Renaissance man: New Raiders wideout loves real estate, spoken word

The Raiders signed Tyler Lockett on Oct. 27 to add an experienced wide receiver who also happens to be close friends with quarterback Geno Smith.

Lockett, 33, brings a wide variety of off-field interests to the team. He performs spoken word poetry and is a licensed real estate agent. He’s also part of a family legacy at Kansas State, where his uncle and father played before him and where his brother is currently.

Lockett sat down with the Review-Journal this week to talk about his father’s collegiate records, his reunion with Smith and his expanded role with the Raiders after the team traded wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars:

Review-Journal: Why is it important to you to explore your artistic side with spoken word poetry?

Lockett: I think it’s dope, because I think sometimes it’s hard to have conversations with people because everybody has their own opinions and people will cut you off and say different types of things. But when you’re able to go up there and perform, they only have to listen to you. They can’t interrupt you and they have to kind of hear your perspective and see your perspective. So it at least gives you a chance to have people hear how you perceive things.

RJ: What is it about Kansas State that led to your family forming a bond with the school?

Lockett: I think it kind of lucked out for us to all be able to go to the same college. Coach (Bill) Snyder coached my dad and he was able to coach my uncle when he was there. When I was coming out, he had already retired, but he ended up coming back so I was able to be coached by him, too. It’s one of those things that just kind of laid out to where it was a lot smoother for us to be able to go to the same school. Obviously, my brother is there now. That’s the first one who didn’t get to play for coach Snyder, but just to be able to see that a lot of us have gone to the same school I think is pretty cool.

RJ: Do you know whose career records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns you broke at Kansas State?

Lockett: My dad (laughing).

RJ: Do you think he was happy about that?

Lockett: I think at the end of the day no one wants their records to get broken. But if it’s their son, in the same way if it was my brother, that’s great. I think it’s even more of a proud moment for him because it’s not like somebody that was just random broke it. It’s great.

RJ: You have said in the past you prefer to train by yourself as opposed to with a group. Why is that?

Lockett: I think the biggest thing is sometimes it’s a lot easier to train with other people. Obviously, people to get you right and stuff and keep you in line. But when you go to whatever team you go to, they’re already going to have that stuff right there for you and when things kind of happen on the football field or through the business of football, you’re not going to have anybody there to help you but yourself. You have to get yourself out of a lot of different stuff whether you’re dropping the ball, whether you’re not really getting yours or different stuff like that. It’s like, you gotta get yourself out of that stuff. And if you’re depending on people to always try to get you to this place, then when stuff hits the fan, you’ll start looking for that help and sometimes that help might not be there.

RJ: You’re also into real estate. You even have your license. Why was that important for you to pursue?

Lockett: I think a lot of times I think people play football and this is all they ever do. Then they wait until they’re done to try to figure out what to do next and they’re starting over from scratch. I think when you kind of get into football, obviously, this is plan A, right? But when you’re able to start plan B while you’re doing plan A, because of the fan bases, and because of the teams and because of your teammates and everybody that you know, it’s so much easier to start while you’re still playing. Because usually when you’re done, people just say, ‘Alright, appreciate you for what you did.’ But it’s a lot harder to get back in these buildings and get in those same doors to be able to get the same help with the resources. So I think for me, being able to do a lot of that stuff now, I’ve been able to help former teammates buy houses and sell houses and I’ve been able to even buy my own commercial buildings. … I’m starting to build houses now and turn them around and sell them. There’s different things that you can do now so that way people see that you’re already doing it and you know how to do it. So now when you’re done, you’re not starting over from scratch.

RJ: With Meyers traded, you have an opportunity for a bigger role. How do you see yourself fitting in?

Lockett: Obviously, I don’t really know what my opportunities are going to be like, but I think there’s an opportunity for everybody in the receiver room just to be able to step up. I was able to get to know Jakobi for a week and I think he’s a pretty cool dude. I think we have a lot of similarities and I definitely wish him the best as he goes out there with Jacksonville. Here, I’m going to just keep trying to fall in line and do my part in being able to help this team in understanding the culture that (coach) Pete (Carroll) brings and everything like that. And we’re going to lean on Tre (Tucker) to be able to continue to lead in the receiver room.

RJ: From a leadership perspective, what can you bring to that room with Meyers gone?

Lockett: I think I just bring knowledge. I think I bring just a lot of different things to be able to help the receivers and just to be able to be there for them. I always look at it like it’s not just being a player, but it’s like being the biggest cheerleader. It’s like being a brother. It’s like being a counselor. It’s like all those different things that you know are required, especially when it comes to veterans. So whatever experience that I can bring to be able to help each and every player, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

RJ: Do you think more of the playbook will be open to you after another week of practice?

Lockett: That’s on (the coaches). I just have to learn the plays and figure out positions and everything. Once I can do that, I can go out there and be able to play and try to help this team win.

RJ: How did it feel working with Smith again?

Lockett: It was pretty fun. Obviously, it was a close game (Sunday). We were that close to being able to win, so it definitely could have been a way different feeling coming into this week. But it was definitely fun just to be out there with Pete and Geno, going out there playing ball. Obviously, we want different results, but it was a really good game.

RJ: Do you and Smith have an understanding with each other of what you want to do on a certain play?

Lockett: Maybe once you learn the plays. You have to know the ins and the outs of the concepts of what they’re asking of us and then once we’re able to do that, then we can be able to talk about things like that, maybe things that we see together.

RJ: It feels like this offense has a lot of room to grow. Is that what you’ve seen?

Lockett: Definitely. When I came out here for practice, I could definitely see everybody was flying around. Everything looked real good, smooth. Everybody was doing their jobs and I think we played like that when we played on Sunday. We were moving the ball, keeping (third downs between two and three yards to go). And that’s exactly what you want, because you got the best chances to be able to get that first down and convert, rather than it being third-and-11. Just for my first time, I wasn’t here to see how the offense was prior, but from what I saw against a great Jacksonville defense, I thought we did a lot of great things and we had a chance to be able to win the game. Again, that’s a team that’s been beating a lot of good teams lately, even though they lost the last two before us. So for us, we’re growing and we’ve just got to keep building and keep stacking. Eventually those plays that didn’t help us will start to turn in our favor.

RJ: What have you seen from the Denver defense?

Lockett: I think it’s a great defense. Obviously, they lead the league in sacks. Great defensive line up front and they’ve got great linebackers and (a great) secondary behind them. I know (linebacker) Alex Singleton. We came into the league together. But they’re really, really good with their structure under (defensive coordinator) Vance Joseph. I played against him a lot when he was in Arizona. So we understand his defense, but you’ve still got to be able to go out there and make plays because they’re really good at what they do.

RJ: What is it like playing with tight end Brock Bowers, especially when he has a game like he did Sunday?

Lockett: He changes the course of the game. He took it over and almost willed us to victory. It’s fun to be able to play with him, see how he works and how he gets better and what level he’s going to be able to take this team to as he develops.

Contact Adam Hill at [email protected]. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.