Arizona Cardinals rookie linebacker Jesse Luketa’s wish came true after teammate J.J. Watt revealed a hilarious exchange between the two.
Luketa underwent surgery to remove his wisdom teeth this week and found out about Watt’s retirement while heavily medicated following the procedure.
He left a gargled, barely comprehensible voice memo for Watt while drugged following surgery that the Cardinals released via social media.
“There’s a number I don’t recognize that FaceTimes me. And I’m like, I’m not going to answer a FaceTime I don’t know. So I just let it go to voicemail and then I get a text from that number, and it’s a voice memo,” recalled the future Hall of Famer.
“So I play the voice memo … and it is incoherent,” Watt continued. “Ten seconds later a picture comes through and it’s Jesse Luketa … and he has cotton balls in both sides of his mouth. He had just got his wisdom teeth out,” he said.
Luketa told Watt — as best he could — that he wanted a signed jersey before Watt retired.
Watt announced on Tuesday that he’s retiring following this season after 12 years in the league. Luketa was drafted in the seventh round (256th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft and has played 28 defensive snaps this year, per Pro Football Reference.
He hasn’t had much of a chance to make an impact this season, but he left a lasting impression on Watt this week.
