Locklear unlocks potential

Sean Locklear’s introduction to the National Football League came at a Seattle Seahawks minicamp. One-on-one drill. Pass protection. Go block Grant Wistrom.

“I watched him when he was at Nebraska and St. Louis and he’s a great player,” Locklear said of Wistrom. “My first one-on-one and he’s right there.”

And?

“He beat me, but that was my first experience and you have to learn from it,” Locklear said. “I had to say, ‘Hey, this is the NFL, gotta get ready.’ “

Locklear’s learning process has continued at Seahawks training camp at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, where the third-round draft pick from North Carolina State gets the pleasure of trying to stonewall speedy ends such as Chike Okeafor and Chad Brown.

“Chad’s teaching me a lot; he’s been in the league for 12 years,” Locklear said. “I try to do my thing, take the correct steps and still try to block him.”

Most players say that speed is the biggest difference between the college and pro game. Locklear, a studious sort, agrees, but adds that the mental aspect takes a more crucial role.

“It’s just that guys react a whole lot quicker and there aren’t a lot of mistakes made out here,” he said. “We run a lot of gimmicks where we try to fool the linebackers and defensive linemen and they see it really quick. In college, you could run a bootleg and the whole defense would go that way.”

Locklear reviews the playbook each night and morning “to make sure I know exactly what we’re going to do through the course of the day, so I don’t make those mental mistakes.

“That’s the big thing around here – mental mistakes are a no-no,” he said. “In college if you make a mistake, it’s, ‘OK, we’ll go back and correct it.’ Here, they expect you to know what you’re supposed to do before you get on the field.”

Locklear, a 6-foot-3, 301-pounder who became N.C. State’s first first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference offensive lineman since 1992, is progressing on schedule.

“He’s at tackle right now, but he could be a guard,” offensive line coach Bill Laveroni said. “He’s strong, he’s agile and he has football sense. That’s what helps him. If he has to move from left guard to left tackle, he understands what the left guard was doing so there is some carryover there.”

Locklear’s transition to the NFL has gone far smoother than Philip Rivers, his former N.C. State teammate. Rivers is home in Raleigh, N.C., after contract negotiations broke off with San Diego. Rivers and Locklear share the same agent, Jimmy Sexton.

“I called (Rivers) a couple of times when all that was going on,” Locklear said. “Then I heard they sent him home and I called him and asked, ‘What happened? They’re sending you home?’ That’s not a good sign.

“We live about 15 minutes apart. He’s a family guy with a wife and kid and I’m single, but we used to go over to his place and watch Monday Night Football.”

Fish story

Seahawks center and former Washington State Cougar Robbie Tobeck took advantage of a recent off day to go on a fishing trip, but he missed a sign en route to Avery, Idaho, and found himself lost in St. Maries.

“I’m driving around and look up and see a sign for Felton Auto Sales, so I whipped a U-turn. I go in and it’s Dan Felton, a guy I’ve known for years,” Tobeck said. “He’s a Cougar booster, great guy; I’ve played golf with him. He’s like, ‘What the heck are you doing here?’ It was great to visit with him for a while.”

Tobeck eventually hit the St. Joe River near St. Maries, but the best thing he caught that day was some time with an old friend.

Olympic moments

Punter Tom Rouen has several reasons for keeping a close eye on the Olympics. His wife, Amy Van Dyken, won six swimming medals (four gold) in the 1996 and 2000 games. She’s in Arizona where she’s an analyst for TV and radio shows recapping the day’s events in Athens.

Rouen also has become good friends with wrestler Rulon Gardner, who won gold in 2000, and weightlifter Shane Hamman.

“I met Rulon through a mutual friend and he came to a celebrity clay shoot that Amy and I host every year,” Rouen said. “We started hanging out a little bit. He actually bought my jeep from me. We’d go snowmobiling and goof around. Shane also came out to our shoot last year.”

Gardner spent a night in sub-zero temperatures after a February 2002 snowmobile accident. One of his toes on his right foot was amputated, but Gardner has come back and he’s going for gold next week in Athens.

“I talked to him about a week ago before he headed over,” Rouen said. “It’s going to be fun watching those guys. I’d love to see him and Shane do well.”

On line

The offensive line, which has had more than its share of camp injuries, was further depleted by the absence of right tackle Chris Terry on Thursday. Of the five projected starters, only right guard Chris Gray has stayed injury-free. At various times, Seattle has been without Tobeck, Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack, Steve Hutchinson, Wayne Hunter and Jerry Wunsch. Not to mention Walter Jones’ annual camp holdout.

Terry, Hutchinson and Wunsch didn’t practice Thursday. Terry is resting his ailing shoulder.

“We’re a little thin right now in an area that we have pretty good depth fortunately,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “If we had the depth we’ve had in years past, I’m not sure we could have practiced today.”

Notes

Rookie safety Michael Boulware made a no-look, over-the-shoulder interception of a Matt Hasselbeck pass. “I really didn’t see it at all,” Boulware said. “I just felt it.” Said Hasselbeck: “It was unbelievable. That was probably the best catch I’ve seen in my life, don’t you think? I’ve got to see it on film before I can say that.” … Receiver Koren Robinson (quad), end Anton Palepoi (hamstring) and safety Ken Hamlin (elbow) were back on the practice field. Defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs (hamstring) and quarterback Trent Dilfer (back) rested and neither will play in Saturday’s preseason game against Denver. Both are expected at Monday’s practice. … The Seahawks will hold a 10 a.m. walk-through today before flying to Seattle for Saturday’s game.