Not all heroes wear capes. Some have carry-on bags.
Like many NFL players across the country, Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman ended his weekend with a plane ride that would take him to training camp. When the flight at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was delayed, Freeman's base hunger instincts got the best of him and he decided to hit up the Salt Lick Taco Bar for a brisket sandwich.
"I'm not really supposed to be eating that," Freeman thought to himself, according to the Chicago Tribune. "But whatever. It's probably my last bad meal for a while. So what the heck?"
Nice, Jerrell. Treat yourself. Anyway, Freeman started to go to town on his brisket when he noticed a man at a nearby table who appeared to be under duress.
"Like he had forgotten something and was about to go running for it. But then he went around the table and started to look a little frantic. I'm thinking, 'Man, this is odd. Maybe one of his kids walked off and he can't find his kid or something?'"
In reality, the man was choking on the same meal Freeman had ordered. An older woman attempted the Heimlich maneuver but was unsuccessful. That's when Freeman stepped in.
"I grabbed him and tried to squeeze the life out of him," Freeman said. "You've got to push in and up. So I did that and he started throwing up what he was choking on. I asked him if he was all right and he shook his head like 'No!'"
So Freeman kept at it.
"I grabbed him again and hit him again with it," Freeman added. "And when I put him down the second time, his eyes got big. He was like, 'Oh, my god! I think you just saved my life, man!' It was crazy."
That is crazy. Freeman admits he has only passing knowledge on the mechanics of the Heimlich thanks to his mother, who is a nurse. I guess the "Just Go To Town On The Person's Solar Plexus" method works fine when you're six feet tall and 236 pounds of muscle.
The best part of this story -- well, besides the fact that a dude didn't die -- is that the man went back to eating his brisket after the horrifying incident.
"Crazy," Freeman said. "Hey, I guess that was some good brisket. He wasn't about to let that go to waste. You can't get between a man and his brisket. I get it."
Pay attention, Salt Lick Taco Bar. You have the face of your next and most successful ad campaign right in front of you.
