Back in March just hours before his fight against Mauricio Rua in the UFC 128 main event, Jon “Bones” Jones stopped a purse-snatching robber in the streets of New Jersey by locking on a figure-four leg lock and arm bar until the police came to prosecute the criminal. Following in his footsteps of professional athletes who are making the world a safer place, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Tandon Doss tried his hand as peacemaker by breaking up a fight outside of the popular Five Guys burger chain in downtown Baltimore, MD.
According to his Twitter account, Doss was trying to visit the National Aquarium in Baltimore earlier in the afternoon. While making his way to the game, he noticed a fracas going on at the Five Guys restaurant on Pratt Street. To his 4,349 followers, Doss sent this message to his fans: “Jus had to break up a fight at five guys. Baltimore is too ratchet!!!”
Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi stated that two men, one of which was a recently fired Five Guys employee, tried to cut 34-year-old restaurant manager Carl Fisher with a knife. After intervening by Doss, the two men ran away from the scene.
During the Thursday night ESPN telecast of the preseason game between the Ravens and Washington Redskins, play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico made mention of Doss’s extracurricular activity of heroics as he made his way to the stadium. Doss, who played his college ball at Indiana University, also tweeted after the game when asked about why he chose to get involved in the fight: “idc wat day it is I’m not gunna sit there and let someone get jumped idk where ur from but we don’t do that in Indy. Ur #weaksauce.” Doss went on to catch two passes for 28 yards in the 34-31 Ravens victory over the Redskins.
While he was only taking part in a preseason game after breaking up the fight, it is quite a commendable act for a player, particularly one as young as the 21-year-old Doss, to potentially jeopardize his health and safety by breaking up the fight. Sure, he was not trying to make his way to a main event, highly anticipated fight like Jones was, but Doss’s status as a rookie means he still has plenty to prove before becoming relevant in the NFL.
So far this preseason, Doss has had solid showings in three games. Playing mostly in the second half of games when the second and third-string teams are on the field, he has collected six passes for 65 yards. Behind the likes of Anquan Boldin, Lee Evans, Torrey Smith, and David Reed, Doss is unlikely to play much of a factor this season.
Source:
Ravens player says he broke up fight at harbor, The Baltimore Sun
Hours before the biggest fight of his life, Jones subdues a robber, Yahoo! Sports
Tandon Doss, Twitter
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Austin Chang is a lifelong football fan, San Francisco Bay Area native, and contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.