Army safety Larry Pickett Jr. and his father are being heralded for saving a man after a car accident right before the vehicle burst into flames near the U.S. Military Academy on Sunday.
Video taken by the player’s sister Lauren showed the father and son pulling the injured man out of the driver’s seat and carrying him across the street to safety in New York’s Orange County.
“Just after Midnight, I watched in awe as my son, Larry Pickett Jr., ran toward a burning vehicle, ignoring the downed power lines crackling around it,” Pickett Sr. wrote in a Facebook post. “With immense courage, he pulled a man to safety, saving him from a fiery fate.”
“I was just thinking I’m grateful that we got him out, honestly,” Pickett Jr. said on a video credited to his father. “Because I really don’t think that anybody else… because when we pulled up, there was already somebody standing there. But they saw the electric wire and I don’t think they wanted to go get him.”
The U.S. Military Academy account on X, as well as Army head coach Jeff Monken and athletic director Tom Theodorakis, confirmed the younger Pickett’s involvement and praised him for jumping into action.
“Larry’s heroic actions embody everything we strive to instill in our cadet-athletes — courage, selflessness, and a willingness to put others before themselves,” Monken wrote. “In that critical moment, he didn’t think of himself, only of helping another person in need. We are incredibly proud of Larry for the way he represented his family, our Army Football brotherhood, and the values of West Point.”
A sophomore, Pickett played in his first game for Army on Friday against FCS Tarleton State and his family was in town to see his debut. He made one tackle in the 30-27 double-overtime loss.