Xavier Legette is fired up for his second season.
The Carolina Panthers wide receiver, who entered the NFL as the 32nd pick of the 2024 draft, turned plenty of heads in his first year.
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Part of that was down to the way he speaks.
Legette, 24, was born and raised in the small town of Mullins, South Carolina.
He played college ball in his home state for the South Carolina Gamecocks, and it’s fair to say he’s a country boy at heart.
Legette’s accent is so thick, that reporters sometimes struggle to understand what he’s saying.
Even Panthers wide receivers coach Rob Moore was left confused by the rookie last season.
“Everybody always looked at me as a country guy on the team,” fellow WR Jonathan Mingo said in 2024.
“So (when Legette) came in, I just bumped to second place. Coach Moore can’t understand him. Every time Legette answers, Coach Moore just be looking at him confused.
“We all just start laughing every time he has a question. But he’s cool. He’s got good energy, so a fun guy to be around.”
It’s not just the accent that has established Legette as a country legend — it’s his eating habits, too.
Last December, the Panthers starlet appeared on Amon-Ra St. Brown’s podcast, where he stunned the Detroit Lions receiver by admitting his love for raccoons.
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While it might not be a mainstream dish today, it was once considered a staple food in the American South.
“Ya’ll probably seen that video, when I told them folks I eat raccoon,” Legette said, as St. Brown’s jaw dropped.
“I hunt it, I kill it, skin it, cook it and eat it.”
“It’s got its own taste.”
Legette, who also admitted to eating squirrels, even brought a container of his cooked raccoon meat to offer to those brave enough to try in the Panthers locker room over the holiday season.
While he’s certainly familiar with the taste of the South, one thing Legette has only just discovered this week is a love for hockey.
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The WR attended his first-ever NHL game on Wednesday night, as the Carolina Hurricanes took on the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Wearing a Canes jersey, Legette was mic’d up by Bleacher Report — and his experience went exactly as expected.
The football star offered plenty of priceless takes on the action that was unfolding in front of him.
He was stunned by the pucks flying close to his face, watched one NHL star ‘clothesline’ another, and danced around with Hurricanes mascot Stormy as he signed a few footballs.
While he’s clearly enjoying the offseason, Legette has vowed to elevate his game in his second NFL year.
He struggled with drops as a rookie, and was notably at fault for a Week 14 flub that would have given Carolina a late lead over the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Expect less of that in year two as the Panthers hope to improve on their 5-12 finish without linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, who is looking for a new home.
“Me getting open, that wasn’t a problem,” Legette, who had eight drops on 81 targets in 2024, while also bringing in 49 passes for 497 yards and four touchdowns.
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“It was just honing into to really catching the ball on the drops.
“Mainly just trying to catch it more with my hands and letting it get into my body or crossing my eyes.”
‘Country boy’ Legette and the Panthers, who upset Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons with one of their draft picks last month, will begin their 2025 season on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars in September.
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