Former NFL star Braylon Edwards rescued an 80-year-old man from a potentially fatal locker-room attack in Michigan on Friday.
Edwards, the ex-Michigan college wideout who went on to play for the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and more, was at a YMCA in the Farmington Hills area when he heard some commotion inside the locker room. ‘I walk into the locker room after work, and basically, I hear about four rows behind me arguing about music and how it was being played too loud,’ he told Local 4 WDIV Detroit. ‘So I’m not paying attention, and I was just minding my business.
The noise escalates, and then you can hear some pushing and shoving, so you know what fighting sounds like, but once I hear a thud, that’s when I got up and turned around.’ Edwards found a 25-year-old man assaulting the elderly man when he quickly intervened. The Wolverines legend said that the attacker grabbed the victim’s head by his hair and was about to slam it down on the counter when he stepped in.
After police later arrived at the scene, he was told that his heroic actions likely saved the elderly man’s life. ‘I didn’t know it was that serious,’ Edwards added. ‘I mean the victim probably had a serious concussion by nature, but it wasn’t until I talked to the detective Jacobs down in Farmington who told me that if I didn’t step in [he could have died].
‘But at the end of the day that’s what you do.’ Police say the 25-year-old attacker was arrested after attempting to flee the scene and remains in custody. Edwards, who became the first receiver in Big Ten Conference history to record three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in his time with the Wolverines, spent four years as a Cleveland player before moving to New York to play for the Jets. After two seasons at MetLife Stadium he went to enjoy brief stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks before ending his career on another season with the Jets.
