NFL Rumors: New England Patriots Darius Fleming Shames Critics; LB Dubbed As 'Good Samaritan'

Jan 25, 2016 12:27 PM EST

New England Patriots star Darius Fleming received an unexpected response to his good deed earlier this month. While the majority of individuals who risk their lives to rescue others are typically called "heroes," the linebacker got none of the admiration. Following his efforts to rescue a woman trapped inside her car during a road accident, Fleming received flak for allegedly making up the story. However, it looks like the New England Patriots star had the last laugh.

The issue arose when Fleming showed up in the New England Patriots headquarters in need of 22 stitches for his injured leg. Upon probing of the cause of his wound, the linebacker disclosed that an accident required him to break a car window. According to Fleming, he decided that the best course of action to save a woman trapped inside her vehicle was to smash the window. While it proved to be a dangerous undertaking, the New England Patriots star did not hesitate to risk his physical well-being.

"I was driving home from here, just left treatment. [I was] on Route 1 and the lady - there was a semi [truck] four cars ahead of me," recalled Fleming of the incident via Yahoo Sports. He added, "Three cars were in-between and the semi made a real sudden stop, made a right turn, and it kind of threw the three cars behind it off so the lady in front of me couldn't stop. She rammed the car in front of her. That car continued to ram the car in front of it and I was about to go around it but I noticed that the lady in front of me - she kind of was jumping around the car, passenger seat, back seat."

The New England Patriots star further shared that the woman's car had started to smoke. Fleming then noticed that the smoke was building up inside the vehicle. This pushed the linebacker to get out of his car and help the woman. Police reports showed that the impact of the crash caused the victim's car to lose power.

Fleming shared, "I tried to open the doors. It wouldn't work so then I was just like 'I've got to get her out of here because I don't know if this lady can breathe or what.' I started banging on the window. It wouldn't break so then I just started kicking the window."

The New England Patriots star went on to say, "Eventually it broke. I pulled her out and made sure she was OK. At this time a lady was coming out of the adjacent building and was assisting her, so I noticed my leg was bleeding pretty bad so I was like 'I probably should get out of here.' [I] came back here, got it bandaged up a little bit and then went to the hospital and they did the rest of the work."

Instead of appreciating his good deed, however, some reports raised the question of the account's authenticity. While Tom Brady and the rest of the team celebrated Fleming's heroic stunt, other members of the public doubted the incident. The questions arose from the initial lack of police report regarding the matter. This was later on cleared when the investigators eventually confirmed the incident.

"It's disappointing," said fellow linebacker Donta Hightower via ESPN of the reactions of people on Fleming's heroic efforts. He wasn't even trying to put it out there but people came to him to ask him about it. He wasn't trying to get any fame or recognition. He was just being a Good Samaritan and doing his due diligence to what he thought was right. For what he did to be questioned, for people to be cynical about it is disappointing but it is what it is. It's the nature of doing what we do and the notoriety that we have."

For Fleming though, the confirmation did little good for him. He shared that he was upset over the reactions of people about his efforts. The New England Patriots also slammed those who claimed that he only made up the story for fame.

"I did something because I thought it was the right thing to do, not because I wanted any credit or anything. That's not me, and that's not what I was looking for. It just kind of happened like that, and it was kind of upsetting to see some of the things that people were saying about it and that I was lying," said Fleming.


It's an understatement to say we are proud of New England Patriot Darius Fleming, St. Rita Class of 2008. Darius stepped...

Posted by St. Rita High School on Tuesday, January 19, 2016