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.
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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.
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu puts on a hat after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu puts on a hat after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu walks on stage during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu reacts after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu poses after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu poses with fans after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
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.”
The 2023 Lombardi Award winner and Pac-12 defensive player of the year wanted to be the first player drafted at his position. Instead, he became the first and perhaps most surprising defensive player selected in the entire draft.
Latu suffered a neck injury during Washington's preseason camp in 2020, his second college season. He wound up having fusion surgery and, after the season, Huskies doctors determined the injury had not healed sufficiently for him to return to the field. Then-coach Jimmy Lake even announced Latu had retired.
Latu stayed on campus for the 2021 season before entering the transfer portal.
“At the time, it was COVID and it was just a funky time and I mean it just wasn't handled he right way,” Latu said. “I didn't have any physical examinations with any doctor at the time, so it really was an opinion of somebody's that without even looking at me, without giving me tests and stuff. I feel like they were doing what they thought was best, but at the same time I feel it wasn't really handled in the best way.”
At UCLA, doctors took a more hands-on approach.
They cleared Latu to return near the end of spring practice in 2022. Though he did not start a game that season, Latu's talent and productivity were obvious. He had 10 1/2 sacks, 12 1/2 tackles for loss, forced three fumbles and recovered one.
In 2023, Latu won the starting job and proved even better. He had 21 1/2 tackles for loss, leading the nation with 1.8 per game, and finished fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 13 sacks.
Latu received unanimous All-American honors and the Ted Hendricks Award, and his tape convinced the Colts he could help beef up a pass rush that recorded 51 sacks last season, the most since the franchise moved to Indianapolis in 1984.
He'll help complement an interior defensive line led by two-time Pro Bowler DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart. He'll also team up with a friend, defensive end Kwity Paye, Indy's first-round pick in 2021.
It's quite a comeback for Latu.
“I mean being told you'll never play football again and that whole time you just really try to grind and prove to all those people who told me I wouldn't be able to play football again ...” he said. “To know I trusted in myself, I trusted in the Lord, it feels good.”
The Colts are seeking to snap a three-year playoff drought. They haven't won a postseason game since 2018.
Indy has six picks remaining — one in each of the final six rounds.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu poses on the red carpet ahead of the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu puts on a hat after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu puts on a hat after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu walks on stage during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu reacts after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu poses after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu poses with fans after being chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 15th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Brittney Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago.
Life isn't what it once was for the perennial WNBA All-Star.
The 6-foot-8 center looks different and has different priorities. Gone are her familiar dreadlocks that couldn't be maintained during her incarceration. She regularly sees a therapist to help her cope after being imprisoned for 10 months. And since her release, Griner has been an advocate for the return of other Americans detained overseas.
She has met with President Joe Biden twice since her release, including once last month in Phoenix.
“Got to talk to him about a couple of people and just keep it on the forefront of everyone’s mind,” the Phoenix Mercury star said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “You want to get exposure and that keeps it on the forefront of people’s minds. Keep people accountable.”
Griner was detained at a Moscow airport in February 2022. Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis.
She shares details about the harrowing experience in her new book — “Coming Home” — which comes out Tuesday.
Griner hopes one takeaway for anyone who reads the book will be a vivid picture of what detainees have to endure. She said it's why it took her all of last season to write it with Michelle Burford.
“I didn’t leave anything out from the detainment, to being over there, the conditions. As much as we could fit into a book, we basically did,” Griner said. “People will be shocked at some of the things.
"I hope it brings a little bit more of an understanding to the conditions that detainees go through.”
Griner says it is important people have a clear picture of what it's like for those Americans not home yet, including Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, so that no one gives up the fight.
“It took everyone to come together to bring me home,” she said. Government officials "have to make really hard decisions.”
Griner, who first met President Biden at the White House Correspondent's dinner in 2023 a few months after her return to the U.S., said she and her WNBA teammates must keep the momentum going to get everyone home.
“How are we going to do it? Bringing in families, playing videos, give them airtime?" she said. "Maybe someone that doesn’t know, sees (the book) and they write a letter to Congress that tips over the scale to get someone home.”
Griner said her days of playing basketball overseas during the WNBA offseason are over.
Though many WNBA players still play in international leagues to supplement their league salaries, Griner said she is done, except with USA Basketball. She hopes to be on the Olympic team at the Paris Games this summer, and the odds are in her favor that will happen.
Griner had played in China for a few years during the WNBA offseason, before making the move to Russia — where she had played since 2015 before her arrest.
It’s not just her ordeal in Russia, however, that is going to keep her home. Griner's wife, Cherelle, is expecting the couple’s first child.
“The only time I’ll go overseas is with Team USA,” Griner said. “I need to be in the states. About to be a parent. Last thing I want to do is be in and out of my kid’s life. I want to be there for everything. I don’t want to uproot my family and take them overseas with me. It’s too much.”
Griner, who has been an advocate for mental health for the past decade, said she sees a therapist regularly — something she did for several years before she went to Russia — and it helps her process what she endured while in prison.
“They are instrumental to my mental health,” Griner said about her sessions. “Everyone can benefit from having someone to talk to. Someone outside of their every day life. It just helps to have a different perspective on life from someone.
"That way if you do feel nervous or struggling with something, it’s very beneficial.”
The 33-year-old took a mental health break for several days last summer during the WNBA season, missing three games. She'll begin her 12th year in the league May 14.
Griner is looking forward to it after the welcome she received in her return last year. One of the only positives that Griner will take away from her ordeal was the outpouring of support she received from people in the form of letters they wrote to her in prison.
“The letters were amazing from the fans, teammates, opponents, GMs, they all meant so much to me,” she said. “It was very dark at times, especially going through the trial. When I was in isolation for weeks, it was an emotional rollercoaster and those letters made me remember that I wasn't forgotten.”
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
FILE - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, right, hugs former college teammate Dallas Wings guard Odyssey Sims after a WNBA basketball basketball game in Arlington, Texas, Friday, June 9, 2023. Griner says since her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago that she has used her platform as a WNBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist to advocate for the return of other Americans detained overseas. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
FILE - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, center, hugs Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, left, after a WNBA basketball game Saturday, June 24, 2023, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Life isn't what it once was for the perennial WNBA All-Star. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP, File, Filer)
FILE - WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner speaks at a news conference, Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Phoenix. While many WNBA players play in international leagues to supplement their incomes, Griner says the only time she'll ever play outside country again is with the USA Basketball. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
This cover image released by Knopf shows "Coming Home" by Brittney Griner, with Michelle Burford. (Knopf via AP)
FILE - WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, second from right, is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, July 7, 2022. Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (42) makes a layup during the second quarter of a WNBA basketball game against the Washington Mystics, July 23, 2023, in Washington. Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
FILE - WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner speaks to her lawyers from inside a cage in a courtroom in Khimki, outside Moscow, Russia, on July 26, 2022. Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)
