A Michigan high school basketball team was organizing team practices when someone accidentally included a wrong number in the group text. What happened next is something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.
Vinny Tartaglia, a member of the Notre Dame Prep freshman basketball team, was adding his teammates’ numbers to a group text last week when he accidentally added the wrong number. What he didn’t realize was that the wrong number belonged to Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting’s.
“We were trying to add people, and the last person was Luca, but I was one digit off,” Tartaglia told ClickonDetriot.com.
Murphy-Bunting responded by asking if the boys meant to add him to the chat and, thinking he was their teammate Luca, the group said yes. Seemingly amused by the boys’ confusion, the NFL player asked them if they knew who he was and he quickly revealed his identity.
He even sent a selfie in the Bucs locker room to prove it but the team wasn’t buying it.
“Everyone was skeptical, it’s definitely not an NFL player, right?” Tartaglia told the outlet.
That’s when Murphy-Bunting decided to FaceTime the group.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski, cornerback Richard Sherman and running back Leonard Fournette all hopped on the call and, eventually, Tom Brady made an appearance.
“They were shocked,” Fournette told ESPN Wednesday. “I think that’s … to guys in high school, Tom is the figure for them. You know what I mean? Who wouldn’t want to look up to a guy like that?”
“That was sweet,” Brady added of the call. “I didn’t know who it was. [Leonard] said, ‘Here’s my boy’ or whatever he said. It was nice. It would have been nice for me when I had been in high school too.”
School counselor P. Jason Whalen, whose son is also on the team, took to Twitter to share screenshots of the call.
Sean Murphy-Bunting during the Bucs’ game against the ColtsGetty Images“I can’t believe they took the time to entertain Colin and his teammates. I’m sure they had a good time laughing at the fact that the Super Bowl champs got randomly added to a freshman basketball team group chat,” his tweet said.
Murphy-Bunting eventually ended the call and gave the team some words of encouragement: “Ball out this season!”
