NFL player performs bystander intervention
Bystanders come in all shapes and sizes and can be helpful in countless situations. You don’t have to interrupt a violent altercation to be an active bystander. All it takes is you being will to get active and be helpful instead of ignoring a problem and remaining silent. I’m always looking for straightforward examples of bystander interventions to pass along. Here is such an example from Cleveland Brown player Shaun Rogers. The following was obtained from a Yahoo Sports article from RavenInsider which can be found here.
Cleveland Browns nose guard Shaun “Big Baby” Rogers provided a big assist to police, helping them catch a drunk driver.
Rogers, who recently received probation to resolve a case where he was caught with a loaded gun at the Cleveland airport, called 911 on Thursday after noticing an “erratic driver,” according to WJW-TV.
“The occupants appear to be either very sleepy or drunk,” Rogers told the dispatcher. “He’s run off the road several times swerving across, they’re driving on a flat tire right now.”
Rogers remained on the phone, followed the car and pulled behind the driver to warn other drivers.
“Mr. Rogers positioned himself behind that vehicle and turned his emergency flashers on to notify other drivers that there was an emergency on the road, and I don’t know what would’ve happened had he not done that,” Middleburg Heights police chief John Maddox said.
As a result of Rogers’ intervention, police arrested 20-year-old John Nykiel and charged him with driving under the influence and operating an unsafe vehicle.
“I thought his actions were above and beyond and I wanted to express to him as chief of police how much we appreciate what he did that night he helped keep Middleburg Heights safe,” Maddox said.
He did go above and beyond. Instead of making excuses about why he shouldn’t get involved and completely ignoring the situation, Shaun took it to the next level by intervening in a way that may have saved lives. If we’re going to create a safer community, we need to take care of ourselves, but also consider how we can prevent harm from happening to others.
