The man who refused to believe his football playing days were over after a serious neck injury turned an NFL dream into reality Thursday evening.

Edge rusher Laiatu Latu, who spent the past two seasons at UCLA after being deemed medically retired early in his career at Washington, was selected No. 15 overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the NFL draft in Detroit.

The UCLA star was the first defensive player off the board Thursday night.

Latu became the 36th player in program history to be selected in the first round and the first since quarterback Josh Rosen and offensive tackle Kolton Miller were each taken in 2018.

It was the earliest a Bruins player on defense has been taken since linebacker Anthony Barr was taken ninth overall by the Minnesota Vikings in 2014.

Both UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, who was responsible for recruiting Latu after spending time together at Washington, attended the draft after starting the day at the Bruins’ spring practice in the morning.

The Sacramento native found his way to Westwood after missing two seasons in Seattle because of an injury sustained during a practice prior to his sophomore season.

After sticking around Washington as a student assistant in 2021, Latu enrolled at UCLA in January 2022 with no certainty that a return to the gridiron was in his future other than limited participation to attempt a comeback in spring camp.

Latu progressed quickly throughout camp and summer workouts before becoming a full participant in the fall prior to what turned into a highly-productive two-year stint with the Bruins.

“It’s been surreal,” Latu said of the journey after his UCLA pro day in late March. “One thing that stuck with me was ‘live like your last.’”

Latu led the team with 12 1/2 tackles for a loss and 10 1/2 sacks despite never officially starting any of the 13 games he appeared in. That was only a taste of what was to come, though.

In 2023, Latu’s consensus All-American campaign led to becoming UCLA’s first-ever Lombardi Award winner to go with the Ted Hendricks Award and Pac-12 defensive player of the year honors. The 6-foot-5, 265-pounder also was a finalist for the Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy.

Latu said having two years of film at UCLA to show NFL teams who may have had worries about his prior medical history was instrumental in his pre-draft projections.

“I mean, it just shows that I can do this on a consistent basis,” Latu said. “I have no complications with anything, that I’m good to go.

“What you’re gonna get from me is someone that’s always affecting the quarterback anyway possible.”

Latu’s 21 1/2 sacks for a loss led the nation and his 13 total sacks were tied for third thanks to a cerebral plan attacking offensive linemen with a plethora of chops and rip-through moves.

“It’s hard to predict what I’m doing,” Latu said. “It’s not that I’m working a lot of moves, but I have them in my bag. I look at pass rush as being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. It’s just like a reactionary thing.”