By Moses Joshua 
One fake receipt, one panicked rookie table, and a priceless reminder that Detroit’s locker room is built on brotherhood as much as touchdowns.
When a Rookie Dinner Turns Into a Heart Attack
Every NFL rookie hears the horror stories about “rookie dinner.” The unwritten rule is simple: you’re buying, and the veterans are ordering. For Isaac TeSlaa, Dominic Lovett and Isaiah Williams, that rite of passage landed them at Sexy Steak in Detroit — with Amon-Ra St. Brown happily steering the menu.
Then the check arrived.
“We got our food, and Saint is ordering whatever he wants, asking the server what’s the most expensive thing you got,” TeSlaa recalled. “Then they bring the bill — and it says $41,000. Me, Dom, and Meeks are looking at each other like, ‘How are we going to cover this?’ We’re thinking we’re going to have to call our credit card companies.”
The veterans collected the cards. The rookies stared at each other in silence. Sweat was pouring.
And then the punchline.
“They bring the cards back, and the real total was like $4,000,” TeSlaa said. “St. Brown pulled the prank on us.”
Classic Saint.
More Than a Joke — A Moment of Belonging
The $41,000 fake bill wasn’t just funny. For TeSlaa, it marked something deeper — the moment when the dream finally felt real.
“I was sitting there thinking, I used to idolize everyone at this table,” he said. “Now it’s just my reality. I’m not star-struck anymore. I’m just part of it. And that’s been really cool.”
The Hudsonville native grew up watching the Lions, imagining life inside that locker room. Now he wasn’t peeking through the TV screen anymore. He was part of the jokes, the rituals, the shared stress of a veteran prank gone wrong.
From Nerves to Numbers
That sense of comfort didn’t arrive overnight. TeSlaa admitted the early days in Detroit were a blur of nerves.
“I was nervous coming into camp. I played a little uptight at first,” he said. “But as the season went on and I gained confidence, I was able to relax and play better.”
The growth showed on the stat sheet. TeSlaa wrapped up his rookie season with 239 receiving yards and six touchdowns, four of those coming in the Lions’ final six games. As the pressure faded, his play sharpened — and his role expanded.
The Prank That Marked the Start of Something Bigger
In the end, the steakhouse stunt was more than a locker-room laugh. It was a reminder that TeSlaa isn’t just surviving in Detroit — he’s settling in.
One fake $41,000 receipt later, the rookie wasn’t thinking about the money, the nerves, or even the embarrassment.
He was thinking about where he was sitting.
With his team. At his table. In the league he once only dreamed about.