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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Blaine Gabbert was out enjoying some jek-ski time on the Gulf Coast when he saw a potentially dangerous situation and had to act quickly.
Gabbert saw a helicopter carrying four people crash as it was approaching a small airport on Davis Island. He and his brothers, Tyler and Brett, quickly got to the area and helped first responders with the rescue.
All three Gabbert brothers played college football. Blaine and Tyler Gabbert played at Missouri.
Another important detail on this Blaine Gabbert rescue story — the two people on the other jet ski who helped save four people after their helicopter went down are his brothers, Tyler and Brett. Tyler played QB at Missouri and UCF 2010-13, Brett at Miami of Ohio since 2019.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) December 30, 2022
The crash victims were taking a helicopter tour over Tampa Bay as part of a Christmas gift.
Yahoo Sports has the full story.
28-year-old Hunter Hupp said his 62-year-old father, 59-year-old mother and the pilot, a 33-year-old man, were the first to make it out of the quickly sinking helicopter. Meanwhile, he remained stuck under seatbelts and cords, but made it to the surface after what he recalled to be about a minute of struggle.
Gabbert and the passengers reportedly only exchanged first names, but Hupp gave a description and recalled that his mom was “clinging to” the backup quarterback.
“My mom said she was hoping to meet Tom Brady while we were down here,” he said. “I think she came pretty darn close.”
And to make this story even more epic, Gabbert went from rescuing to family to Bucs practice as they prepare for a critical NFC South game against the Carolina Panthers.
Gabbert spoke about the incident after practice and completely deflected credit from himself.
“It was a pretty crappy situation that turned good in the end. It was just right place, right time I guess.”
After a helicopter crashed into the bay yesterday, @BlaineGabbert and his brothers, who were on jet skis, were instrumental in the rescue. ? pic.twitter.com/sg2pD1MM4Q
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 30, 2022
Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.
