TAMPA, Fla. — A former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach turned into a real-life hero this past weekend after he helped save a child from drowning at a pool in Las Vegas, multiple reports say.
Raheem Morris, who is now the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, was at the Encore Las Vegas with family when he saw a young boy drowning in the hotel pool, ESPN reports.
Morris' wife posted about the incident on Instagram and said the boy did not have a pulse when he was pulled from the pool and taken to a lifeguard, according to the NFL.
"I saw people calling 911, so my first question was, where is the AED?" Morris told ESPN on Wednesday. "When I got back, we had a doctor on site that was able to start the compressions. I was able to hand the AED to him, get it open for him, put the pads on the child, and he ended up being OK."
While the lifeguard at the pool started to perform CPR compressions, Morris reportedly rushed over to see how he could help.
The former Bucs head coach credited the Rams' recent CPR, AED and first aid training conducted by the team's vice president of sports medicine and performance for helping him know the proper protocols and importance of an AED, ESPN reports.
"An amazing story of quick thinking in the moment by Raheem Morris & grateful to Reggie Scott for training our staff on CPR & AED," Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff wrote in a tweet. "Very possibly seeing the life-saving CPR Damar Hamlin received inspired our organization to get trained & saved another life. CPR & AEDs save lives."
Morris' wife says the boy saved from drownings was discharged from the hospital 24 hours later, the NFL says.
"I'm just thankful I knew what to do," Morris said to ESPN. "You just never know when you're going to need that stuff."
According to the NFL, the 46-year-old NFL coach mentioned the recent tragic drowning of Tampa Bay linebacker Shaquil Barrett's 2-year-old daughter and Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's situation has brought more awareness and preparedness for coaches and players to act in unpredictable incidents.
Morris served as Tampa Bay's head coach from 2009 to 2012, recording only one winning season with a 10-6 record in 2010. He also spent time as a coach for Washington and Atlanta before joining Los Angeles in 2021 as a defensive coordinator.