- Jesse Luketa asked his teammate JJ Watt for an autographed jersey while feeling loopy from dental surgery.
- Watt, an NFL veteran, announced he would retire at the end of the season on social media Tuesday.
Arizona Cardinals rookie Jessie Luketa felt brave enough after dental surgery to ask teammate JJ Watt for an autographed jersey before the end of the season.
Watt, an NFL veteran and a five-time Pro Bowler, announced on social media Tuesday that he would retire.
According to a press conference shared on the team's YouTube page Wednesday, the defensive end, 33, told reporters that after sharing the post, he put his phone down because he knew the response "would be crazy." He later got a FaceTime call from a number he didn't recognize, but after ignoring the call, he received texts from the same number.
The texts contained a slurred voice memo and a photo of Luketa, 23, with gauze in his mouth after his wisdom teeth removal. The linebacker found out about Watt's retirement and wanted a favor — an autographed jersey at the end of the year.
The Cardinals shared the photo, Luketa's voice memo, and a screenshot of the texts in a tweet Thursday:
—Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) December 29, 2022
Watt said the message was "complete incoherence," adding that he thought his phone had distorted the audio. He also said that even though Luketa was "high off his ass" and didn't know what he was doing, the incident made for "by far the best" story.
In the voice message, Luketa can be heard saying, "JJ, JJ, at the end of the season, I need a signed jersey, JJ. That's all I wanted to call and tell you. That's all."
"You'll get a jersey brother. Made my day," Watt responded in texts with laughing emojis.
—Jesse Luketa (@OttawasVeryOwn) December 30, 2022
Luketa shared a photo of his signed jersey on Twitter Friday morning, showing that the NFL star followed up on his promise.
"Jesse, your story inspires me brother, I appreciate you!" Watt wrote on the jersey. "And thanks for the laughs!"