Free Republic

WR Phillip Blanks dives to catch a 3-year old boy dropped from a burning, 3rd floor Phoenix apartment. I just spoke to the former Marine who says he was “put on this earth to protect people.” KALAMAZOO — Catching a child who was dropped from a burning building was just Phillip Blanks doing his job. The retired U.S. Marine and former football player at Kalamazoo Central High School doesn’t want special recognition for helping save a 3-year-old boy from an apartment fire in Phoenix, Arizona. Blanks, a body guard today, said protecting others is just part of his job. Blanks...

Phillip Blanks, 28, ran to the home in Phoenix on July 3 barefoot to try and help He was able to save Jameson Long from the flames on the third floor balcony 'There wasn't much thinking. I just reacted. I just did it', he said Wednesday Blanks, who now works in the security industry, is a former wide receiver and said the boy was 'twirling in the air like a propeller' as he fell 'I know how to catch. I've learned how to catch a football', he added The boy's mother Rachel, 30, died in the blaze; Blanks said: 'She's...