Astute Seattle Seahawks fans may have noticed something strange about wide receiver Tyler Lockett. On the surface, Lockett seems like your every day star wide-out on the field. A closer look at some of his plays, though, and you'll notice a big difference in his style of play. While other receivers embrace contact and fight for inches after a tackle, Lockett completely avoids tackles by giving himself up early.

During their last win against the Cardinals, this practice by Tyler Lockett was noticed by more Seahawks fans. During one play of the game, Lockett got the ball and started going upfield. As defenders started to converge on him, though, the wide receiver slid early… and short of the first down marker.

https://twitter.com/FTBeard7/status/1589381096332222465?s=20&t=40Dyi-QVNyM2EX18PmJOEw

As a result, Lockett earned the ire of some fans, who complained about the wide receiver not fighting for yards. The Seahawks wide receiver fired back against these fans recently, emphasizing that his health after his playing career is his number one priority. (via Brady Henderson)

“A lot of people could call you soft or whatever the case is, but they don’t understand the things that we see when you’re done playing football. When people talk about CTE or people talk about injuries and having to get all these different surgeries after they’re done. Everybody wants you to put your body on the line.”

It's easy for fans to complain from their couches about plays like that. However, one must remember that these players are still human, and prioritize their safety over everything else. Besides, this style of play by Lockett has been extremely beneficial to the Seahawks: he's barely missed a game for them over the last few years (despite nursing some injuries as of late).