Chiefs tight end Leonard Pope saves six-year-old from drowning

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On an NFL news day featuring the latest Kenny Britt mishap and not else, it’s great to pass along a story of heroism.

The Americus Times-Recorder in Georgia reports that Pope saved a six-year-old child from drowning over the weekend. Anne Moore, a family friend of Pope, says Pope heard her cry for help at a pool party.

“All of a sudden, I saw Bryson going down in the water and I started screaming. Leonard was inside, and he came out of nowhere and dove into the water without any hesitation, cell phone in his pocket and all,” Moore said. “He saved my son’s life, and I am so thankful that he was there for me and my child.”

Moore has known Pope since he was a kid.  As she points out, there are indeed some positives to the lockout.

“My prayers were answered by God when Leonard jumped in and saved my son,” said Moore. “The fact that he is normally at camp and could have been in Kansas City just proved to me that he was placed here to save my son from drowning, and I thank God that he was here.”

As Arrowhead Pride points out, Pope was not interviewed for the story and was not trying to get attention for it.

There’s not much else we can add other than: Nice work, Leonard.

80 responses to “Chiefs tight end Leonard Pope saves six-year-old from drowning

  1. I was hoping he came out of the pool with the kid and said “You owe me a new phone”.

  2. “As Arrowhead Nation points out, Pope was not interviewed for the story and was not trying to get attention for it.”

    That’s awesome. It’s always better to see somebody do good for the sake of doing good instead of enhancing their own reputation.

  3. Nice job Leonard. Reminds me of when Tony Gonzalez saved some guy from choking in a San Diego restaurant years back. Of course can never forget the similar heroic act of Joe Delaney that cost him his life in the process.

  4. Good job….I like the fact that you pointed out he has not looked for praise. From the sounds of it, he did what any normal, decent person would do. Good story.

  5. Leonard, no matter what goes on in your life, from here on out you will always be a hero for this family, and others that remember this.
    Good job, man

  6. Leonard the Only, Pope of Americus Village, shows he actually can go deep and come up with a catch when the pressure is on.

  7. As a football fan, it is really nice to hear about a player doing something good and not screaming for attention. I would much rather hear these types of news stories rather than players being obnoxious, making it rain, or getting arrested.

    Way to go Mr. Pope, you are what all NFL players should be!

  8. “My prayers were answered by God when Leonard jumped in and saved my son,” said Moore. “The fact that he is normally at camp and could have been in Kansas City just proved to me that he was placed here to save my son from drowning, and I thank God that he was here.”

    Awesome to see they gave the honor to God!!!!

  9. he should of stopped before he jumped in, called ESPN and said he plans to take his life saving skills into the pool…..oh wait……HE’S NOT A LaDouche!!

    NICE WORK LEONARD!! really good football – GREAT HUMAN!!

  10. That reminds me of the time that Frank Sinatra saved my life.

    I was in Las Vegas and walking in the alley behind the Sands when out of nowhere two HUGE goons grab me and just start beating the crap out of me.

    I’m trying to cover my head with my arms and protect myself but these two are just really laying into me when all of a sudden Frank Sinatra walks up and says “Alright boys, that’s enough.” — Shecky Green

  11. She honestly believes “god” caused the lockout so he could save her son? Why didn’t he just not cause the boy to drown in the first place? Sounds like her god is just playing games.

  12. Always good to hear to positive side of the lockout (as opposed to what De Smith ate for lunch and what Kenny Britt got arrested for this week).

    Somewhat unrelated, but is anybody else completely miffed that these people would have a pool party where nobody except the kids and Leonard Pope could swim?

  13. Nicely done sir.

    Although I have to wonder…..this was at a pool party? I’m assuming other people there?

    So were there no other able bodied people around that could jump in a backyard pool and help this kid out? If there were…..shame on you…damn.

  14. The article says Leonard Pope was the only person at the pool party that knew how to swim.

    That just seems crazy to have a pool party and only one person knows how to swim.

