Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound or run faster than a speeding bullet or use his X-ray vision to check out Lois Lane’s thong. Still, Gonzalez made like Clark Kent’s alter ego and saved a man’s life recently.
Per the Associated Press, Gonzalez applied the Heimlich maneuver on July 3 to a man who was choking on a piece of meat at a restaurant.
“[The man’s wife] was screaming, ‘He can’t breathe, he can’t breathe,’” Gonzalez told the AP. “The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything. Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed.”
The amazing part is that, but for Gonzalez’s willingness to intervene, the man, Ken Hunter, might have died. Despite the presence of plenty of other people, at least some of whom have at some point heard about the fairly simple procedure for coming to the aid of a person who is unexpectedly choking on foodstuffs.
And so Hunter, a lifelong Chargers fan, is now primarily a Tony Gonzalez fan.
Though we’ll continue to maintain our official rooting position of disliking all teams equally, we credit Gonzalez for having the willingness to act at a time when everyone else in the room was paralyzed by apathy and/or fear.
_2.gif)





July 7th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I guess we can apply the ‘hero’ tag to athlete once in a while
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
So what your saying is Tony did it to shut up his wife? I’m reading this right?
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Watch - this guy will turn around and sue the big brute who bruised his solar plexus
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.15 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Hey Florio, you might want to add how Tony G saved a San Francisco Sports Photagraphers life also. He collided with him on the sidelines during a game. The Photag went to get a CatScan, and the doctors discovered a brain tumor. Since they caught the cancer in its early stages, he was able to make a full recovery. Unreal!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Can the people that did nothing be prosecuted under a good Samaritan law like the Seinfeld gang?
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.55 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
As counter intuitive as it seems, the more people that are around, the less likely that anyone intervenes - diffusion of resposibility.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
My hat’s off to Gonzalez. That’s a great story during an otherwise extremely dull/ unsatisfying week of stories in the NFL.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.75 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
You make it sound like everyone was glued to their seats or something. Its called “diffusion of responsibility” and it happens all the time.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Next thing you know his agent Drew Rosenhaus will save another boy from drowning at Disney World.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
and Why didnt Boz get a piece dedicated to himself? he has way better hair than gonzo!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
kudos to tony. great to read an athlete do something positive!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Two Texans were having the blue platespecial at their favorite truck stop when they heard this awful choking sound. They turned around to see a lady, sitting a few bar stools down from them, turning blue from the armadillo burge she ate too fast.
The first Texan said to the other, “Think we oughtta help?”
“yep, reckonso”, says the second.
The first Texan gets up, walk over to the lady and ask,
“Can you breathe?”
She shakes her head, “no”.
” Can you spe’ hethen ask.
She shakes her heah,”no”, again.
With that, he helps her to her feet, lifts up her skirt, and stats to lick her on the butt.
She is so shocked, she coughs up the obstruction and begins to breathe again, with great relief.
The first Texan turns back to his friend and say with a smile,
“Funny how that Hind Lick Maneuver works every time !”.
ps
This man is lucky that Tony is not from Texas??????
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.55 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
July 7th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I’m with FlyingElvis, Boz saves a woman in a flipped car and he gets a one liner. Gonzalez gives a basic maneuver and is apparently a superhero. He doesn’t even have a mullet or a mohawk. Florio always hating on a seahawk.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 12:04 am
good job tony, it’s the little things like this that makes one want to go out and learn stuff like that….one will never know when they can save a life
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 2:38 am
The TRUE story is that when Gonzo saw the guy with a blue face, he thought he was a stinking Broncos fan and simply ran across the restaurant to tackle him.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Ya know being that the guy is willing to change team alligences so quick shows that he wasn’t that big of a chargers fan in the first place. Especialy since he went from being a chargers fan to being a cheifs fan, a divisional rival of the Chargers. Ya its great that Gonzo saved the guys life and all, I’m not discrediting him on that one bit, but if I was in a restuarant chokeing and Donavan McHurtalot saved my life by giving me the heimlick I wouldn’t become a eagles fan. Sure I probably wouldn’t give him such a hard time after that but I wouldn’t want him to beat the cowboys after that. Anyone agree?
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Gonzo has always been a class act besides being the best TE in the game today.
To expand on what WareWolf said, Gonzo not only attended to the photographer after that collision, he went to the hospital to see if he was going to be ok and developed a freindship with him that lasts to this day.
And for the record, I’m a die hard Raiders fan.
Kudos to Gonzo.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Little melodramatic. He simply acted FIRST. i wonder how much time elapsed before he figured out what was going on and got up to help (from his paralyzation). I’m not trying to take away from what he did, it’s great to do something like that, but please, spare the melodrama of ” … everyone else in the room was paralyzed by apathy and/or fear.”
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 7:46 am
You would think that restaurants take the responsibility to train their hostesses, waitresses, waiters, busboys and cooks because their patrons are predisposed to choking on their products.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Flyingelvis and urthona are absolutely correct. Not only was the Boz an underrated player, academy award nominated actor (okay, maybe he wasn’t, but…), but also saves lives better than Spiderman… Bring back the mohawk, Boz!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 8:30 am
You’d also think that Chargers fans are used to choking by now…
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 8:36 am
diffusion of responsibility sucks
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 8:42 am
No one did anything?
One word: Lawsuit.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Too bad Dallas couldn’t pick up Gonzales. His heroics might be able to save Romo in the playoffs.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 8th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Cowboysmitty9,
Unforunately Florio took a little liberty in paraphrasing the guys comments and you didn’t read. He will root for Gonzales (not the Chiefs) but remains a Chargers fan.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)