The disturbing reality of Ricardo Lockette’s career-ending collision

MONTHS after a mammoth impact ended his career, this NFL star has revealed the shocking repercussions of the sport’s bone-crunching hits.

Ricardo Lockette lays motionless on the pitch at Cowboys Stadium in November, 2015.

“IT WAS like being in a car accident. Everything was fast, then it was suddenly slow motion.”

That, the shocking repercussion of the hit that ended Ricardo Lockette’s career, is the element of football that can so easily slip the consciousness of sport’s fans.

When we see a bone-crunching tackle, we cheer, jeer, we bay for blood. But do we ever think about what that athlete is going through at that very moment?

In a touching letter on The Players’ Tribune, former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Lockette described the terrifying reality of the collision that ended his NFL career, and very nearly his life.

Lockette was blindsided by Dallas Cowboys safety Jeff Heath on a punt return, which left him with damage to the ligaments and cartilage surrounding his vertebrae.

Here's the Jeff Heath hit on Ricardo Lockette via @TroyMachir https://t.co/15QXGvddgr

— Chris Bullock (@sportsbull) November 1, 2015

“I hit the ground, and I heard the sound you never want to hear. When you have a brush with death, people always say you see a light,” Lockette wrote.

“Well, I didn’t see a light. I heard a noise. It’s that weird, far-off ringing sound.

“It was terrifying. I couldn’t hear the crowd. I couldn’t hear my teammates. That’s when I knew it was bad.

“I couldn’t get up. My whole body was numb. I couldn’t move my arms. I couldn’t move my head. I couldn’t talk.

“All I could do was move my eyes. I was thinking: Am I about to die?”

The last thing anyone wants to see.

As he lay motionless on the field, with the eyes of a 90,000-strong Cowboys Stadium staring down on him, Lockette had a heartbreaking realisation.

“My daughter was in the crowd. It was her 10th birthday,” he wrote.

“She wanted to come down to Dallas to see me play. Now she was watching her daddy lying on the field, surrounded by teammates and trainers.

“When your first child is born and you look into her eyes for the first time, you feel a love and a warmth like you’ve never experienced before. That you didn’t know existed.

“Well, this was the exact opposite of that. This was a cold, cold darkness I didn’t know existed. “When you can’t move, there are so many uncertainties that your mind races a million miles an hour. Ten minutes feels like 10 days. So from the time that I got hit to the time that I got to the hospital… man, that was a long trip that I was on.”

After emergency surgery, Lockette’s outlook took a much more positive turn, and saw him recover to the point where he was able to walk around and play basketball with his daughter just months later.

Lockette has since made a full recovery.

His NFL career, however, was over. Lockette announced his retirement in May.

In an interview with NFL media’s Michael Robinson shortly after he officially retired from the sport, Lockette said he had accepted his fate, and didn’t blame anyone for what happened.

Follow this link to watch the interview.

Now, Lockette is determined to make true on his promise to God that he would “change lives” if he survived the hit.

Recalling the heartwarming support he received from teammate Marshawn Lynch while he lay in hospital, Lockette wants to share that joy with others.

“I just want to take that spirit and joy and spread it to people who really need it,” he said.

“I want to help people. Like the EMTs (emergency medical technician) helped me. Like Marshawn helped me. Like so many people along the way helped me.

“My mission now is to help people get off the streets and back on their feet in any way I can. I need to repay the Lord for helping me get up. That’s my new mountain. I’m back at the bottom. I’m climbing and I’m climbing, and I’m meeting some amazing people along the way.

“Every person that I meet, I’m bringing them up the mountain with me.

“I feel like I finally know why I’m here.”

Click here for the full article on The Players’ Tribune.

Originally published as The disturbing reality of Ricardo Lockette’s career-ending collision