FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Former college football and NFL receiver Braylon Edwards came to the rescue of an 80-year-old man who was allegedly being assaulted by a younger man.
Edwards, 41, who starred at Michigan from 2001 to 2004 and played eight seasons in the NFL, said the man was being attacked by a 25-year-old man at a YMCA in Farmington Hills, Michigan, WDIV-TV reported.
“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,” Edwards told the television station. “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, the No. 1 pick of the Cleveland Browns (and third overall) in the 2005 NFL draft, said he decided to intervene at the Farmington Family YMCA, NBC Sports reported.
“And then I see the guy for what I was thinking was reaching for a phone underneath the victim grabs the back of the victim’s head by the hair, and he was about to slam it down on the counter,” Edwards told WDIV. “I grabbed him, subdued him.”
Authorities told Edwards that his action likely saved the man’s life, according to USA Today. The alleged assailant fled the YMCA on foot but was later arrested. He remains in custody, WDIV reported.
Edwards played more than four seasons with the Browns, according to Pro-Football Reference.com. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 2007 after he had career highs in receiving yardage (1,289) and touchdowns (16). He also played for the New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers.
At Michigan, Edwards caught 39 touchdown passes and had more than 1,000 yards receiving in each of his last three seasons as a starter with the Wolverines, according to Sports-Reference.com. He is the school’s all-time leading receiver with 3,541 yards, USA Today reported.
As for his heroics at the YMCA, Edwards downplayed his role.
“At the end of the day, I was just, that’s what you do,” Edwards said, according to USA Today. “People go to work out, they have a good time, they live 80 years, and this isn’t how they expect for something maybe (to) take their life. ... My mom, my grandmother, my father, in that moment, when you come back home, these are the people you think about.”