Carolina Panthers Xavier Legette Talks Offseason Training, Bryce Young & BBQ Raccoon
Forget the Cheeseburger in Paradise, the former 2024 NFL first-round pick is chowing down on his own recipe for success.
Whether he’s powered by exotic or local meats – barbecued raccoon just might be the sole member of the exotically local protein club – Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette is doing more this NFL offseason than just amending his carnivorous habits.
Often praised by Carolina’s head coach Dave Canales as being an “over worker,” the name of the game for the former Gamecock ahead of entering his second full-time NFL season is growth. Growing his relationship with quarterback Bryce Young. Growing his ability to mentor and positively impact the youth of his home state, South Carolina. Growing confidence in the big moments – that haunting drop against the Philadelphia Eagles taught him a lot. And, of course, growing his perpetually curious palette.
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While we patiently wait for the return of Sunday Night Football on NBC, grab a fork and a knife – don’t forget the spear gun to catch his stew’s signature ingredient, rattlesnake – because NBC Insider is digging in with Legette about his offseason pursuits, sophomore season goals, and why the noise about his health is all wrong.
Carolina Panthers' wide receiver Xavier Legette on playing hard and training harder
With an aerial explosiveness that resembles that of the legendary Calvin Johnson, Legette’s the type of wide receiver that makes everything look easy. But behind the finesse, his drive to achieve and continue to hone his craft is what makes him a special breed.
“You can learn new things everyday within this [training],” Legette says about why he constantly pushes himself. “I’m just trying to add new things to my game to make me better. My main thing for me this offseason is as long as I can keep my body up under me, I’m good.”
In the NFL, where violent impacts can change the course of one’s career in a split second, that’s easier said than done. That’s why he takes every precautionary step to keep his body operating at peak performance. What’s that look like?
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“Going to training room even when I ain’t got to,” he adds. “Just trying to stay in there doing a lot of things and then outside of the building what’s helped me [is] getting IV’s and things in this sense because a lot of this stuff is really soft tissue injuries.”
That’s one reason why Carolina’s wide out is quick to disavow the latest rumors on his injuries.
“I know they put some stuff out there [in the media] about me having a foot injury the other day,” offers Legette. “But I’m good. I haven’t missed any practices, any workouts, or anything like that. …My wrist is doing good as well.”
For Legette, who continues to earn praise by Panthers head coach Canales and starting QB Young, working through the hardship and enduring the pain as he trains in the offseason is all part of the plan.
“I like to put myself in an uncomfortable spot,” reveals Legette. “I’m trying to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, know what I’m saying? I try to put myself in situations I’d probably never be in, so when my body’s at a high, tense level, there’ll be nothing to it.”
Dynamic Duo? Xavier Legette on working with Panthers' quarterback Bryce Young
You don’t spend first-round draft capital on a wide receiver like Xavier Legette if you’re not expecting him to be a legit, number-one option. With his commitment to improve on his rookie year production that included 49 receptions for 497 yards and four touchdowns – stats that placed him eighth among rookies in both categories – the 24-year-old sees something special in where his relationship's at with Young, the former University of Alabama 2021 Heisman winner.
“It’s not really what I’m looking forward to the most because it’s already there,” Legette declares confidently. “It’s just going to continue to grow over time. The more time we spend and put into each other’s game… him knowing what I like and me giving him what he likes as well, it’s just going to continue to grow.”
It’s a link that’s built on mutual trust.
“It really all falls down to that connection with the quarterback – when he throws the ball, make them plays,” Legette notes. “It’s gonna start from just going to the throw-arounds and doing routes from there. And then when you go out there and practice against the defense, when he throw it up, go up and make them plays. That’s the only way the confidence is gonna come.”
Overcoming Adversity
That type of confidence is a crucial ingredient for any athlete’s successful journey, let alone one as innately talented as Xavier Legette. Still, for all the praise he receives, he tied Jaylen Waddle of the Miami Dolphins for the fifth highest drop rate (6.1) among receivers with at least 75 targets. While that’s just a blemish from a macro perspective, his drop in Week 14 against the Philadelphia Eagles is a gut-wrenching reminder that everything can change in an instant.
With less than a minute to play, it was second down and four from the 28 and, while Young threw a superb ball, a lunging Legette couldn’t haul it in. The Birds, led by quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley, then went on to claim the ultimate prize: the Super Bowl's Lombardi trophy.
As debilitating as it was to drop a potential game-winner, it fuels his determination to never again put himself, his quarterback, or his team in that situation.
“That drop, that one gonna hurt for life,” Legette says. “That’s a lifetime scar there. I’m just trying to prevent those things from happening this year. …I never want to be having that same feeling.”
The Meat-Eating Mentor
While Legette continues to grow over his first NFL offseason with the Panthers, the Palmetto State native feels a calling to help others in their daily lives – most notably, the youth of South Carolina. As to why the Gamecock legend felt compelled to start a football camp in Columbia, Legette views it as part of his responsibility to teach and pass down the wisdom he’s cultivated over his career, both on and off the field.
“I’m trying to teach the younger guys and kids guidance for real,” Legette says. “You know, just having them around me, maybe they can see some things that I do and use that in their life. Just me being me, anyway I can help the kids is something I’m gonna let them do.”
One area where youth can always improve in is nutrition. And while Legette’s camps aren’t centered around diet, as an elite NFL athlete, maintaining a healthy diet that’s high in protein is vital to his play on the field. That’s why Legette says he partnered with Lidl US on the company’s first-ever, private-label meal line, Butcher’s Specialty.
“High protein for me is good for me,” he states. “I need that protein, push it to the body, yessir.”
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When it comes to grillin’ and chillin’, aside from the high-quality burgers, “you can never go wrong with a good steak,” Legette says.
From tomahawk cuts to perfectly marbled aged rib eyes, Legette can and will talk all day about his favorite cuts of meat and how best to prepare them. Before tucking into whatever the slab du jour is, the only real criteria for the meat connoisseur is, “what it looks and smells like.”
That said, if you think he’s giving up his family’s secret recipe for cooking raccoon, think again, chief.
“Oh man, we got our own seasoning that we mix up, so I can’t tell everybody that because then everybody gonna be saying they got the best ‘coon, and they using our stuff,” Legette says with a smile. “We put it in the oven… dry it out but not all the way. Keep it a little moist. Or put it in the pressure cooker, let the meat fall off the bone and hash it up.”
Xavier Legette’s guide to eating like an NFL wide receiver, “yessir.”
Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock returns September 4, 2025 with the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles.