  15. A true hero. How many people would fold in that moment and look around for someone else to jump in? Sounds weird, but that’s what often happens. Pope didn’t hesitate and deserves all the praise he gets for this.

  16. Not to throw cold water on a good heartfelt story, but the following is a quote from the news article:

    “Moore said that Pope was the only person at the party who knew how to swim, so if he wouldn’t have been there she knows there is a good chance that her son could have drowned.”

    Now how exactly was there nobody who knew how to swim at a pool party?

  17. A family friend at a pool party? So basically every one was partying and not paying attention to any of their children- or the child fell in and no one jumped into the pool to get him including his own mom…….

    Good job Leonard, but I would have been more impressed if it happened in a lake or some where that accidents like this could happen. Not at a pool party were apparently parents were to busy partying instead of supervising.

  18. Well I just read the actual article which is more hilarious, a bunch of kids were in a pool at a party were Leonard was the only adult who knew how to swim…..Wow this reeks of publicity stunt.

  19. There are so many deserving NFL players that are not gloryhounds and therefore don’t get a lot of ink. Thanks for posting this.

  20. Good stuff, Leonard.

    Also, at 6’8″, 264 lbs, there literally is no ‘deep end’ for Pope.

    And…he is encouraged to run around pools.

  21. As much as football players get made into “heros” it is nice to see one of them actually live up to that title. It is players like this that give me hope for the NFL. Good job young man.

  22. I’m happy to see that it worked out better for Leonard Pope than it did for Joe Delaney. Joe is still sorely missed by many.

  23. i think we all needed this story. with all the idiots out there getting arrested and causing trouble, along with the lockout in full force, i was very happy to read this story. good work leonard, i hope in the future we see more stories like this and fewer about terrible rap albums and idiotic arrests.

  24. Considering the slow news day, come on man!

    “On an NFL news day featuring the latest Kenny Britt mishap and not else..”

    I think you mean “much else”. Or maybe you meant “nothing else”? Who knows…..

  25. The women said she saw her boy in the water. So if Leonard Pope wasn’t there, Anne Moore would have just stood there and let her boy drown in the pool while she watched? I think a women is capable of jumping into a pool and bringing a kid to the surface.

    Exactly Anne, God made the lockout so when he decided to have your baby boy almost die in a pool, Leonard Pope would be there…People are retarded.

  26. “Moore said that Pope was the only person at the party who knew how to swim”

    Definitely great to see a positive story on PFT once once in a while and I am happy for Pope and the family of the child but can someone please explain to me who throws a pool party for a bunch of people who don’t know how to swim? Unreal…

  27. Hats off to Mr. Pope.

    Truly a selfless act.

    I remember reading about Drew Rosenhaus saving a child from drowning a few years ago.

  28. How can people not swim? You move your arms, it’s the most simple concept imaginable. You can throw a cat in the water and it can figure it out in a couple seconds…..

  29. Swimming lessons should be a requirement before starting 1st grade. No matter where a person grows up in this country they should have a basic understanding of the normal swim strokes and how to swim a few feet. If it wasn’t for the ignorant parent(s) in this situation, this would have never have been an issue.

  30. If you have a pool, wouldn’t you want to learn to swim in case someone(like one of your kids) who doesn’t know how to swim falls in?

    Hats off to Mr. Pope.

  31. Post stories like this as often as you see them. Stories like these make athletes respected for a much better reason than whatever they do in a game.

    Gogo Pope!

  32. hadn’t heard the joe delaney story thanks for posting the link.
    it does remind me of tom mees. he was an espn hockey analyst. his daughter was drowning and he jumped in and saved her enough though he didn’t know ow to swim.

    RIP and god bless to all 3 men

  33. It’s cool to see a story about a NFL player in the off season that doesn’t include a police blotter report. It’s even cooler to see so many people respond. Deep down there’s good in all of us. (hear that owners and players? hahaha!)

