Tennessee Titans rookie linebacker Jonathan Willard may not get to play under the bright lights this season, but to a family of four and their dog he is a hero.
Willard, fighting for a roster spot out of Titans training camp, was driving down Interstate 40 Tuesday when he came up on a car that was ablaze. Willard stopped his car and helped pull a woman, her three children and their dog from the fire and into safety.
Willard, a former Clemson Tiger, recounted the events on Tuesday.
"When she pulled over, the car was really on fire at that point," Willard told NFL.com. "The driver, she acted like she was in some kind of daze or something. She told me that she didn't stop because she didn't think it was her car that was on fire. Another guy stopped, and we managed to get the kids and the dog out and get them to safety, and then I finally got the woman out."
Willard went undrafted out of college but signed with the Titans after a solid senior season in which he led the Tigers with 95 tackles and amounted three sacks.
Willard tweeted out a photo of the blaze, which can be found here.
Willard acted on instinct, and said he was surprised that other people didn't stop to aid the woman and her family.
"I was just glad that we got the kids and all of them out of the car," Willard said according to NFL.com. . "I was thinking that I was just doing what everybody else would do, but there were cars just going past us and no one else was stopping, so I don't know if that is what would happen or not."
It remains to be seen whether or not Willard will crack the Titans opening day lineup out of training camp, but the mark he left on the family he helped on Tuesday will never fade.
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