WGNO

Teen FaceTimes Super Bowl champs after accidental text

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — We’ve all accidentally sent a text to the wrong number before and had an awkward (or occasionally creepy) exchange with someone we didn’t intend to contact.

For a high school basketball player in Michigan, a wrong-number text turned into an epic group chat none of his teammates will ever forget.


Somehow, Vinny Tartaglia inadvertently added the number for Sean Murphy-Bunting, Michigan native and cornerback for the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to the group chat for the freshman basketball team at Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy in Pontiac.

The team got an unexpected response: “Did you mean to add me to this group???” Murphy-Bunting texted.

Tartaglia and his team members were initially dubious, so Murphy-Bunting sent a selfie to prove who he was. He then turned on FaceTime and Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette proceeded to take the starstruck teens on a tour of the team locker room.

Along the way, they got to meet other Bucs, including tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receiver Mike Evans and cornerback Richard Sherman and even chat with the G.O.A.T. himself, quarterback Tom Brady. When one of the players realized he was meeting Brady, he grabbed his replica Michigan Brady jersey to show his true fandom. Brady was suitably impressed.

The boys were all tremendously grateful, and no doubt the pros enjoyed having a moment away from drills, films and strategy sessions to connect with the young fans who buy their jerseys and watch their games.