Indoor Game Suits Cobras’ Lockett Just Fine

A year ago, Wade Lockett was preparing for the opening of the Raiders’ training camp, with visions of playing in the Coliseum as a National Football League wide receiver. He was released before the season began.

Today, Lockett is still playing football in Los Angeles. But instead of silver and black, he wears the blue and gold of the Los Angeles Cobras of the Arena Football League, who will play the New England Steamrollers tonight at Providence, R.I.

Lockett, who is both a receiver and a defensive back with the Cobras, ranks fifth in the league in scoring, with 11 touchdowns and 66 points, and in receptions, with 35.

“I like playing in the Arena Football League,” said Lockett, who returned to the Raiders briefly as a replacement during the players’ strike. “The league is fun and exciting. The fans really get into it. For example, last week against Detroit, we hadn’t done anything all game but when we finally scored, the fans still went wild.”

Lockett, who has run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds, had to learn how to play indoors. After being a receiver on a conventional football field, Lockett now must work on the Arena Football League’s 50-yard, boxed-in version.

“I have had to adjust because you can’t be too fast,” he said. “You just cannot go deep on every play because the field is so small. It takes more of a complete athlete, who plays with intelligence, because you have to be under control more.”

The change to playing both offense and defense has gone smoothly for Lockett. At 6 feet 2 inches and 195 pounds, he is able to dish out punishment as well as take it.

“I always felt that I could play as a defensive back, even though I was a receiver in college (at Cal State Fullerton),” he said. “I would always cover my teammates in practice. I would cover James Pruitt (now a Miami Dolphin), so I knew I could cover anyone.

“With the Raiders, (owner) Al Davis wanted to play me as a defensive back, and (then-coach) Tom Flores wanted me as a wide receiver. I have good size to play either, but the Raiders tried me as a receiver primarily.”

Like the Raiders, the Cobras have a acquired a bad-boy image. A Cobra game usually includes at least a half-dozen fights, a fact that has caused Detroit quarterback Rich Ingold to say: “Th1696613231irritating than winning.”

Said Lockett: “Teams around the league don’t like us because we are a hitting team. Quarterbacks know when they play the Cobras, they are going to get trouble. We average knocking out two quarterbacks a game.

“There is a lot of trash-talking during the games, and the refs just can’t control play. You have to realize that the refs are new at this, just like everyone else. The fans also ignite a lot of fights because they are so close to the action, they want to see people slammed up against the walls.”

Lockett denied that the Cobras are a cheap-shot team and added that Cobra Coach Ray Willsey, a longtime Raider assistant, has merely instilled the Raiders’ “Just win, baby” philosophy in his new players.

“Coach Willsey is low-key,” Lockett said. “He likes us to play loose, but when he thinks it’s time for us to turn up the intensity, he lets us know. We just like to fly around and hit people hard.”

Despite their hard-hitting tactics, the Cobras are in fourth place with a 3-5 record, one game ahead of New England in the battle for the final playoff spot. After a three-game winning streak, they lost two straight to the Detroit Drive.

“We have been going through a lot of changes,” Lockett said. “We kept bouncing around with our practice sites, and we’ve had some tough breaks. But I feel that we have the ingredients to be a great team. We just have to find (how) to get it going.”

Success has also opened up other avenues for Lockett.

“There is a possibility that I could be in an NFL training camp next month, after the (indoor) season is over,” he said, “because teams are interested. A few players on the team have that option, but the Cobras are like family now, and you have to think, ‘Why just be another player in camp when you are wanted here?’ You just have to take it as it goes.”