New England Patriots linebacker Darius Fleming had a natural reaction after kicking out the window of a smoking car to help a woman escape.
He worried that coach Bill Belichick was going to be angry with him for the cut on his leg.
Fleming says the notoriously dour Patriots coach was OK with it. The accident occurred last Thursday in front of Fleming when he was driving home on his way home from practice.
"When I kicked the window, the lady was climbing out of the window before my leg was out of the window," Fleming said. "She said ‘thank you.’ I said ‘you’re welcome.’"
Fleming received 22 stitches in his right calf and played in Saturday’s victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Walpole Police say the 3-car rear end crash happened at 4:18 p.m. on Jan. 14 on Fox Hill Road. Police say their report shows no indication of a fire or a Patriots player. Police later said the car was engulfed in smoke due to the airbag deploying.
However, police later confirmed Fleming’s story. In a statement, police said:
The officers on scene did indicate one of the vehicles did have a broken window. The operator of that vehicle did make statements to one officer that a male party “kicked in my window, I think he was a patriot”
The woman whom Fleming pulled from the car has been charged with driving with a suspended registration and failing to stop.
The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said her doors would not open.
"I am ever so grateful he was able to be there," she said.
It’s becoming a bit of a playoff tradition for the Patriots.
Last year, defensive lineman Vince Wilfork pulled a woman from a car that had flipped on its side after New England won the AFC championship game.
Fleming was honored in a Facebook post by his alma mater, St. Rita High School in Chicago.
The full post is here:
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