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A college football player and his father made a lifesaving play over the weekend when their family drove by a fiery car wreck in upstate New York.
Larry Pickett Jr., a safety on the U.S. Military Academy’s football team, heroically helped rescue a man from a burning car alongside his father, as evidenced by video clips posted on social media. The video, shared by Larry Pickett Sr., highlights the duo’s quick action in extracting the man from the fiery white sedan. Larry Sr. praised his son’s bravery in an Instagram post, though both father and son played crucial roles in the rescue.
“Just past midnight, I watched in amazement as my son, Larry Pickett Jr., ran toward a flaming car, disregarding the fallen power lines crackling next to it,” Larry Sr. wrote on Sunday. “With incredible bravery, he managed to pull a man to safety, sparing him from what might have been a deadly inferno.”
On Sunday, the Fort Montgomery Fire Department shared photos of the site on Facebook, recounting their response to an incident where a vehicle “collided with a utility pole, leading to a full-scale blaze.”
As reported by The Associated Press, the family was returning to West Point after a family dinner in New York City on Saturday night. They were in town to attend the season’s first Army football game, which ended in a loss to Tarleton State.
Footage shared by the family captures the aftermath of the crash, showing a car slammed into a tree by the roadside. A thin wooden pole, likely the utility pole, seems to have crushed the car’s roof.
The video continues as the two men work to pull the trapped individual out of the driver’s seat. Each man takes a different part of the victim—one holding the legs, the other securing the arms—as they briskly transport him across the street to safety.
“Larry, come on, get him out,” a woman says in the video.
One of the two men then ran into the street trying to stop other cars from passing through the street, warning them of a downed power line.
The driver was conscious later in the video as the men asked him questions. He said he hadn’t had any alcohol or medication prior to the crash. He was also seemingly disoriented, in disbelief that the car that crashed was his vehicle.
“I was driving normally, all of a sudden boom, I’m here,” the driver said, asking the men what happened as an officer approached.
Later in the video, Larry Pickett Jr. says that there was someone on the side of the road when the family stopped but he thinks they didn’t go closer because of the power line. He added that he was just grateful they were able to get him out of the car.
“Cause that coulda gone totally different for him,” he said. “So, just thankful honestly. That could have been really bad for him and his family.”
Larry Pickett Sr. credited the military academy for his son’s act of bravery.
“This is more than a display of leadership; it’s a testament to the character West Point is building in him — a readiness to go into the line of fire, not just for his country, but for anyone who needs it,” he wrote.
The school shared a post to its social media commending its cadet for his quick thinking that night. The academy said it was proud of his “heroic actions.”
“Running towards danger to save lives is the embodiment of the Army Values and Warrior Ethos,” the post said.
Head Coach Jeff Monken wrote in a post on X that his actions embodied “courage, selflessness, and a willingness to put others before themselves.”
“In that critical moment, he didn’t think of himself, only of helping another person in need,” Monken wrote. “We are incredibly proud of Larry for the way he represented his family, our Army Football brotherhood, and the values of West Point.”
