Xavier Legette’s country accent stepped into the spotlight when the Carolina Panthers picked the South Carolina wide receiver in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“They been dragging it all over social media,” Legette said at his introductory press conference two days after being drafted. “I just tell folks they really just, like, never heard nobody talk from Mullins.”
During a recent appearance on the “Off the Edge” podcast, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and wide receiver Adam Thielen were asked if they could understand Legette after a season as teammates by the podcast’s host, New Orleans Saints Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan.
A native of California and a former Alabama All-American, Young said he could – to a degree – and doesn’t think it should be a big deal now.
“I’ve gotten better,” Young said. “I honestly felt like at first it was just me. But, like, I think going to Bama, we had a couple of guys -- I’m not going to lie; he’s the most egregious -- but we had a couple of guys that were close. So I’ve gotten better in it. When we have unit meetings to this day, like he’ll say something. Whenever he says something in a unit meeting, he’ll say, you know, something like normal. I’m not going to try to do his voice, but something like, ‘OK, so I got an outside release on,’ and, legit, it will be silence for like two seconds, then everyone will just start cracking up. And this is like Week 17. I’m like, I heard him. Like, is everyone still this behind? So I think I’ve adjusted a little bit.
“Just yesterday I seen him, and it was like a little loud where we were at, and it was dark. So I’m like, ‘All right, bro, I’m not going to lie, man. Like, I can’t. Like, normally I do better, I know. I’m not going to lie: We can’t have a conversation.”
Even though he’s from Minnesota, Thielen said he has served as an interpreter.
“My favorite thing in receiver meetings is no one knows what he’s saying except for me,” Thielen said. “So (wide-receivers) coach (Rob) Moore will literally ask him a question. Xavier will respond, and then coach will immediately look to me like, ‘What did he say?’ And I have to translate. And then everyone’s like, ‘Why are you the one who’s translating?’ It doesn’t make any sense. But for some reason, I just understand what he’s saying.”
Legette’s country vibe goes beyond his speech, such as the time he brought raccoon (cooked, not live) to the locker room.
“I did not try it,” Young said about sampling Legette’s raccoon. “I have self-respect.”
But Thielen did eat some.
“Here’s the deal,” Thielen said. “So built a pretty good relationship with him over the year, you know, and he’s my guy. I mean, I love that kid. He’s a great kid. Works hard. He tries to do things the right way. So when you have a guy like that, you just kind of root for guys like that. Right? And so anyways we build up a strong relationship. So over the season, he’s like, ‘Hey, man, like, raccoon is so good. Like, you’ll like it. I promise you.’And I’m like, ‘All right.’ Like, you know, we got a good relationship. I’ll trust you. I’ll try it. So, you know, he kept saying he’s going to bring it in. Never did.
“Finally, around Thanksgiving time, brings it into the locker room. And it’s like he didn’t have it in the cooler. Like, it was just like in a Tupperware. And he’s, like, just like carrying it through the locker room. Like not cold. This is room-temperature raccoon. And I tried it.”
