Blaine Gabbert hasn’t played a single snap for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2022 regular season. The 33-year-old was called into emergency duty on the waters Thursday, however, and stepped up big time.
According to a Tampa Bay Times article by Matt Cohen and Rick Stroud, Gabbert was among a group of bystanders who helped rescue a family of three, plus a helicopter pilot, following an emergency water landing near the Peter O. Knight Airport. The article said that Gabbert was on a “personal watercraft at the time.”
The 28-year-old Hunter Hupp and his 62-year-old father and 59-year-old mother — plus the 33-year-old pilot — were wrapping up a helicopter tour when they were forced to make the emergency landing approximately 200 yards from Davis Islands just after 5 p.m. All four survived the incident with no injuries, according to the article.
Cohen wrote that the helicopter was planning to land at the airport when Hupp heard a “popping sound in the roto above his head.” Per Tampa Police Department Lt. Daniel College, the helicopter had an engine failure.
After Hupp realized the helicopter wasn’t going to make it back to the airport, the chopper hit the water and started to sink, with the youngest member of the foursome caught under seatbelts and cords. According to the report, Hupp said he struggled to get out as his parents and the pilot escaped and made their way to the surface.
“I am pretty astonished that I am standing here to talk to you,” Hupp said.
Per the Tampa Bay Times piece, Hupp estimated that he was underwater for between 45 seconds and one minute. The Tampa Police Department said in a news release it “is currently coordinating with local and federal agencies regarding the investigation and eventual recovery of the helicopter.”
Gabbert was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and spent his first three seasons with the team. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers (2014-2016), Arizona Cardinals (2017), and Tennessee Titans (2018), before joining the Bucs as Brady’s backup before the 2020 campaign.
