Phillip Blanks was out early Friday morning for a workout with a friend when the football player in him took over.
The 28-year-old Phoenix resident had played high school football more than a decade ago. His big play was in 2009, as a freshman at Kalamazoo Central in Michigan, when he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game to lead his team to a win over archrival Loy Norrix.
But that was nothing compared to what happened around 9 a.m. Friday.
Blanks, a U.S. Marine, heard the frantic calls coming from the apartment building next door to his friend's residence at 19th and Dunlap avenues. Two children, a 3-year-old boy and his 8-year-old sister, were trapped in a burning third-floor apartment. Throw them down, and we'll catch them, people outside the apartment shouted.
The former wide receiver made a gridiron-worthy dive, catching the toddler who was "twirling like a helicopter" after he was dropped, news station WWMT in Michigan reported.