Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway pitched in to help two stranded boaters on a windy afternoon on Lake Minnetonka on Monday.
A KARE-TV cameraman, who was shooting a story on the dangerous water levels and high winds on the Minneapolis-area lake, saw Greenway help Crystal and Edward Alexis, who were taking their new boat out for its first voyage and got stuck close to the spillway on the lake after its steering failed.
Greenway jumped into the water, helped push the boat into a safe area of the lake and assisted a water patrolman in tying it up for towing. The 31-year-old linebacker then drove the couple back to their boat and car.
"The waves are so big and the wind is so strong today that it pushed him right into the rocks, so we had to get him off the rocks, his prop cleared out of the rope, and get him turned in the right direction," Greenway told KARE-TV.
"I just ran down, of course with my two little girls following behind me, trying to stay out of the way, and I figured I'd help them out. It looked like it was dangerous."
The couple was thankful for the aid of the 6-foot-2, 242-pound Greenway, even though Edward Alexis has rooted against him on the field.
"I'm a Chicago Bears fan," Edward Alexis told KARE-TV. "I'm just going to keep it real."
Said Greenway: "Good thing he told me that afterward."