Xavier Legette Brought Raccoon Meat to Practice, Let Reporters Taste

After his admission about eating raccoon meat went viral, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette brought some to work to share. 

Legette, 23, made the culinary revelation on the December 10 episode of the “St. Brown Podcast,” hosted by Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. “Like, a raccoon you see in the trash can,” Legette said when asked about his hottest food take. “I hunt it. I kill it. I skin ‘em. Cook ‘em. Eat ‘em. All that.”

On Thursday, December 26, Legette arrived at Panthers practice with some Christmas Day raccoon leftovers in a reusable food container. 

“We boil that b—- up,” Legette told Panthers special teams coach Daren Bates while showing off the raccoon in a video posted via X. “Let that meat fall off the bone, you know what I’m talkin’ about?”

A skeptical Bates found a spoon and decided to dig in. “Come on, boy,” Legette told him. “I know that jumped straight on them [taste] buds and started dancing!”

When asked by one of his followers, “So how was it?,” Bates responded, “Wasn’t bad. Didn’t taste like I thought it would.” 

It wasn’t just Panthers coaches who got in on the raccoon fun, either. 

Panthers beat writer Sheena Quick shared her own video interaction with Legette via X. “Y’all gotta try!” Legette told an assembled group of reporters. 

Quick picked up a piece of raccoon meat with her fingers and gave it a go herself. “That’s not bad, ain’t it?,” Legette asked her with a big smile on his face. 

“It ain’t bad, it ain’t bad,” Quick said. 

Quick doubled down via X, writing, “UPDATE: I tried the coon….and it wasn’t bad! Spicy and well-seasoned.”

While passing around the meat, Legette was asked how he can consider himself “a picky eater” when he loves to chow down on raccoon. 

Related: Why Detroit Lions’ David Montgomery Ate a Carrot After Thanksgiving Game

Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery had a good reason for hilariously picking up a carrot instead of a turkey leg after the Lions’ Thanksgiving Day victory.  Montgomery, 27, was spotted by CBS cameras gnawing on a celebratory carrot instead of the customary turkey after the Lions’ 23-20 win over the Chicago Bears on Thursday, […]

“I mean, I don’t eat the bell peppers and all the extra stuff like that,” Legette said in a video captured by Carolina Blitz. “That stuff is too exotic for me.”

Legette also said he won’t eat “onions” for the same reason. “The ‘coon is regular,” Legette said with a laugh.

On the “St. Brown Podcast,” Legette said he’s been eating raccoon all his life, especially around holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. In addition, Legette said he often enjoys eating squirrel and rabbit. 

“Everybody tries to stay stuff tastes like chicken,” Legette explained. “But raccoon got its own taste.”