Music thumped in the locker room. Wearing a hat declaring the Seahawks NFC West champs after crushing the Rams last December, Tyler Lockett asked to record a video.
Lockett knew there was a story being worked on about a family in California whose 2-month-old son had, even before he was born, faced an onslaught of health problems. The baby was on dialysis and would soon need a kidney transplant. Lockett had never met the family, but had good reason to feel an unlikely connection with them: After reading a story about Tyler last summer, they had named their son Lockett.
As Tyler slid on his socks and shoes, he looked up.
"What's up, Baby Lockett?" he said. "This is Tyler Lockett. We just won the NFC West. It was a great game. I heard you watched me when I scored that touchdown. Maybe you can teach me how to do some dance moves. I gotta learn, I gotta get better. But hope everything is going (well) with you. Continue to keep fighting. Do your thing.
"And if you're going to be a Lockett, you gotta keep fighting, you gotta embrace the opportunity and you gotta win. Win the fight, baby. All right, see you, Baby Lockett."
