Colts take first defensive player of NFL draft, UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu at No. 15
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Laiatu Latu kept believing he would play in the NFL one day, even after team doctors at Washington told him a neck injury had ended his football career.
On Thursday, nearly two years after being cleared to play again by doctors at UCLA, the star edge rusher got his dream call — from a team he didn’t even know was interested in him.
The Indianapolis Colts took Latu with the No. 15 overall pick in Thursday’s NFL draft, making him the first defensive player off the board after a record 14 consecutive players were chosen, and giving the college star a chance to prove himself all over again.
“I didn’t talk to them at all in the pre-draft process and then that phone call came up from Indianapolis and I’m like ‘Damn, he just told me don’t worry about the next couple of picks,’” Latu said, recalling the conversation he had with his agent. “And then I get a call.”