The man who’s replaced Russell Wilson as Seahawks captain says don’t boo No. 3 Monday

It seems many of you have already made up your mind whether to boo Russell Wilson and how strongly to do it upon his return to Seattle Monday night.

The guy who’s replacing Wilson as a Seahawks captain has an opinion.

Don’t do it.

“I have no idea (what fans will do), because I can’t control what anyone else says and what anybody else does,” Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett said Tuesday.

“But I know that when I see him, (I will) go give him a hug, talk to him ...wish him good luck, not only in this game but for the rest of the season and for the rest of his career as we continue to talk outside of football.

“I mean, Russ has done so much for this community, even being able to start the school him and his wife Ciara started (their Why Not You Academy in Des Moines, south King County, that opened last year). I mean, that’s awesome. That speaks volumes. I don’t even know the first steps on how to start a school. ...

“Just everything that he did, everything that he brought.”

Lockett is entering his eighth season with the Seahawks. He understands why Seattle’s fans who don’t know Wilson personally, as he does, are angry with Wilson orchestrating his trade to Denver and the Seahawks facilitating it in March.

Lockett knows Wilson got booed by Seattle fans when he shown last month giving a video tribute at Climate Pledge Arena to retiring women’s basketball legend Sue Bird at the Seattle Storm’s final WNBA regular-season home game.

Lockett understands the ire many intend to direct at Wilson before and during the Seahawks’ opener against Wilson’s Broncos Monday night at Lumen Field.

But ...

“I mean, at the end of the day I get it,” Lockett, who turns 30 this month, said. “It’s football. It’s competitive. You never want to see people leave.

“But you’ve gotta understand, everybody’s got to do what’s best for them. That’s what you have to be able to learn about this life. You have to be able to cheer people on, you know what I mean? You can’t get mad that people are on another team, or this and this.

“I mean, we are fans, so we learn it the hard way. I’m a fan of the NBA, and I get mad when people leave because I want them to stay on the same team (particularly his beloved Los Angeles Lakers), right?

“But at the end of the day, you’ve got to separate the man from the player, and you’ve got to be able to understand that everybody’s trying to do what’s best for them.”

Tyler Lockett ‘weird’ seeing Russell Wilson now

This will be the first season opener Lockett has had anyone other than Wilson throwing to him since college senior Jake Waters was targeting him in 2014. That was during Lockett’s final season of breaking records at Kansas State.

So, yes, Monday is going to be weird for the Seahawks’ first offensive captain besides Wilson since 2012, when Lockett was in his second year at Kansas State and Wilson was a rookie for Seattle. Teammates voted Pro Bowl center Max Unger as captain that ‘12 summer, soon after Wilson won the team’s QB job from veteran Matt Flynn.

Wilson remained a Seahawks captain from 2013 through last season, before he and the Seahawks’ mutual divorce this spring sent him to Denver.

“Yeah, of course, it’s always weird,” Lockett said. “Being in the NFL (you) get attached to people and you meet people. You meet their families. You become best friends and great friends. And then all of a sudden, they just leave.

“And it’s hard. Because we have to learn how to adapt, every day.

“In the NFL, it’s kinda different because you see people come and go every day, but Russ has always been here. And so of course it’s weird that he’s leaving...but that’s when you kind of have to renew your mind and shift your mind and be able to understand that you are still celebrating him for who he is. You are still cheering him on. It’s just, you are getting to see him every day like you are used to.

“But it doesn’t mean that the friendship doesn’t stay.”

Russell Wilson ‘an amazing guy’

Lockett will always remember Wilson praying over him when he was down on the turf at Lumen Field with a broken leg trying to catch a touchdown pass from Wilson against Arizona on Christmas Eve in 2016. It was an injury and experience that Lockett has said changed his life.

Lockett will always know the unspoken understanding they forged of improvisational timing on the many plays the quarterback extended outside the pocket for Seattle. He knows Wilson many times called Lockett “amazing” in press conferences.

That’s just what the public saw.

Lockett knows the many offseason workouts, days and weeks they spent outside of training and football, him getting to know Wilson’s wife Ciara and their three kids.

Tough for him to fathom booing that.

“You’ve still got the friendship. You’ve still got the brotherhood,” Lockett said. “And you know that he’s going to lead his team the way he led his team here. ...

“The thing about it is, that’s why you’ve got to learn to appreciate people while they are here. ...You’ve got to appreciate people for who they are, what they are and what they bring.”

That’s Lockett speaking personally, of course.

Yet he thinks you should think a couple times about booing the Broncos’ No. 3 Monday night.

“I think Seattle should cheer him on for everything that he’s done, helped bring a Super Bowl to this community,” Lockett said.

“He’s an amazing guy.”