Chicago Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman was hustling through the Austin, Texas, airport Sunday afternoon with a delayed flight and a hankering for some barbecue. So he angled toward the food court, placed his order at the Salt Lick Taco Bar and prepared to attack a chopped brisket sandwich.
"I'm not really supposed to be eating that," Freeman told the Chicago Tribune. "But whatever. It's probably my last bad meal for a while. So what the heck?"
But that's when Freeman's Sunday took a detour. He said he noticed a stranger at a nearby table in distress. The man, devouring some brisket himself, stood up quickly with a look of concern.
An older lady, recognizing the man was choking, tried to administer the Heimlich maneuver but wasn't forceful enough, Freeman said. So the 6-foot, 236-pound Bears linebacker jumped into action.
Heimlich attempt No. 1?
"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!' "
Heimlich attempt No. 2?
"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."
The choking man introduced himself as Marcus Ryan and inquired about Freeman's strength. Freeman told Ryan he was headed back to Chicago, en route to Bears training camp later in the week.
The men posed together for a photo, after which Freeman tweeted about his unusual airport experience.
"CRAZY!! Just saved my guy Marcus Ryan's life by using the Heimlich maneuver in the middle of the Austin airport! WOW Mom would be proud haha," Freeman tweeted.
"I've never done the Heimlich before," Freeman said. "I don't think I've had any training or anything. My mom's a nurse, and she had talked about it. So I just did what I heard you should do. I guess it worked."
Ryan, Freeman said, eventually went back at his brisket.
"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."
Recovered treasure
A scuba-diving treasure hunter who found an American Hockey League Hall of Fame ring in one of New York's Finger Lakes is returning it to its owner.
Gary Gavurnik of Auburn, N.Y., planned to return the prized ring to former AHL star Dick Gamble on Monday. Gavurnik found it with a metal detector in Canandaigua Lake over the Fourth of July weekend.
The 88-year-old Canadian-born Gamble starred for the AHL's Rochester Americans and retired early in the 1969-1970 season. He was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2007.
Instead of wearing the ring, he gave it to his son, Craig, who wore it every day for seven years before losing it in the lake. He never told his dad and ordered a replacement.
SPORTS QUIZ
For what team did Jerrell Freeman begin his NFL career?
ANSWER
Freeman played for the Indianapolis Colts from 2012-2015.
Sports on 07/25/2017