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Police call ex-NFL player Braylon Edwards a hero for saving man during assault

Published Mar. 4, 2024 3:51 p.m. ET

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Former NFL player Braylon Edwards stepped in and saved the life of an 80-year-old man who was being attacked in the locker room at a suburban Detroit YMCA, police said Monday.

"If it wasn't for that intervention, we could very easily be talking about someone's death," said Jeff King, the police chief in Farmington Hills.

Authorities, meanwhile, filed an attempted murder charge against a 20-year-old man for the incident Friday at the recreation center.

Edwards, 41, said he was "just minding my business" when he heard a dispute about loud music.

"The noise escalates, and then you can hear some pushing and shoving, so you know what fighting sounds like," Edwards told WDIV-TV. "But once I hear a thud, that's when I got up and turned around."

Edwards stopped the assault of an elderly man, who had a severe head injury. The 20-year-old suspect fled on foot before he was captured by police.

"He absolutely saved that man's life," King told The Associated Press. "I've been a police officer going on 29 years. When these assaults are ongoing, really bad things can happen."

The chief said the victim was in critical but stable condition at a hospital Monday.

Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald didn't mention Edwards by name but said: "I commend the witness who intervened, and we will seek justice for this victim."

McDonald called it a "vicious, senseless attack."

The alleged attacker appeared in court Saturday and remains in custody on $250,000 bond.

"At the end of the day that's what you do," Edwards said of his decision to get involved.

Edwards, a star receiver at Michigan, was a first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2005. He played eight seasons in the NFL, mostly with Cleveland and the New York Jets.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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