{"id":805862,"date":"2026-03-11T06:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/805862\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T06:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:24:24","slug":"who-is-p-j-locke-5-things-to-know-about-the-new-dallas-cowboys-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/805862\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is P.J. Locke? 5 things to know about the new Dallas Cowboys safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> are focused on bolstering their defense this offseason.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the team agreed to terms with safety P.J. Locke on a one-year contract worth $5 million.<\/a> The former Texas Longhorn spent most of his professional career with the Denver Broncos, suiting up for the squad from 2019 to 2025.<\/p>\n

Here are five things to know about Locke:<\/p>\n

1. The basics<\/p>\n

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Position: Safety<\/p>\n

Birthday: Feb. 12, 1997 (29 years old)<\/p>\n

Hometown: Beaumont, TX<\/p>\n

Height: 5-10 Weight: 202 pounds<\/p>\n

College: Texas<\/p>\n

2. A look at his time in Austin<\/p>\n

Before he made it to the NFL, Locke built up his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 at Texas. He played for the Longhorns from 2015-18, appearing in 47 games. He posted 163 total tackles throughout his collegiate career to go with 15 pass deflections, four forced fumbles, three interceptions and 1.5 sacks.<\/p>\n

He played a key part in Texas\u2019 2019 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, where he posted three tackles and an interception.<\/p>\n

3. What\u2019s his full name?<\/p>\n

Locke\u2019s full name is James Abner Locke III. Throughout his time in the NFL, his jersey has included the \u201cLocke III\u201d nameplate.<\/p>\n

According to a 2024 article from The Colorado Gazette<\/a>, Locke\u2019s nickname is an homage to his father. Locke\u2019s father was nicknamed \u201cPookie,\u201d so his son went by \u201cPookie Junior.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. He once traveled in an RV to play in a game<\/p>\n

Locke is dedicated to his craft. That\u2019s evident in a 2023 article from ESPN.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Jeff Legwold, Locke spent 40 hours in an RV for a round trip to Detroit during the 2023 season. Locke initially left in the RV on a Friday afternoon, then made it to the team\u2019s hotel Saturday afternoon in Detroit. He then played in Denver\u2019s Saturday evening game against the Lions.<\/p>\n

Locke traveled via RV due to a medical issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor said I shouldn\u2019t fly, so I said let\u2019s gas it up,\u2019\u2019 Locke told ESPN. \u201cIt definitely wasn\u2019t ideal, but I chose to do it, prime time, we\u2019re fighting to finish strong. But it was a lot of movies, game film, a little sleep and a long ride.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

5. Career NFL stats<\/p>\n

Locke has appeared in 90 NFL games over the last six years. He has compiled 174 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, four sacks and one interception.<\/p>\n

His lone interception came in the 2023 season in a 19-17 win over the Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys are focused on bolstering their defense this offseason. On Tuesday, the team agreed to terms…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6,9,1078,4662],"class_list":{"0":"post-805862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-texas-longhorns","16":"tag-things-to-know"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116209114362782379","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}