When JJ Watt announced his retirement from football with a simple tweet, he put down his phone and walked away from it for a while.
“I knew it was going to be crazy,” he told reporters.
As you’d expect, Watt received plenty of messages and comments from friends, family and fans congratulating him on a great career and what else to say about one of the best players on and off the field.
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Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt celebrates during the second half against the Buffalo Bills in Houston on Jan. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith, File)
But while scrolling through his phone, Watt received a call.
“I’m scrolling through and there’s this number that I don’t realize is FaceTimes me,” Watt told reporters. “So I’m like, ‘I’m not going to reply to a FaceTime I don’t know.’ So I just let it go to voicemail and then I get a text message from that number. And it’s a voice memo. I say, “Who is this number?” So I play the voice memo and it’s – I wish I could play it so much. I wish so badly.”
Watt went on to say it was “complete incoherence” of the sender of the voice memo, which Watt eventually revealed to be Cardinals rookie linebacker Jesse Luketa. And he only found out because he sent a picture.
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“One image comes through and it’s Jesse Luketa, our rookie outside linebacker, and he’s got cotton balls in both of them [cheeks]. He just got his wisdom teeth out,” Watt said.
The Cardinals then got the voice memo and decided to post it on Twitter, and it’s as funny as Watt made it seem.
“He’s high on his a–” Watt said, laughing. “He has no idea what he’s doing.”
“JJ, JJ, I need a signed jersey at the end of the season, JJ,” Luketa is heard saying in the voice memo. “That’s all I wanted to call and tell you. That’s all. Bye, JJ.”
JJ Watt of the Arizona Cardinals warms up before kickoff against the New England Patriots on December 12, 2022 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Luketa has played briefly for the Cards this season as Penn State’s seventh-round pick mostly saw special teams snaps. However, learning from one of the best in the game at Watts was most likely a dream come true for the Ottawa, Ontario native.
Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said the team “had no idea” Watt was retiring. But with the Cardinals not seeing the playoffs and Watt nearing the end of his 12th NFL season, that thought was considered and a decision made.
CARDINALS’ JJ WATT RESIGNS FROM THE NFL AFTER 12 SEASONS: “IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE HONOR AND PLEASURE”
Watt’s tweet breaking the big news read, “Koa’s first NFL game ever. My very last NFL home game. My heart is filled with love and gratitude. It was an absolute honor and a pleasure,” he wrote.
Watt spent his first 10 seasons with the Houston Texans, who picked him 11th overall in 2011.
Arizona will end its season by facing the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers in their last two games.
JJ Watt of the Arizona Cardinals leads the scrum before a game against the New Orleans Saints at State Farm Stadium on October 20, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
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If Watt earns another halfsack in his last two games, he’ll earn an extra million dollars. That would certainly be a good way to head off into the sunset of his NFL career.
Scott Thompson is a sportswriter at Fox News Digital.