“You’ve Never Ruined a Relationship…”: Ryan Clark Shows Immense Respect for Tyler Lockett’s Decision to Abstain From S*x Before Marriage

Tyler Lockett recently came out with the shocking revelation that he was celibate for 30 years before marriage. For a football player who’s in great shape, it might be a bit hard to believe. But he claims his Christianity pushed him to do it, and while it wasn’t always easy, he’s happy he went through with it.

That’s why Ryan Clark decided to commend Lockett on the latest episode of his podcast — not just for the result, but because he had immense respect for the wide receiver and the journey he went through. Clark even said he was somewhat envious of the practice in retrospect.

Here’s what the former safety had to say about Lockett:

“What a feeling to know you’ve never ruined a relationship chasing something else. He’s got to truly feel whatever he wants to feel for everyone because his relationships and his decision-making wasn’t run by s*x,” Clark said on The Pivot Podcast. 

He then pointed out that he doesn’t know a single man in his life who ruined a relationship in order to find love elsewhere.

“What I mean by that is this, I don’t know a man that messed up a relationship or cheated or stepped out looking for love. When they stepped out of that house or when they stepped out of that relationship, they stepped out for one reason: they wanted s*x,” Clark argued.

There seems to be a bevy of athletes who like to sleep around in the NFL. Former defensive back Antonio Cromartie famously fathered 14 children with 8 different women. Joe Namath was rumored to have around 300 partners by the time he finished college, and he always claimed to sleep around the nights before big games. Furthermore, former running back Travis Henry also has 11 kids with 10 women.

That’s why Clark wanted to commend Lockett, because, in his experience, it was rare to see an athlete of his stature genuinely pursue a meaningful relationship.

“Now, whatever that evolved into, it evolved into. But they weren’t in a relationship and said to themselves, ‘You know what? I wanna go find a solid conversation and someone I can build with.’ That ain’t what they said,” Clark claimed.

However, for every lover of a story, there’s always a hater, too. And Clark’s co-host, Channing Crowder, couldn’t fathom how Lockett stayed away from the birds and the bees for so long. After all, 30 years is no joke. Crowder was genuinely concerned. 

Not only that, but Clark’s co-host suggested that the abstinence was a waste of time.

“30 is a bit long to me. The religious side, you bring up religion, and I understand it. But that’s just, I saw that, that’s sad. Tyler, that was a waste of time. You wasted 30 years,” Crowder said.

It was mostly meant as a joke, but there was also some concern in Crowder’s voice. You could tell there was a part of him that genuinely felt for Lockett. While it seemed like he just wanted to lighten the mood with a few jokes, the topic left plenty of room for playful commentary.