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  David Newton, ESPN Staff WriterJul 17, 2024, 06:00 AM ET

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  David Newton is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Carolina Panthers. Newton began covering Carolina in 1995 and came to ESPN in 2006 as a NASCAR reporter before joining NFL Nation in 2013. You can follow Newton on Twitter at @DNewtonespn.

Carolina Panthers first-round pick Xavier Legette, as he often did growing up, disappeared to his uncle’s horse stable on the outskirts of Mullins, South Carolina, a few weeks ago during an unscheduled trip home.

Being at the stable and riding his horse “Dolla Bill” around the town of about 5,000 always was an escape for the star wide receiver known by most as “Zay.”

This was a time for an escape.

Legette was home because one of his good friends, Kenny Lasane Jr., a Material Specialist in the Army and the father of a 4-year-old, had been murdered in June.

Legette and Lasane shared a mutual respect beyond friendship because each, in his own way, had made a name for himself outside of their hometown.

That Legette paused his training in Arizona — where he was focused on being in the best possible shape when rookies report to training camp on July 19 — to pay his respects didn’t surprise those who watched him grow up in what once was the “Tobacco Capital” of South Carolina.

That he snuck away to the stables didn’t surprise anybody, either.

“That’s his getaway,” said his aunt Chrystle Neal.

“When I want to take my mind off football and just relax, I hunt and ride them horses,” said Legette, who began riding horses at the age of 5. “I gained energy from it early.”

Panthers’ first-round receiver Xavier Legette loves football, but his first love was horses, dating back to when he was 5. Xavier Legette

Football has taken priority over horseback riding the past few years, and following his final season at the University of South Carolina, he spent most of the offseason training for the NFL combine and draft.

The No. 32 overall pick used the past month to train in Arizona to make sure the hamstring that limited him the past few weeks of offseason workouts was stronger than ever. So riding wasn’t on his summer agenda.

But riding is as natural to Legette (pronounced LEE-get) as running any pattern in the receiver route tree. Cleaning out stalls, toting bails of hay and taking care of horses taught him discipline in life that now helps him on the field.

Being around horses and understanding how they take advantage of a rider that fears them also put Legette in touch with instincts that allow him to go over the middle or take on the toughest defender without fear.

“With a horse, if they’re not feeling you, they put their ears back,” Legette said. “How does that compare to me in football? I have to feel [the defenders’] energy to see if I’m going to be able to be cool with them. Horses can feel your energy, just like any animal can feel if you’re afraid of it.

“They give you indicators. You have to stay alert, just like in football.”

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New Panthers coach Dave Canales and general manager Dan Morgan were so impressed by the 6-foot-1, 221-pound Legette, who ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at the combine, that they traded into the first round to get him.

Legette was targeted because he reminded Canales of DK Metcalf (Seattle Seahawks) and Mike Evans (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), two big receivers Canales worked with who were critical in turning around quarterbacks Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield.

Legette is a big part of an upgrade at receiver that Canales hopes can help quarterback Bryce Young, the top pick of the 2023 draft, recover from a rocky rookie season.

“The versatility is huge for us,” Canales said of Legette, who can run jet sweeps as well as he can run routes. “When you get a guy who can really run, a guy who can high point the ball, a guy that can carry it, and you can give him the ball different ways … he just brings a lot of versatility.”

But what impressed the Panthers beyond the physical aspects of Legette’s game was the mental aspect. They saw the toughness that enabled him to overcome the death of both parents before he graduated high school to emerge as a first-round pick following a breakout senior season in college, when he had 71 catches for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns.

“He’s a unique guy,” Morgan said. “He’s big, he’s strong, fast, physical. He just had a lot of things that we loved.”

Legette loves football, but his first love was horses — or animals in general.

“He really wanted to be a veterinarian, but only if he could just take care of dogs and horses,” Neal said.

The Panthers moved into the first round of the 2024 draft to select Xavier Legette No. 32 overall. Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Legette was introduced to horses by his uncle when he was 5. His uncle often brought a few horses into town where Legette would ride on the streets among the motorists.

He named his first horse Dolla Bill “because I like money.” He now has plenty of that after signing a four-year, $12 million deal.

Legette’s unique Southern drawl has endeared him to people across the country after hearing him speak for the first time.

“Oh, yeah, they’ve been dragging it all over social media,” Legette said of his accent. “I just tell them folk, man, they really just have not never heard anybody talk from Mullins.”

Neal said Legette sounds just like his dad, Anthony, who died of a heart attack in March of 2019, four years after the receiver’s mom, Anita, passed after a long battle with cancer.

Neal believes the accent got deeper and more distinctive after her nephew went to college.

“It makes him unique,” she said.

Legette’s love of horses also makes him unique, to the point few understand it. But they may appreciate it more once they see him play.

“Any time you’re playing sports, one thing your coach tells you is you can’t let the opposite team get into your head,” Neal said. “And you can’t show emotion either. You kind of have to find a way to channel that energy.

“Riding horses helped Zay do that.”