As a running back, former LSU standout Clyde Edwards-Helaire has always taken his protection duties seriously. Protecting the ball. Protecting the quarterback from oncoming blitzers. Protecting late-game leads.
Now a longtime member of the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, Edwards-Helaire found himself in protection mode again Wednesday during a violent, dangerous situation, and he helped keep a local teenager safe.
Zach Cotten had gone with his father Chris to see the Chiefs’ victory parade, but the pair got separated amid the chaos that stemmed from the deadly and tragic shooting that occurred during the festivities.
“Somebody yelled, ‘Shooter!’ and everybody started running,” Zach told KCTV. “I’m panicking because I don’t know where to go. I ran into the player’s room to find the nearest exit. I’m back there panicking, don’t know what to do because I was by myself.”
That’s when Chris Cotten called his son’s cell phone.
“He said, ‘I don’t know where I am,’ but he handed me the phone and it was Clyde. I didn’t know it was Clyde,” Chris told KCTV. “I didn’t know who it was. He said, ‘I have your son. Your son is safe. He’s OK.’”
Edwards-Helaire found a safe place to bring Zach, then stayed with him until his father could find them.
“Zach said he was trying to duck behind something, hide behind something, and he didn’t know where to go. He said Clyde went out of his way to get him and help him and help him get out,” Chris said.
Zach said after being reunited with his father and getting to safety, he texted the Chiefs star, who quickly responded.
“I said, ‘Thank you for helping me,’” Zach said. “He said, ‘All love, bro bro. Tell Dad thanks for staying on the phone and thank you for trusting me. Zach, you are a warrior. Always be that way.’”
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