just thought
we gonna win this game. Look, we're on the six-game winning
streak, right? You know, it, you got to be able to be hungry
and stay hungry, and I think that lost firsthand friend
really pinched a nerve, to wear. A lot of people are like
not, we just don't want to get here. We want to be able to
keep playing till the end. Tyler Lockett, one of the 30.
Two nominees for the Walter Payton, Man of the Year award,
one of the best things you can do, one of the best things you
can win. We wish you all the best tonight with that. We wish
you the best going.
hit, subscribe for the latest news and Analysis from pro
football talk.