Doubt crept in for Jesse Luketa when Mack Wilson Sr. and Zach Pascal first approached him with the idea that had nothing to do with football.
It was about music.
Luketa, also known by the artist name "Lu'," has released a handful of songs this year and hopes to pursue the craft once football wraps up. His Cardinals teammates wanted to become teammates in the booth.
"When they first told me, I didn't really know what to expect," Luketa said. "But we got into the studio and started to build a foundation and some chemistry."
That evolved into the rap group "3rd&Go." Lu', ZP, and Rocketship (that's Wilson's nickname because he thought the rocket ship emoji resembled the Cardinals logo) have dropped an album, titled "Its Us," and have more than 40 unreleased songs on standby. Most songs consist of the typical rap vibe and Luketa said it has received the stamp of approval from those in the industry.
Some of the tracks are about the 2024 Arizona Cardinals.
"When I first got here, I was one of those guys who wanted to know how the team camaraderie was and what can I do to bring the team together more," Wilson said. "Whether that's going to the studio and making songs about the team and playing it in the locker room, it's cool just to see the reaction sometimes."
On one of the team's road trips, the trio played the tracks for the first time and received positive reactions. Safety Jalen Thompson, along with Budda Baker, are a few of the players mentioned in their song "3 in a Row."
"JT and Budda in the sky come running. Stay on that side because you know the Cards are coming," is the lyric.
"It's dope man," Thompson said. "Guys outside of the facility making cool stuff like that, making rap songs about the team, we love that. It's a testament to the brotherhood on the team."
Just like teams hope for complimentary play on the field, throughout the album, the linebackers praise offensive guys like Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr., while Pascal makes sure all three phases receive their flowers.
"These are the guys I go to war with," Pascal said. "And we're talking about the season too, so it's been a fun little outlet for us, and it got us really close."
Each player emphasized their first priority is football. All of their current attention and preparation is centered around Sunday's game against the Patriots. But creating music has become a hobby and a passion.
It's also served as an escape for Wilson, who credits his brother, Orlando Fikes, for his musical rhythm.
"When I tried it out, it just really put me in a different state of mind and I feel like it helps me with football as far as decompressing during the week," Wilson said. "Whenever we have road trips, I'll have an instrumental on my phone and write then. Whenever I have free time, I'm listening to beats and just writing music. If I'm studying plays I'm listen to beats. It's a good balance."
On Wednesday, Luketa's solo song "Suga'' played during the open media portion of practice. The guys were dancing to the music, recognizing Luketa's voice.
To him, it's moments like that which emphasize that music and football aren't that different and how his teammates will always have that label, on and off the field.
"You got guys that are playing different positions, but at the same time, when they hear our music, it brings everybody together and it's the same with this game that we play," Luketa said. "Football brings a bunch of people from different backgrounds all together. Music does the same thing.
"But we've got something special going on, so why not put it on a track and keep building and turn it into a banger?"
