New England Patriots star Vince Wilfork helped rescue a woman from her overturned Jeep early Monday morning, hours after helping his team beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship.
According to the Massachusetts State Police, the heroic saga began shortly after midnight when state troopers got a call about a vehicle that was rolled over on Route 1 in Foxboro, Massachusetts, and responded to the scene.
@wilfork75 lends hand to @MassStatePolice on his way home from @Patriots #AFCChampionship win. http://t.co/ZCYfDsAor5 pic.twitter.com/x2w1U8jGkx— Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) January 19, 2015
There they found the 6-foot, 2-inch, 325-pound Wilfork standing beside the turned-over vehicle and talking with the driver, who was stuck inside.
Massachusetts Trooper Kenneth Proulx then held the driver's door open, police said, allowing Vince to reach in and help "lift the operator out of the vehicle with one hand."
Photo: A subdued Vince Wilfork talks about helping a woman out of an overturned car on Rte. 1 after Sunday's game. pic.twitter.com/sUf51zWsfi— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 19, 2015
“In football and in the course of life, I learned just to try to stay poised in certain situations and I’m pretty sure she was kind of scared,” Wilfork, 33, told reporters on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. "The last thing I wanted to do was to have her panic. That’s the first thing I told her: ‘Don’t panic. I’ll get you out of here.’ We were fine. Got her out. The cops came. That was about it.”
The woman, 38-year-old Mary Ellen Brooks, was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of alcohol and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, police said.