  34. The Joe Delaney incident came back to me after reading about Pope’s heroics. God that was awful and inspiring at the same time…the whole “No greater love than one give one’s life for another.”
    Anyway, big props to Pope.

  35. Great job Leonard. But I have a concern here. You have a pool in your back yard, yet your six year old doesn’t know how to swim? This is one of my biggest paranoia with my own kids. They’ve all been taught to swim almost as soon as they could walk. Just seems like the responsible thing to do if you have young kids that are around water on a regular basis.

  36. Good for Leonard. While it’s surprising that no one else knew how to swim, and backyard pools aren’t usually that deep, the more I think about it it’s really not that shocking. Thinking back the only reason I know how to swim was through my PE classes in junior high, but with all the cuts to education I am sure field trips to the local pool got cut long ago. Besides, I can imagine most kids these days would rather play other sports or stay inside and play video games. I would hope stories like this would be a wake up call for parents and ultimately politicians who have made cuts to education (and PE is one of the first things seen as not essential) but unfortunately I doubt it.

  37. i remember a story about tony gonzalez inadvertently saving some reporter’s life, by hitting him on the sidelines…..not the same type of story, but i guess kc TEs are blessed

  38. The Baseball Gods says: Jun 13, 2011 5:25 PM

    Not to throw cold water on a good heartfelt story, but the following is a quote from the news article:

    “Moore said that Pope was the only person at the party who knew how to swim, so if he wouldn’t have been there she knows there is a good chance that her son could have drowned.”

    Now how exactly was there nobody who knew how to swim at a pool party?

    —————————————————-
    Great story, and great job by Pope, no doubt.
    But this was a local story for me, and it was reported by the local news that the pool was only 3 ft. at its deepest part. Swimming was an issue?

    Am I missing something?

  39. The most astonishing thing about this is that they were attending the only swim party since Ancient Rome that didn’t have three dozen noodles laying around the pool.

  40. “Leonard was inside, and he came out of nowhere and dove into the water without any hesitation, cell phone in his pocket and all”

    This part of the story made me laugh. It was like most people would stand there thinking “hmmm, there’s a drowning child there, but my phone here is pretty expensive, maybe I should wait for someone else to help. Oh wait, maybe if I popped inside to put my phone on the kitchen counter first… no wait, the child looks pretty desperate… oh man, it’s so hard!!!”

    But yeah, nice story, well done Mr Pope 🙂

  41. What parent allows a child who can’t swim into the deep end of a pool? Nice there was someone there to save this woman from her poor parenting skills.

  42. I know this kid. We graduated from the same high school in Americus, Ga. He is a very humble young man. Good job Leonard! (Champ).

  43. seabreezes51 says:
    Jun 13, 2011 4:52 PM
    Leonard, no matter what goes on in your life, from here on out you will always be a hero for this family, and others that remember this.
    Good job, man
    ————————————————–

    When you see a story like this, and you see thumbs down to a comment like that.. it’s both funny and sad.

    To those 2-5 people who think it’s cool to give thumbs down to comments and stories like this, I feel sorry for you. You must live meaningless, pathetic lives and you go, “Hey, I’ll be cool! I’ll give thumbs down to comments about how Leonard Pope saved a six year old”

    You think you’re cool and going against the grain.

    You’re not. We’re not laughing with you, we’re laughing at you. At what sad, pathetic lives you have.

    “Let’s give a thumbs down to people who praise Leonard Pope for saving a six year old and not wanting any publicity for it”…. yeah, you’re such a rebel….

    Enjoy your miserable lives in your parents’ basement and asking people if they want to supersize their value meal.

    Leonard Pope, you will always be a hero – doesn’t matter if you play in the NFL or not.

    And to those who give thumbs down (including those that will give this one too).. I feel sorry for you, your sad life and the fact that you think giving a thumbs down to this story makes you cool.

    It doesn’t. It just confirms what a loser you really are.

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