Between his affable personality in front of the media spotlight and his loquacious Twitter feed, Ole Miss defensive lineman Kentrell Lockett has gained a reputation as one of the better sound-bite providers on the Media Days circuit. True to form, whether the question was unusual or mundane, he delivered every answer with a grin on his face.
For starters: Where’s your bow tie, Kentrell? “I couldn’t wear the bow tie because my mom picked this out. I had nothing to do with this. Nothing, nothing, nothing to do with this.” (For the record, Mrs. Lockett, his gray suit, pinstripe vest and paisley tie looked perfectly fine.)
“I feel like I’m gonna have the freshest legs in the SEC this year.” Most athletic, or best-looking, someone asks? “I’ll take both. But freshest in not having done as much.”
On the knee injury that was the reason behind his legs not doing as much last season: “When you got something you love and you can’t do it, that was terrible. It was even worse just watching those games,” he said, calling the LSU game his “all-time low.” “I thought, ’I’m not going to go watch them practice, because I can’t practice; I’m not going to go watch them play, because I can’t play.’ The days I couldn’t do that, I went home and cried to my wife. . . . Why even go out there if I can’t express my feelings and celebrate with my team?”
What he’s learned from the experience: “This one play could be your last. So I’m having fun, giving 110 percent. I don’t know too many people who are excited about camp — it’s hot, you’re working hard — but I’m excited about it. I want to be there.”
On being in a leadership role for the Rebels’ new recruits: “It’s somewhat babysitting . . . but they’re coming from high school, they’re all chatty, smiling, and then they show up at camp and everyone’s scared, they don’t know what to expect. So I feel like I’m kind of helping them out with that, showing them what to expect, helping them get used to it.”
On the boastful Mississippi State billboards going up around the state: “That’s a real interesting billboard. If that’s what they need if that’s what gets them going, that’s fine. I’m not even worried about it.”
“I try to be bionic. I feel like Superman in my mind.”
And finally, on his Twitter account, which has become a cult favorite among college football fans: “Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I just make people feel happier.”