Injured Seattle Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette makes pregame appearance at ...

Seattle Seahawks Read Superlatives About Jimmy Fallon

Ricardo Lockette hopes someday to make an even more triumphant return to a football field.

But the Seattle receiver seemed happy enough with his entrance Sunday before the Seahawks game against Arizona.

About an hour before kickoff Lockette walked through the tunnel and onto the field accompanied by family, with the early arrivers in the crowd giving him a rapidly growing ovation as they noticed.

Euphoric, Lockette called the reception he received. To have that many people cheer for you thats been praying for you is something further than my dreams could reach and I am forever in debt for that. It was one of the best days of my life.

Lockette, wearing a brace to protect his neck, spent a few minutes being warmly greeted by club officials and others and also spent a while talking to NBCs Michele Tafoya.

Then he headed upstairs where he joined in the celebration to raise the 12th Man Flag (which was raised by Cpl. Clayton Pitre, a Congressional Gold Medal recipient. Pitre, 91, was one of the first African-Americans allowed to join the Marines in World War II).

Lockette had surgery to repair ligaments in his neck after taking a vicious hit while covering a punt in the Cowboys game on Nov. 1. Lockette laid motionless on the ground, and teammates instantly fell to the ground after turning to see him at midfield.

It was one of the craziest things Ive been a part of, Lockette said. Im laying on the ground. You cant feel your legs. You cant feel your arms. And you cant really respond. You dont really know whats going to happen in the next couple of seconds. You dont know if youre going to black out. You dont know if youre ever going to get feeling in your body. You dont know if this is it.

He paused and gathered his thoughts.

You just have a real blank mind and then all the important things start to matter, he continued. You start to think about your family. Am I going to play with my kids again? Just the important stuff. The crazy thing is, once I got my voice back and once I was able to talk again, all I cared about was winning the game.

Many Seattle teammates and coaches, including Pete Carroll, responded with the same L gesture Lockette gave as he was taken off the field in Dallas after suffering a neck injury.

Lockette had surgery to repair ligaments in the neck on Nov. 2 and spent a week at the Baylor Medical Center in Dallas before returning to Seattle last Monday. He has been at the teams facility since.

Lockette said he has to wear a neck brace for six weeks before he can begin rehab. But he said he expected to play again.

For sure, he said. Im a rock star.

Lockette, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Saturday, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. He was on a one-year deal for the veteran minimum of $660,000 this year.

Cardinals Iupati suffers neck injury

The game was delayed for about 10 minutes in the second quarter when Arizona guard Mike Iupati suffered a neck injury.

Iupati was injured with 9:19 remaining in the quarter when he lowered his head into the shoulder of Seattle safety Kam Chancellor while trying to lead the way for a run by Chris Johnson.

Iupati fell back and lay motionless and was quickly surrounded by teammates and trainers in a scene eerily reminiscent of Lockettes injury in Dallas.

The team later reported that Iupati had a neck injury but had movement in all of his extremities. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center.

Among the Seattle players looking over Iupati were Will Tukuafu and Demarcus Dobbs, both teammates of Iupati with the San Francisco 49ers.

Iupati, who played at the University of Idaho, is in his first year with the Cardinals after signing as a free agent

He was replaced by third-year veteran Earl Watford.

Richardson, Irvin injured

The Seahawks suffered two potentially costly injuries as linebacker Bruce Irvin went out with a knee injury in the fourth quarter and receiver Paul Richardson with a pulled hamstring in the second quarter.

Coach Pete Carroll called Irvins injury a knee sprain of the MCL.

As for Richardson, he was apparently injured when making a 40-yard reception in the second quarter for what was his only catch of what was his first game back since tearing his ACL in a playoff game against Carolina last January.

Richardson was activated off the Physically Unable to Perform list on Saturday and saw some regular time before being injured.

Tyler Lockett also walked off gingerly late in the game but Carroll said he simply has a sore ankle and that he would be fine.

Note

Defensive end Cliff Avril led the Seahawks onto the field before the game with a flag of France, a show of support after the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday. Arizona also did the same, with defensive backs Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu leading the team onto the field each holding one side of a French flag.

Source: http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/injured-seattle-seahawks-receiver-ricardo-lockette-makes-pregame-appearance-at-centurylink-field/